Life Happens, So Just Roll With It
by mama4dukes
Summary: Five years after the events in New Moon, the Cullens are living in New Hampshire and Edward is finally getting married. During a wild night out on the town, some of the Cullens run into a happy, more confident Bella who only has eyes for our favorite Major.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: After reading hundreds of wonderful fanfics, I decided to journey on a voyage of my own and delve into the writing side of things.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**AU/OOC**

**Jaspers POV**

Five years. It's been five years since "the incident," as the family likes to refer to it, and we're finally moving on—in a way. Five years ago, Edward was involved with one Isabella Swan, human. She was fun, beautiful, clumsy, and a part of our family. Five years ago, on Bella's eighteenth birthday, my ex-wife, Alice, insisted on throwing her a birthday party. It didn't matter to Alice that Bella didn't want the party, she threw her one anyway. Five years ago, Bella opened a present and got a paper cut. I was able to hold my breath until Edward threw her into a table, loaded with glass plates, and Bella started bleeding profusely from a gash on her arm. Five years ago, I was hit with everyone else's bloodlust and nearly attacked Bella. Five years ago, Edward ordered us away from Forks, from Bella.

So here we are, five years later. We've all tried to get over abandoning Bella. Every now and then, she comes up in conversation and we remember her fondly. Especially now. Now that, tomorrow, Edward is getting married to another human. Bella, our first human, she was the one that accepted us with no qualms about the monsters we all are. She wasn't afraid of the surreal and supernatural. She thought of us as people with real feelings. She wasn't afraid to hug us. She wasn't afraid to feel in front of us. She wasn't afraid to love us. We all miss Bella because Bella is just Bella, and, well, Edward's new human just isn't Bella.

Rosalie, who couldn't stand Bella when she was in our lives, now grieves over the loss of her friend, the little sister she loved to torment. The new human isn't paid an ounce of attention or affection from Rose.

Emmett is bored. He truly bonded with Bella and she was his sister in every way—so much so that you'd think that they were blood relatives. He just can't seem to bond with Edward's new human. Emmett just ignores the new human.

Carlisle and Esme feel guilty. They feel the guilt that only parents can feel for abandoning one of their own. To this day, whenever we bring up Bella, Esme quietly sobs dry tears, mourning for her lost daughter. Carlisle does his best to comfort her, but in the end he buries himself in his work at the hospital. They welcome Edward's new human to the family with comforting smiles, but their smiles do not reach their eyes.

Edward brooded over losing Bella for about a year. He left the family, wandered around South America searching for Victoria, then returned home after we all moved from Alaska to New Hampshire. Last year, Edward met the new "love of his life." A docile, fragile, subservient girl named Amanda. She's a minister's daughter and raised to believe that a man is king of his castle. Unlike Bella, Amanda doesn't believe in sex before marriage. She's just like Edward in that sense. She's weak, easily manipulated and controlled. She's perfect for Edward—unlike Bella.

Alice, my ex-wife is a different story altogether. Yeah, she missed Bella initially, but quickly realized, after leaving Forks, that they truly had nothing in common. Bella hates shopping with Alice—just like me. Bella accepts people for who they are—just like me. Bella cherishes her friends and family—just like me. Bella loves to read—just like me. Bella is strong willed—just like me. Bella loves with her whole heart—just like me. As soon as Edward brought Amanda home, Alice realized that her new "best friend" was more pliable than Bella. She submits to every form of Alice torture, which includes makeovers and extravagant shopping trips, without complaint. Alice truly didn't miss Bella—no, not at all—unlike me.

I miss Bella. Sure, I didn't get to know her as well as I wished, thanks to Edward and Alice, but from observing her, I was able to feel every emotion that she put out. She was a beautiful myriad of feelings. At any given moment, I could feel joy, anger, sorrow, mischief, lust, and above all else, love. She was a beautiful creature that accepted me without any reservations. She was never afraid of me—even when "the incident" happened. Of course, Edward and Alice keep the new human away from me and are quick to remind me of "the incident" each time Amanda comes to our house. I don't even make an effort to get to know her, to feel her. She does nothing for me—unlike Bella.

Probably the best thing that happened after leaving Forks was the divorce. Alice claimed that although she loved me, she couldn't handle babysitting me and my bloodlust any longer. She handed me divorce papers to sign before we even left Forks. It didn't matter that she and Fuckward emitted the strongest bloodlust out of everyone. She still claimed that it was my personal bloodlust that sent me over the edge. At that point, I didn't give a shit. I signed the papers, gave her a wave with my middle finger, and took off for Peter and Char's for a while. My all knowing brother and his mate accepted me with no qualms—just like Bella.

I moved back with my family a couple of years ago. I don't attend school anymore, except for an occasional college course here and there. I decided enough with the human charade. I divided my time between the Cullens and Peter and Char's. I can only take so much of Alice and Edward, but I still like spending time with Carlisle, Esme, Rose, and Emmett. If Alice and Edward had their way, I would spend all my time with Peter and Char, but hey, I take pride in being able to torture the fuckers with my presence. In fact, Peter and Char joined me this time around because, in his own words, "Who doesn't love a wedding?"

Tonight is Edward's bachelor party. We're going for a quick hunt, then Emmett and Peter have planned a big night. They guarantee that Edward won't enjoy himself, which means that the rest of us are gonna have a good time. It's gonna be just us men: Carlisle, Eleazar, Garrett—Kate Denali's mate, Emmett, Peter, and me. Oh, yeah and Edward the "boy wonder" too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for your reviews, alerts, and faves. Big, huge Jasper Pops for everyone! What's a Jasper Pop? Read on to find out.**

**Readers 18+ only please. If you are uncomfortable with copious amounts of sex and swearing, this chapter will not be for you.**

**All character belong to Stephanie Meyer. The Jasper Pops are mine though—all mine!**

**Jasper's POV**

I've got to hand it to them. Emmett and Peter have outdone themselves this time. How in hell did they find this place? Climax is a high end strip joint/dance club in Boston. It's pretty snazzy inside with two long stages one for female strippers and the other for male strippers with a large dance floor in between. The club was packed and hopping and with a few hundreds slipped surreptitiously to the hostess, we were able to get a table smack dab in front of the female stripper stage. Edward looked like he wanted to make a mad dash at vampire speed to the nearest church to confess his sins. Good. He hates it here, exactly what we all wanted.

"Edward, relax and enjoy yourself for once." I heard Carlisle say.

"This place is not proper. They have women and men disrobing in public for financial gain." I rolled my eyes at Pussy Boy's response.

"It's called stripping Eddie and those women up there, they're called strippers. They take their clothes off for our pleasure. Now, those melons protruding from her chest, they're called tits, Eddie. They're made for nuzzling." Peter replied with a smirk.

"I know what breasts are Peter. I've been to medical school twice."

"Oh, okay so you know that a woman likes it when you oh so gently roll her nipples in between your fingers and give them a little flick with your tongue?"

"I'm not responding to that."

"Uh-huh, didn't think so pussy."

Edward and Peter's discussion was getting a little out of hand and Carlisle finally decided to step in and break up their tiff. "Okay, boys, come now, let's not fight. We're here to celebrate Edward's last night as a bachelor and have a nice night away from the women for once. Let's just sit back and enjoy the um...scenery."

**Carlisle's POV**

I've been alive for over three hundred years and even I'm not such a prude. Edward really needs to loosen up a little. Sure, I don't make it a habit to frequent strip clubs, but even I know how important it is to relax and live a little. Amanda is even worse. I'm positive that the girl was born in the wrong century with her medieval views on sex and marriage. You know, she's actually perfect for Edward, they're like two peas in a pod. Maybe they'll extend their honeymoon by a few years and give our family a break. Frankly, if anything good came out of our abandoning Bella, it would be the fact that my baby girl doesn't have to subject herself to a life with Edward. I really do wonder how she's doing? As soon as Edward and Amanda leave for their honeymoon, the day after tomorrow, Esme and I are planning on finding our daughter and bringing her back home to us. We've had enough of this nonsense and it's time Bella takes her rightful place within our family.

**Emmett's POV**

Oh yeah, Eddie hates it here. Good! After the shit he's pulled taking my baby sister away from me he deserves this party. He may think we're here having his bachelor party, but we're actually celebrating pussy boy leaving us for a while to go on his honeymoon. Good riddance! For fuck's sake, why did he have to come back from South America and then bring home a new human? Unlike Bella, the new human looks at us like we're piranhas. She has absolutely no personality, is dull as a board, and if you try and joke with her she spouts out quotes from the Bible. I actually went back to Forks to look for Bella while Eddie was off tracking Victoria, but she wasn't there and Charlie had passed on. I'm so worried about my baby sis that as soon as Eddie and his nun leave for their honeymoon, Rosie and I are going to go look for Bella. It's time my sissy comes home to our family.

Hot damn! Look at the ass on that stripper. I think I'll go give her a big tip and a spanking. "Oh yeah, baby, come to Papa."

**Peter's POV**

Yeah, I pushed his buttons, but I take great pride and joy in offending him and the Pixie Bitch as often as possible. Speaking of Alice, my Yoda Radar tells me that she and Eddie are getting their comeuppance for the shit they pulled on the Major and his veggie family soon. She's already having trouble with her visions and something's gonna happen to shake things up for this family and especially for the Major. Great changes are on the horizon my friend. Shit! I'm even beginning to sound like Yoda.

Now to enjoy the women. The strippers are all nice, but the girls two tables over at the bachelorette party—now they're hot! With my vampire senses I can hear their conversation and I, Peter Whitlock, never thought women could be that perverted. Fuck! They're putting me to shame. Did I hear correctly? Did they just order Cock Pops? What the hell is a Cock Pop? I get my answer ten minutes later when the waiter in the loin cloth delivers eight perfectly penis shaped popsicles to the table. I hear one of them saying, "Okay, girls whoever finishes their popsicle first wins a gift card to Victoria's Secret. The catch is, you have to give it a real blow job—no biting allowed." God, I love human girls. Emmett and Garrett's eyes were bugging out. The Major had an intense look of concentration as he silently observed the table of girls. Edward, the closet pervert, had a disapproving scowl on his face, but he was still watching the girls intently. In fact, our whole table turned to watch the show just as that same girl announced, "Ready, set, blow!" And they were off. Eight women licking and sucking penis shaped popsicles. I wonder if I could get Char to...nah, she can just suck on my dick. One of the girls noticed us watching and whispered to her table, "I think I'm hallucinating because I'm staring at a table full of male models. I've never seen such perfection in my life. Talk about inspiration." They all turned to look except one girl muttered under her breath, "Must be fucking vampires," Then she slinked around her chair and straddled it while facing the seat back with her Cock Pop still in her mouth. She did a quick scan of our party, smirked, and then stared straight into Jasper's eyes. At the same time I hear Jasper, Edward, Carlisle, and Emmett gasp, "Bella!"

**Jasper's POV**

Oh my fucking God, it's Bella. She looks hot as hell. Her long mahogany hair falls in waves to her elbows and it looks like she's been working out because her body is just spankin' hot. She's still looking into my eyes as she continues to suck on her popsicle—it's almost as if she's seeing into my soul. Bella suddenly pulls the Cock Pop out of her mouth and licks her lips with her glorious tongue. She continues to lick all up and down the frozen dick and then moves it in and out of her mouth. I can feel my jeans tightening as my cock begs me to let it spring free. The entire table of girls is racing to lick and suck their Cock Pops clean, but I only have eyes for my Bella. I can imagine her on her knees in front of me stroking my cock as she looks into my eyes and purrs, "Can I taste your Jasper Pop, Major?" Shit, I need to stop that thought right there before I blow my load right here and now. She pulls the popsicle out of her mouth again and this time she gives it a firm stroke, from bottom to top, with her velvet tongue. In all this time, Bella still hasn't taken her big, brown doe eyes off of me. She then stops to concentrate on the tip a little before she rolls her head back, wraps her full lips around the Cock Pop, and takes the whole thing into her mouth and then, "Ungh, Bella..."

Bella's eyes are wide as saucers and then she bursts out laughing, "Fucking A, Edward, did you just cum in your pants?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Jasper's POV**

He fucking busted a nut! I can't believe he just lost his shit in public like that! The asshole even had the balls to moan Bella's name out loud. Fucking pervert. Bella and her friends are practically falling off of their chairs laughing. I see no reason for me to hold in all this mirth so I think I'll just spread it around the club a little. There we go, now the whole place is rolling. Okay, now to send a bit of humiliation over to creepy vamp. That's right Eddie boy hang your head in shame, now the whole place knows you're just a sick, repressed pup who can't stay in control of your load until you can jack off in the shower like the rest of us.

"Ahem...I have some business to take care of in the facilities," Edward says as he heads to the men's room to go clean himself up, "then we all need to leave. I'm getting married tomorrow after all."

Oh, hell no! We aren't leaving this place. No way! "Carlisle, we're not leaving so soon, are we? We just found Bella."

"Yeah, Dad, we finally found Sissy and I refuse to leave her again. I don't care what the perverted dickweed says, we're staying!" Emmett added steadfastly.

"Trust me, my sons, if Edward wants to leave he can, but I need to keep an eye on my little princess. Your mother would have my head if I didn't see her home safely."

"She really is a beautiful girl Carlisle. I can see why your family love her so much and I'm looking forward to being able to get to know my new niece as I'm sure my girls will too," added Eleazar.

"Thank you, Eleazar. I'm just trying to figure out a way to approach her without scaring her off. We abandoned her five years ago and I am ashamed at myself for allowing both Edward and Alice to influence me. We've tried searching for her over and over again, but even with Jenks' connections we've been unable to locate her. Esme even has a room in the house all designed and ready to go just for Bella. It's just a stroke of luck that we found her here today."

I look at our group and everyone is throwing out protective feelings towards Bella. I'm surprised that Peter, Garrett, and Eleazar, who've never met Bella, are feeling that way too. Carlisle and Emmett are also emitting feelings of relief at finding their daughter and sister, while Peter and Garrett are radiating lust. Well, who the fuck wouldn't after Bella's little show earlier? Damn! She's smokin' hot! I'm still trying to figure out why she directed her performance at me. Ever since I laid my eyes on her tonight, I feel this incredible urge to wrap her in my arms and never let her go. I don't want to scare her off though. I wouldn't even know what to say to her. I glance over and sneak a peek at Bella just to make sure she's okay. One thing's for sure, Fuckward will never get near my Bella again.

**Edward's POV**

Of all people to run into at my bachelor party, why her? Why didn't Alice see this? Bella is still absolutely beautiful, but she has obviously become wild and coarse in her ways without my guidance. Look at how she made me lose control this evening. No matter. She's just a fly in my ointment at this point. I have my lovely Amanda. My Amanda is so proper, so respectful, and so virtuous. She is everything a man would want in a woman.

My world has been peaceful since we decided to move to this area. Alice and I decided to attend Dartmouth College and thank goodness we did because, otherwise, I would have never met Amanda. Alice and I share a house near the campus in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school week. My family, however, live about two hours away in Amherst, New Hampshire because, for some reason, they all decided to either work or attend school in Boston, Massachusetts which is about a one hour commute driving at human speed from Amherst. In their infinite kindness, they insisted that Alice and I live apart from the family in Hanover so that we wouldn't have a big commute to Dartmouth. Esme went so far as to purchase and fully design a house for us that, in her own words, "has everything that you could possibly imagine so you'll never want to leave." Our house in Hanover truly is a work of art.

This time around, Carlisle decided to start as an intern at one of the Boston hospitals so we can stay in the area longer while Esme has opened up her own interior design firm in the same city. Rosalie has started an auto repair shop in Boston while Emmett attends MIT majoring in video game design. Jasper, of course, is a wanderer, choosing to divide his time between Peter and Charlotte's home in Texas and with us in New Hampshire.

On the weekends, Alice and I return to our main family home in Amherst so that the family can enjoy our company, but with everyone's busy schedules we haven't been able to spend an entire day together as of yet. They weren't even able to attend Alice, Amanda, and I's graduation from Dartmouth College last weekend. We were a little hurt by that, but they pointed out that with the wedding being this weekend they simply couldn't take that much time off of work. When I do visit the family, I usually have to return to Hanover by my girl's strict 9pm bedtime. Unlike Bella, Amanda refuses to spend the night at my house or my family's home before we are married, even though she knows that I value her purity and she would definitely be well chaperoned and have her own room. I think Esme has already secretly prepared a room for Amanda in our family home.

Once Alice, Amanda, and I return from the honeymoon, I'm sure that we will all be living together as one family unit. At that time, Alice and I are hoping that Jasper will leave the family because we would not want to put Amanda in danger due to his bloodlust. He really doesn't fit in anyway. His troubled past is a strike against him and his human drinking friends are just as low class as he is. Although I must admit that I've been surprised about Jasper, he has totally respected Alice and my wishes for him to stay away from Amanda's tempting human blood. When we grace the family with our presence on the weekends, Jasper has stayed completely out of sight for the most part. Of course, her blood isn't nearly as intoxicating as Bella's blood, however this is neither the time nor the place for those thoughts. Clearly, now that we've run into Bella again, my family will agree with me that we have to immediately move to a new location following the wedding.

Enough rambling. Time to return to the table. "So, are we all ready to leave?"

**Carlisle's POV**

That selfish, brooding bastard! How dare he have sexual fantasies about my daughter and act like nothing happened. The nerve of him, asking me to leave my baby girl here among all these lustful men. I wish he and Alice would just leave our family. Never in my existence have I met two more annoying, self-absorbed vampires. Since the Bella incident, I vowed to never abandon any more of my children. I suppose that includes Edward and Alice. Esme and I even purchased a mansion in Hanover for them to share in hopes that they would spend the majority of their time there. Sadly, they still insist on forcing their company upon us by coming to our home on the weekends. As a result, we've had to purchase a penthouse in Boston to use as a sanctuary where we could all hide to escape from Alice, Edward, and Amanda's drudgery. We don't want to appear rude so we return home in the late afternoon a few hours before Edward has to take Amanda home. Of course, we still have to deal with Alice, but that's easily solved with a plane ticket and hotel booking for a weekend of shopping in New York or some other big city.

Ah, Edward is back from the men's room. Did he just ask if we were all ready to leave? Yes, I think he did. Hmm...how to respond...ah...got it. "Why would we leave, Edward, we just got here. Have you no respect for Emmett and Peter who put together this wonderful party for you to celebrate your last day as a bachelor?"

"Carlisle, not that I don't appreciate their efforts, but clearly we must leave, especially now that we've run into Bella. I'm sure you can see that it would be in everyone's best interests if we made a hasty departure."

"Edward, I'm only going to say this once, we are not leaving because of Bella. Surely, you don't want to leave the girl you once cared for alone in this den of wolves? I expected more from you Edward." Hah! That'll show him.

Emmett piped in, then, with a huge smile on his face, "Dad, if you want, Jasper and I will stay here and keep an eye on Bella so you can take Eddie home."

"Ah, Emmett you've always been so self-sacrificing. No, son, I believe it would be in Bella's best interest if we all stayed to keep an eye on her. Edward can run home if he wants to leave."

**Peter's POV**

I can see the fucking prick's mind going a mile a minute trying to come up with a good reason to get us all to leave. He's stunned that, for the first time ever, he's not getting his way and he's about to lose control. Sorry to break it to you fucker, but I'm not leaving my new baby sis alone in this meat factory. You know, now is a good time for me to go dance with Bella and get to know her a bit. Let me get up and...why that snarky, fucking bastard!

**Garrett's POV**

"How's it going? My name is Garrett and you're Bella." I said to the absolutely delectable brunette in front of me. She and her friends were dancing as a group so I decided to offer my services as a male chaperone of sorts.

"Hi Garrett!" giggled the gaggle of girls in Bella's group. They were all drunk and some were already tripping over their own feet on the dance floor and, considering what I've witnessed of their bachelorette party so far, I could tell that their night is far from over.

"So, Garrett, how do you know the Cullens?" Bella whispered as I got a whiff of her heavenly scent. This girl not only smells like ambrosia, but she looks like every male's wet dream. I wonder if she'd join me and Katie in bed one night to showcase her stellar oral skills. Hmm...better not, she's still human and I wouldn't want to break her.

I glanced over to our party and saw a table full of angry male vampires ready to tear me to pieces. Well, what did they want me to do? Leave the girl alone to dance with her drunk friends where any human male can pounce on her unsuspecting body.

"We're relatives of sorts. I'm married to Kate Denali."

"The family in Alaska? I never really had the opportunity to meet them. Well, a pleasure to meet you, I'm Bella Swan," she replied then offered her hand for me to shake.

I was stunned. I haven't had direct human contact in almost three hundred years. Well, this is new. No time like the present. I took her hand brought it to my lips and gave it a gentle kiss. "Garrett Thompson, at your service milady." She didn't flinch. She didn't gasp. She wasn't scared of me at all. What an amazing young lady. Bella is so unlike the other human that Edward is going to marry tomorrow. I have to stop Katie from trying to shock the Amanda girl each time she opens her mouth. I've never met such an uptight, pretentious being in my existence. Yes, I have...I forgot about Eddie.

"So, what are you all doing here? This really isn't the Cullen's scene."

Oh great. Now what do I do? Do I tell her the truth? What if she's not over Eddie Boy yet? Good going Garrett, way to get yourself into a pickle. I decide to go with the truth because it tends to be better in the long run. "We're here having a bachelor party for Edward."

"No way? The Boy Pussy is finally losing his V-card? My kudos goes out to his fiancee, I wouldn't be able to put up with his pretentious, self-righteous ass."

I heard a lot of chuckling coming from my table and a pathetic attempt at a growl coming from the Boy Pussy himself. Bella looked to our table with a quizzical expression on her face.

"Well, Garrett, thanks for the dance. I have some jello shots waiting for me at the table so the girls and I have to get back to our party." She headed towards her table with a mischievous smile on her face.

"The pleasure was all mine, Bella." I responded and returned to my table to face the music.

Jasper growled at me as I approached and I immediately took on a submissive pose lest he bring out the Major unnecessarily.

"What the hell are you doing dancing with my Bella?" he demanded.

Before I could answer, Edward stepped in and cried, "Your Bella? Your Bella? She was my Bella at one point, but she will never, ever be your Bella. I refuse to allow that. Now, I ordered all of you to have no contact with her. I've had enough, I demand that we all leave this god forsaken place immediately!"

In less than a second, the Major stepped directly in front of Edward as his rage filled eyes took in the trembling vampire. He was immediately flanked by Peter and Carlisle while Emmett took his position directly behind him. All three wore similar expressions of extreme anger as the Major. "What gave you the idea that you can order us around boy?" demanded the Major in his commanding voice.

"I didn't...it...it was just an idea. I would never presume to make demands of you." Edward stuttered with wide orbs filed with fear. If he were human, I'm sure he would have pissed himself by now.

"If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't have said it child. Now, you hear me out. We're through listening to your demands. You're not the leader of this family, Carlisle is, and you do not have the right to order any of us around. We're all capable of making our own decisions here. Now, you can either sit here quietly and enjoy your bachelor party or you can leave on your own. Make your choice, boy!"

Edward brooded for a second and replied, "I will stay here since you so graciously are throwing this party for me. I only said the things I said because I haven't been able to read your minds since we arrived here."

"Well, Edward, I hate to say this, but welcome to our world. Most of us go through life without knowing other people's thoughts and without seeing the future. You and Alice take your gifts for granted and it's high time you both learn to respect the lives others choose to lead without interfering." the Major said to Edward who looked extremely perturbed at being chastised.

"Tell me about your sudden inability to hear our thoughts," asked a concerned Eleazar.

"I'm not sure why, but as soon as we saw Bella, I was unable to hear your thoughts. Is it possible that it's a manifestation of the spermal expulsion that Bella caused?" Edward mused.

A manifestation of the spermal expulsion? What the fuck? The Boy Pussy can't even admit that he was turned on by his ex and came hard in his pants. Talk about repressed. I can't wait to tell Katie about this.

"I doubt your orgasm had anything to do with the loss of your power, Edward," chuckled an amused Eleazar. He then turned his body towards Bella and observed her for a minute before a look of realization crossed his face. He quickly turned back around and said, "Shall we all get back to our drinks, then?"

We all sat back down and tried to relax. After the shit that just went down, I needed a drink. Thank whatever deity is out there that vampires can still drink. It has to be hard liquor, but we can imbibe without having to bring it back up.

I noticed that everyone in Bella's party was becoming increasingly inebriated. I counted at least a hundred shot glasses between them all and the girls were quickly losing control of their inhibitions. The bride to be was currently attempting to Irish step dance across their table.

A scantily clad cocktail waitress approached our table bearing a tray with seven full glasses. "I have drinks courtesy of Miss Bella Swan for everyone. Now, which one of you is the Virgin Edward?"

"He is!" we all said simultaneously and pointed to a mortified Edward.

"Alrighty then, I have scotch for each of you guys," said the waitress as she placed our drinks in front of us, "and a Screaming Orgasm for the Virgin Edward."

That did it. Peter, Emmett, and I were clutching our stomachs laughing like crazy, Carlisle and Eleazar let go of whatever semblance of control they were managing to hold on to, and Jasper let his emotions go and the whole nightclub was rolling in laughter again. Emmett, then climbed on to our table and, in his big, booming voice, announced, "Let's give it up to the Virgin Edward who's getting hitched and finally losing his V-card tomorrow!" The entire nightclub exploded in a roar of laughter at a dejected Boy Pussy who suddenly found his shoes really interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your encouraging reviews. I'm so flattered! A naked Major for everyone-you pick which one, though.**

**This chapter contains drinking, swearing, Bella the lush, and lemons. Read at your own risk.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

**Eleazar's POV**

When Edward said that he could no longer hear our thoughts, I was immediately concerned because a loss of one's power is not something to be taken lightly. As soon as he mentioned that the power loss occurred ever since he saw Bella, I took a little time to observe her. Upon observing my niece, one thing became strikingly clear—the girl is a shield.

In the past, I've had my suspicions about Bella being a shield. Carlisle mentioned that Edward could never hear her thoughts and I was intrigued that a human girl had the capability to block such an invasive power. We sat down and relaxed with our drinks after the little standoff between Edward and the Major, I decided to casually observe Bella a little more. After a few minutes I realized that, not only is she a shield, she's a powerful one to boot—most likely both a mental and physical shield. A few more minutes of watching her told me that she is aware of her gift and has complete control of, at least, her mental shield. Every now and then, even in her drunken state, she would glance towards our table with an intense look of concentration, take a deep breath in through her nose before slowly exhaling through her mouth. Each time she did this exercise, I could feel a slight vibration resonating throughout my body. With my gift of power recognition, I am able to physically sense and feel whenever a vampire is using his or her power. Of course, Bella is still human, which could only mean one thing—the girl has been in touch with vampires.

Who, though? What vampire could she possibly be in touch with? It couldn't be the Volturi. If Aro knew about Bella, she wouldn't be walking around human. She would have been quickly turned and trained to serve as one of their guard. Who, then?

Bella having control of her shield, at least, provides explanations for why the Cullens haven't been able to locate her. Firstly, if a shield doesn't want to be found, she will not be found. A shield can block most invasive vampire powers. Alice wouldn't be able to see her even if she tried. Sure, Alice says that she is following Edward's wishes and deliberately not looking for Bella, but that's just not possible. A seer has no choice as to what visions she receives. The fact that Alice knows Bella makes her tuned in to her already, whether she wants to be or not. Eventually, a few visions of her would have slipped through by now, but this hasn't happened yet. This could only mean that Bella is intentionally blocking out Alice.

Second, having control of her shield clearly means that Bella's been in touch with vampires. Bella is obviously able to pick and choose what powers to block. The fact that Jasper, Peter, and my power are still functioning means that she is manipulating her shield and blocking out Edward's power for us. No human can learn that much shield control unless she's been in touch with one of our kind. Whoever she's been talking to is definitely not using her for personal gain either. If that were the case, she wouldn't be enjoying a night out with her friends. She would be a virtual prisoner in that vampire's home. No, the vampire that Bella has been in touch with definitely has no ulterior motives.

Lastly, the same vampire that Bella has been in touch with is also helping her to maintain her privacy. This is the first time Jenks has been unable to locate someone—especially a human someone. He should have easily been able to locate Bella through her school records or social security number. Instead, it is almost as if she has fallen the face of the Earth.

There were many nights when Esme cried into my Carmen's arms agonizing over the loss of her human daughter. After a few months, without the Cullen's knowledge, we decided to help end Esme's agony by searching for Bella ourselves, but to no avail. Jenks phoned us back about a week later and said that she has simply disappeared. There were no records of her at all: birth, death, medical, school, not one single document stating that Bella Swan exists. He did mention that when he checked on Charlie Swan and Renee and Phil Dwyer, he found them all to be deceased. Apparently, they had died a month apart from each other within three months after the Cullen's hasty departure from Forks. My worry increased because, at that point, we knew so much about Bella that she was already my niece in my heart. Carmen and I made a quick run to Forks and found that her old house had been sold and that Bella was indeed gone.

If my suspicions are correct, the vampire that is teaching Bella to use her shield is helping to hide her. The vampire was quite thorough in destroying all evidence of Isabella Marie Swan. I have a feeling that Jenks is the man he went to in order to accomplish that goal. Jenks is thorough, if anything and if he had a hand in deleting all traces of Bella then he would not ruin his own work by informing us of her whereabouts.

One thing is for certain, if Carlisle doesn't change Bella this time around then I will. Under no circumstance should my niece be walking around human wielding that shield of hers. Any vampire with a thirst for power would be quick to pounce on her and use her for personal gain. I also need to find out more about the vampire that she's been in touch with. I think I'll keep this information to myself for the time being though because I doubt that she's in any immediate danger. Carlisle and Esme need to make amends with Bella without the added burden of this information. I'll keep an eye out on Bella though. From this point on, my niece is definitely under my protection.

**Jasper's POV**

I've been observing Eleazar and his level of curiosity spiked tenfold as he watched Bella from afar. I could also feel the intensity of his protective feelings rise as the minutes passed, as well as, a tiny sliver of deceit. He knows something. He knows something and he's keeping it from us. I trust him enough to not keep anything that will endanger Bella from us. All the same, I'm still curious. I'll have to ask him in a few days.

Bella is becoming drunker and drunker by the minute. The girls have been pounding back Jello shots one after another and the waiter keeps bringing them more. I've been listening in on their conversation and, let me tell ya, these girls are dirty. I thought guys talked about sex a lot, but these girls can put the conversation in any men's locker room to shame. Right now, they're talking about getting off using a rabbit. Now, in my day, we kept rabbits as pets, but these girls are using them to have orgasms with. I wonder how they train them? I'm not so sure about bringing a live animal, no matter how small it is, into the bedroom. It might be a little too kinky, even for me. I'll have to talk to Bella about that before we do that.

Huh? Whoa there buddy! Where the fuck did that thought come from? Aside from the spectacular blow she gave the frozen cock pop for me, I haven't even tried to talk to her tonight. Aw...hell, even when I knew her in Forks I only had minimal contact with Bella. Not because I didn't want to, but because the mind fucking duo wouldn't let me. I did have constant access to those beautiful emotions of hers though. Damn! I want her. That sinful body is made for me. I can picture myself fucking her from behind while fisting that long, beautiful mahogany sex hair. She arches her back and I keep one hand fisted in her hair and the other on her clit and...shit! My dick's twitching again and from the looks of it I'm sending out a fuckton of lust.

All around the club, people are either making out or looking a bit peeked. Everyone at my table is shifting uncomfortably in their seats, adjusting themselves. Eddie is looking flustered again and suddenly is off running to the men's room. I bet he's gonna jerk off in there. Sicko! The girls at Bella's table are all hanging all over each other. Now, that's actually pretty hot. I could get used to this kind of live action. Bella suddenly turns and looks straight into my eyes and whispers quietly, "Reign that shit in, now!"

Oh, yeah, better do that. Wait! How did she know that it was me sending out the lust? "Come on Jasper," she says softly so only the vampires can hear, "you're the only empath in here. Don't you find it odd that everyone in here is dry humping each other. Now, turn that lust down now before we end up with a mass orgy." She then turned around and went back to her friends and her jello shots.

Huh...well she always has been perceptive and she did know that I'm an empath from before. Wait a minute! Did I just allow her to give me a direct order? Yeah, I think I did. I wonder how she feels about a little bondage? I'll have to ask her later. That perfect ass of hers is ripe for a little spankin'. Oh shit, here we go again. I'm really having trouble keeping it all together around her.

Bella turned towards me again and admonished, "Cut it out, Jasper!"

Just then, Emmett appeared next to me and gave Bella a little wave.

"Hi Brother Bear! How've you been?"

Emmett patted his heart and crossed his arms around his chest and mouthed, "I missed you" to Bella.

"I missed you too, Emmett. We'll talk later, okay?" She said with a smile.

Emmett nodded, then sat back down with a huge grin on his face. Nothing was going to bring Brother Bear off his high tonight.

A half hour later had all the girls at Bella's table three sheets to the wind. They were all taking turns flashing each other and it took all the restraint I had to stay in my seat and not stop Bella from exposing herself. Garrett and Emmett looked like kids let loose in a candy store and Peter kept snapping shots with his iPhone. Edward, the pervert, kept sneaking looks thinking we weren't looking. I could feel a ton of lust coming from that pussy.

"You better not have taken any pictures of her, fucker." I said to my brother from another mother.

"Do I look stupid to you asshole?" Peter replied.

Yeah, he does. Some of the shit Peter gets into is beyond me. I don't know how Char puts up with his ass. I remember the time that he entered Char in a mud wrestling competition stating that he wanted to analyze her fighting skills. Let me tell you something. Char is one tough bitch when she's pissed off. The fucker was walking around dickless and with a limp for a week after that.

Suddenly we hear the dj's voice making an announcement over the loudspeakers. "Alright, alright ladies. We know who you've been waiting for. We all know how you love a man in uniform. Let's give it up for The Major!"

Suddenly, it was as if someone flipped a switch and every single woman in the club erupted in applause and cheers. Women were flocking to the stage left and right waving twenties at the stripper that called himself The Major.

What the fuck? The Major? I'm the only Major here. Who the hell does this poser think he is?

"Dude, someone's stolen your M.O." Emmett said to me as I got a look at the loser on the stage.

"Don't worry, man. He's got nothing on you. I can help you with this. We can just rub a little bit of baby oil all over your body and you're golden." Garrett added.

Baby oil? Why the hell would I need baby oil? "Watch it fucker." I told him as Garrett smirked.

The lust coming off of all the women in the club was mind bending. As Poser Major continued to dance and rip off his clothes, all the women were cheering and throwing themselves at him. Bella and her friends were hooting cat calls and howling at the asshole. "Fuck me," I heard Bella say to her friends, "look at this guy. He's hot—look at those abs! I love a man in uniform. Do you guys think I can lick him? You think he'll lick me?"

Hell no! The only guy you're gonna be licking from now on is me, woman. Did she say she loves a man in uniform? Oh, yeah. I'll be digging out that old Civil War uniform of mine for her to take off. Thank God the fucking Pixie had it restored. That's the only nice thing the bitch ever did for me.

Suddenly, Bella was off of her chair and gliding towards the stage. She pulled out a twenty put it between her cleavage and offered her breasts up to Poser Major like a Thanksgiving Turkey. Just as the stripper lowered his head towards Bella's tits, three things happened at once, in a flash, Carlisle was up in the guy's face yelling, "Get your filthy mouth away from my daughter!" I pulled Bella behind me keeping an arm around her to keep her safe and Edward grunted and came in his pants again. Sheesh, some control he has. Fucking pervert!

I carried Bella back to our table and sat her down on my lap. There was no way I was going to let her drunk ass loose again. "Ah...hi guys. I'm Bella. I know some of you, but there are some new faces here."

"Bella, my name is Eleazar Denali. You may have heard about me in the past. You've already met my son-in-law Garrett."

"Yeah and I'm Peter Whitlock, sugar. Jasper and I are old friends."

"Well, fuck me, you're hot. Care to take a tumble with me? I get really horny when I drink. You're not married, are you?" Bella asked.

Is she fucking kidding me? Hell no—she's mine. "Don't even fucking think about it!" I growled dangerously at Peter.

Peter looked like a kid on Christmas morning as he responded to Bella and said, "The only single guy here is Jasper, sugar, but hell, my wife and I won't mind if you come and play with us for a night."

That's it. I'm gonna kick his lily white ass all over New England. Some brother you are motherfucker. Prepare to meet your maker.

Just as she was about to respond, Carlisle grabbed Bella's chin gently and pointed her face up so that her eyes would meet his, "That is enough, young lady. You're coming home with us. I think you've had too much to drink and you need a good night's rest."

"I can't just..." Bella tried to protest, but one look from Carlisle made her shut her mouth.

"I think we should send all her friends home in taxis," said Carlisle, "that would be the responsible thing to do. Would you boys mind taking care of that for me while Jasper and I send the valet for our cars? Oh, and where's Edward?"

"Ahem...I believe he's in the men's room washing up again." Eleazar said as he cleared his throat.

I took Bella to say goodbye to her friends and she promised to meet up with them for the wedding tomorrow. She explained that her family wanted to see them home safely and they all followed the guys out of the club willingly. Once, we had all the girls packed off for their homes in cabs, we loped off to the valet who had my Corvette and Carlisle's Escalade waiting for us.

"Give her to me, Jasper," said Emmett, "I'll make sure Sissy's safe."

I was about to hand her over, but Bella had a vise grip on my neck and was currently nibbling on my earlobe. Any attempt to rip her off of me would have resulted in an injury.

"Bella, let go of Jasper and come to me." Emmett gently prodded.

"Bella, come on darlin', you've got to go with Emmett." I said.

"Bella, stop acting like a slut and come to me! Now, I've had it with your whorish behavior tonight! I am ordering that you get off of Jasper and come to me now!" Edward demanded and was met with glares from six enraged vampires who were ready to rip his head off. The terrified valet, who just pissed himself out of fear, threw our keys at us, told us not to worry about the tip, and high-tailed it away from us. I've never seen a human run that fast in my life, come to think of it.

"Fuck you, Pussy!" Bella said menacingly, "You don't get to order me around—ever!" Then she went back to molesting my ear and I have to admit that I was enjoying it far more than I should.

"I think it would be best if she rode with Jasper," said Peter, "she seems pretty calm with him and he could always use his power to keep her sedated, if necessary."

Carlisle thought about it for a couple of seconds and seemed to agree. "Yes, you know, that is a good idea. We'll follow you home, Jasper."

I placed Bella down in the passenger seat and strapped her in. I drove away from the club and onto the highway when she asked, "So, Jasper, why are you the only single one? What happened to your manipulative bitch wife?"

"We got a divorce." I answered simply.

"When?"

"Five years ago on the night of your birthday party. She had divorce papers ready to go."

"Why? What reason did the bitch give you?"

"She said she was sick of my bloodlust and of having to babysit me." I decided that now was as good a time as any for a long overdue apology so, I added, "I'm sorry for trying to take a bite out of you, Bella. If I could take back that day, I would."

"So, you're saying that you'd still rather be with Alice? I'm not sorry it happened Jasper. If it didn't happen, I probably would be miserable and married to the Boy Pussy now. Sure, I missed you guys, but you know, I'm really in a good place right now. I'm happy. Besides, you don't have to apologize to me. It's in your nature to want human blood. Plus let's not forget that I'm Eddie boy's singer and fucker was the one who threw me into all that glass and made me bleed. You're an empath Jasper, bloodlust is an emotion. You had to carry everyone's bloodlust plus your own. If it helps you any, I accept your apology, but know that there's no need."

Is she for real? Damn, she's observant. How did she, a human, figure out that I had to carry everyone else's bloodlust. Eddie and Alice still can't get it through their thick skulls that they were partly responsible for me attacking Bella that day.

"Thanks, Bella." I said simply. She smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

After a few minutes of silence, Bella looked over at me and said, "So, single, huh?"

"Yeah, single." I replied.

She then took off her seatbelt and sat on her knees facing me. She flashed me a smile and buried her nose in my neck, peppering me with butterfly kisses, ending at the corner of my lips.

"Uh, Bella, this probably isn't a good idea. I'm trying to drive."

She completely ignored me as she continued kissing me while she unbuttoned my shirt. My cock was screaming at me to set him free as Bella moved her kisses down my chest. She stopped at my navel then proceeded to undo my belt and work on unbuttoning my jeans.

"Bella, babe, this is all good, but...holy shit, that's right baby, up and down just like that."

Fuck me! I'm getting road head! Road head in a Corvette going 130 miles per hour! If this shit isn't every guy's fantasy then fuuuuuck..."that's it baby work that tip. Oh yeah, right there, hit that vein right in the center, yeah just like that darlin'. Aw...babe your tongue is like magic..." I encouraged her as she continued her ministrations with her warm mouth.

Damn it—she's drunk and I'm taking advantage of her. I've got to regain control and put a stop to this. "Bella, we can't do this. I want to do this. I really do, but not like this. Not when you're drunk darlin'. I can't take advantage of you."

"Jasper," she said as she popped my cock out of her mouth, "shut up and drive. You're not taking advantage of me, I'm taking advantage of you. Now be a good boy and keep your eyes on the road."

I was about to protest , but then thought about it. What red blooded American male would turn down an offer to be taken advantage of by a hot, horny, and absolutely mouth watering female? Alright, so I don't have any blood running through my veins anymore, but hey the point is she's offering and I'm taking what's rightfully mine.

"Yes, ma'am" I said as she pulled her panties off and slithered her way on to my lap, straddling me. She then looked at me with her big, brown doe eyes and said, "Jasper, I'm gonna take advantage of you. Now, concentrate on the road." With that she plunged herself onto my cock and sent me straight to heaven.

"Oh Jasper, mmm...yes...oh my...oh..." Holy fuck. I'm in heaven and hell simultaneously. Heaven because I have this insatiable vixen riding my cock and hell because I'm driving and all I want to do is stop the car and have my way with her.

Shit! Need an exit. Need an exit. Gotta find an exit. There's an exit. I'm just gonna take it. Good, Carlisle missed it because he was following too close behind and going too fast. I hope he doesn't come looking for us.

Now what? Do I take her to a hotel? No, no time. I'm almost ready to blast my load this instant. Find a wooded area, that's what I'll do. I know exactly where to go.

I peeled the car into a secluded area that I like to hunt in. I opened the door and climbed out with Bella wrapped around me. I set her down on the hood of the Corvette and ripped her dress clear down the center. I stopped for a moment to take in the stunning sight that was Bella laying spread eagle across the hood of my car in all her glory waiting for me to take her. If I die now, I'll die happy.

"Jasper, just fuck me already."

Well, okay then, I better do what my woman is asking me. My woman? No, no, no, now's not the time to contemplate that...I'm taking this baby home right the fuck now!

I pulled Bella down so that her legs were dangling off of the hood of the car. I took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of her sweet ambrosia. Her sex was glistening in the moonlight, swollen and saturated with her arousal, beckoning me to enter. "Jasper, please!" She begged as she plunged not one, but two fingers into her pussy. I wasn't having any of that. I pulled her fingers out of her, sucked her heavenly juices off of them, then submerged myself into her depths. She immediately wrapped her long legs around my back giving me deeper access to her inner sanctum. We were a tangle of limbs. Our hands were desperately trying to grab onto whatever parts we could hold onto. It was almost as if we were afraid to let go because if we did, we'd lose each other forever.

"Oh god...Jasper...harder...yes...ahhh...yes...more Jasper." Bella begged through her pants and moans.

Who was I to deny her request? I pride myself on being thorough. "Come on baby," I urged as I swirled my tongue around her nipple, "cum for me. Cum for me now." I felt her muscles clench around my cock and there was no way that I could hold on any longer.

"Babe, I'm gonna c...aaagh" We both rode out our bliss together. I gently pulled her up to me and kissed her. I felt sparks. Bella looked initially shocked at the electricity and then furiously attacked my lips with a vengeance. I couldn't pull away from her. It was almost as if we were bound together by a steel lasso that wouldn't break unless the other died. At that moment, I knew what had happened, finally, after 147 years as a vampire, I had found my mate in one Isabella Marie Swan.

I pulled my jeans back on, then gingerly picked Bella up and dressed her in my shirt. I sat on the forest floor and held her on my lap for a few moments, purring as I ran my fingers through her whisper soft hair. "Did you just purr like a cat, Jasper?"

"Yeah, babe, I did."

"You're my mate, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." I replied simply.

"Fuck, my brother's gonna kill me." Then she passed out cold, no doubt from all the alcohol she consumed tonight.

Wait a minute! What brother?

**Well, what did you think? Let me know. I love hearing from all of you! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. Free ass kicking lessons from Esme for everyone!**

**This chapter contains swearing-lots and lots of it. **

**Please bear in mind that the story is AU and OOC-meaning I've screwed around with everything from timelines to characters. Geez, guys-not that kind of screwing around, get your minds out of the gutter!**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyers. I own nothing except for the Jasper Pop.**

**This story is intended for mature readers over the age of 18. If you can't vote, don't read!**

**Carlisle's POV**

Oh, sweet Jesus, now what should I do? My daughter, in her drunken state, has lost all of her inhibitions, and is currently having her way with Jasper who is desperately trying to stay in control of his vehicle. I want to jump out of my Escalade and put a stop to their escapade, however Bella is still human and any attempt to halt the vehicle would result in her injury or even worse, death.

Eleazar is sitting in the passenger seat trying to keep me calm while Emmett, Garrett, and Peter are frantically texting their mates, no doubt about this evening's events and the rampant display of passion going on in the car in front of us. I had already sent a message to Esme earlier stating simply that we'd found Bella and that we were bringing her home. Edward is whimpering in the third row seats, curled up in the fetal position while sucking on his thumb.

Suddenly, Jasper's Corvette veered off the highway. It was impossible to follow them off of the exit as I was going at such a high rate of speed and following too close behind. At that point, I decided the best course of action would be to head home and wait rather than turn back around and search for them.

As I pulled into the driveway, Esme came barreling out of the front door shrieking, "Baby! Bella Sweetie, is that you?"

When we stepped out of the SUV and Esme realized that it was only us men, she put her hands on her hips and asked. "Where is she Carlisle?"

"Um...Bella is in Jasper's car. They should be here any minute." I said as we walked into the living room.

"Why is she with Jasper, Carlisle?"

"Ah..um.. yes...well...we decided that Jasper would be best to keep her calm. She may have had a little to drink tonight."

Esme took in a deep, unneeded breath and said in a decidedly darker tone, "That still doesn't explain why you aren't with her, husband! Why couldn't one of the other boys take his car, and Bella and Jasper ride with you in the Escalade?" Uh, yeah, good point.

Shit! She's pissed. Not good, no, not good at all. An angry wife is one thing, but an angry Esme is a different creature all together. "Ah...well, I didn't think of that." I replied.

"Obviously!" she boomed as her eyes narrowed and bored into mine, "Clearly, you weren't thinking Carlisle. In fact, none of you were thinking were you?" Esme was quickly losing her temper and I was trying desperately to calm her down.

"Now sweetheart, they should be here any moment. Really, there's no need for you to become hysterical." I soothed while trying to maintain a calm facade.

At that point, Eleazar looked at me, shook his head, and ran his hands over his face. I heard Emmett in the background murmuring, "He's fucked."

Yep, by the look on Esme's face, it appears Emmett's analysis is right on target. I am fucked.

I saw the rest of the men trying to quietly make their way upstairs to their rooms. My wife noticed this and growled, " Did I give any of you permission to leave?"

Everyone turned to Esme wide eyed and quickly sat back down on the sofas. Fear apparent in their eyes.

"Now, Carlisle," she said with a sinister smile, "I'm going to ask you again. What happened to my daughter?"

"Nothing Esme, she's fine." I replied while trying to keep the peace, "Really, she should be home any minute now." Oh, please come home Jasper. I'm begging you.

At that point, Esme, with looks that could make the Major cowl in fear, turned to me and screamed, "Carlisle Cullen, if you don't tell me what's going on I'll...I'll... Well, you know what I'm capable of doing." She said as her pitch black, narrowed eyes bore into mine. Then she turned to the rest of the guys and continued, "I'm sure your mates will have no problem at all following my advice on how to deal with all of you. Now, I want answers and I want them now! I'm going to ask you one last time. Where the fuck is our daughter?"

"Tell her Dad!" Emmett pleaded, "You remember what happened to you the last time. I'll die if Rosie does that to me."

Oh dear God! Not that, not again! The woman is planning on withholding sex from me. The last time that happened was five years ago in Denali when we abandoned Bella. She was so angry that she withheld sex from me for almost six months. By the end of it, I was sporting blue balls so bad that I nearly jumped Eleazar and had my way with him after we went for a quick post hunt swim in the lake.

"Please Carlisle," begged Eleazar with panic stricken eyes, "tell her. Tell her everything." He was undoubtedly remembering the lake incident.

No, that can't happen again. I'll have to own up to the truth.

Soon, I found myself telling my mate everything that transpired this evening. The others chimed in by adding supporting details. I even told her about Edward's little "reaction" to Bella's popsicle show. Peter then whipped out his iPhone and showed my wife a detailed video of said "reaction" to which Esme responded with a resounding backhand to Edward's cheek. She followed that up with, "How dare you demean my daughter in that way!" She continued her rant with two more slaps and a left hook to Edward's jaw. The stunned boy immediately resumed his thumb-sucking and fetal position that he was in on the way home from Boston.

Suddenly, we heard the Corvette pull into the driveway. A disheveled Jasper quickly strode into the house, clad solely in his jeans, carrying a passed out Bella who was dressed only in his shirt.

"Give her to me, Jasper. Give me my daughter now!" Esme demanded.

Without delay, Jasper handed Bella over to her mother who quickly ran upstairs to care for her daughter.

"What did I miss?" Jasper dumbly asked the room. Peter grinned and responded by pulling out his iPhone and said, "Here, let me show you. I got it all on video. Lucky!"

**Esme's POV**

I was at Edward's fiancee's bridal shower, in Hanover, with all the ladies when I received a text message from Carlisle that stated that he had found Bella and was bringing her home. I instantly excused myself saying that I needed to get home to Carlisle because he was feeling amorous. I didn't bother driving, rather opting to run because if I cut through the forest, I'd get home much quicker. I made it with moments to spare as I saw my husband's Escalade come to a stop in our driveway. I bolted out the front door and called, "Baby! Bella is that you?" It was only after everyone got out of the SUV, that I noticed that Bella wasn't with them. Carlisle tried to give me some lame, half-assed excuse saying that he felt it best if she went with Jasper so he can keep her calm.

To say that I was angry would be putting it mildly. We finally find our daughter and my husband, her father, loses her. Loses her? How in the world do you lose a walking, breathing, living, talking daughter? Talk about irresponsible. I love my mate, I really do, but he's still just a man and sometimes men have a tendency to forget about important things. I swear they lose a few brain cells each time they cum.

When Peter showed me the video of Edward's "reaction" to Bella's popsicle show. I was enraged. He was the one that created this fiasco in the first place. When Edward demanded that we all leave Forks after the "incident" in order to preserve Bella's humanity, I was furious. I didn't want to leave my baby behind, but Edward insisted that it was for the best and that we needed to do something for him for a change. At that point, I still considered him my son and decided that perhaps leaving Bella would be for the best. I wanted to give her the opportunity to have babies, get married, and live life.

Even before we arrived in Denali, things started to change in our family. Alice handed Jasper divorce papers two hours after he arrived home following the "incident." She didn't give him the opportunity to explain his actions and told him that he was no longer part of the family. This is when I started seeing Alice in a different light, a mate or a wife would have tried to work through his problems with him. Instead, she kicked him to the curb when he was at his lowest point. I lost my cool with Alice then and told her that she had no right to kick anyone out of this family without my say so. I went on a quick hunt with Jasper and told him that he was welcome to stay with us and that we would work through his bloodlust together. I remembered Bella's conversation with Carlisle, as he was suturing her arm, asking if Jasper were okay and to please tell him that he doesn't need to apologize at all as accidents can happen to anyone. I repeated this to Jasper and it seemed to appease him a little. I also told him that I think that it would be for the best if he signed the divorce papers. I explained that Alice was too selfish to be married to my son who could feel with his whole heart. Jasper then looked at me with venom-tear filled eyes and thanked me. He said that he'd sign the divorce papers then leave for Peter and Charlotte's for a while to think. He promised that he would come back home to me, that he could never leave his mother. Jasper kept his promise and returned home a year later, just in time for our move to New Hampshire.

As soon as we arrived in Denali, Edward left to supposedly go search for Victoria. I didn't care at that point. I was engulfed in my own depression and nothing anyone did or said could soothe me. I spent a lot of time talking things through with Carmen and Rosalie who both sat and held me for countless hours so that I could work through my feelings. Alice got over Bella quickly and declared that she never really liked her anyway. She said that she had nothing in common with Bella and didn't realize how white trash she was until then. I was livid! Rosalie nearly ripped her head off at that point and told her that she could never see anyone so cold, calculating, and self-centered as a sister. Alice decided to go off to Paris for a while and she did so with our good riddance.

As soon as Alice and Edward were both gone, we all started healing. After a few months, Carlisle and I decided to secretly search for Bella so that we could bring her back home to us. We all missed her tremendously and knew that we couldn't continue in this existence without her. We tried calling her home phone and cell phone, but both were disconnected. When we contacted Jenks for assistance, he told us that there was no record that any Isabella Marie Swan ever existed. We told him about the impossibility of that fact, seeing as she was a part of our lives up until a few months prior. He insisted that she didn't exist. When we asked him to look into Charlie Swan and Renee and Phil Dwyer, he reported that they had all died a few months after we left Forks. He had no further information to give us. Now, I was worried and terrified at the same time. My youngest daughter was all alone out in the world and we had no idea where she was. Carlisle was consumed with guilt and worry and left the house for weeks at a time searching for Bella. He always returned home empty-handed.

The summer after we arrived in Denali, we decided it was time for us to move to New Hampshire. Alice and Edward had both called from where they were to say that they would like to move back in with us and attend Dartmouth College. At that point, I had no interest whatsoever in living with either of those fools again. This is when Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie and I hatched a plan. The first thing we did was purchase a house in Hanover, New Hampshire for Edward and Alice. I made sure that I designed it personally and included every amenity that anyone could possibly want. I wanted Edward and Alice to enjoy the house so much that they would never want to leave. Next, Carlisle enrolled Edward and Alice into Dartmouth College as freshmen. Sure, it took a few large donations to several of their building funds, but it was well worth it to rid Edward and Alice from our lives.

The next thing we did was do a careful study of New Hampshire's geography. We decided to live in Amherst, New Hampshire. It was two and a half hours away from Dartmouth College and only 55 minutes from Boston, Massachusetts. We all decided to either work or attend school in Boston. This would provide an excuse as to why we couldn't live in Hanover as it would simply be too far from work and school for us. We bought a large house with enough square footage to house our entire family plus the Denalis and Peter and Charlotte in case they visited. I designed each and every part of the house myself, including a room for Bella. I intended on staying in Amherst for a while.

Before Edward and Alice returned, we had some serious matters to discuss. First and foremost, we had to devise a way to keep them out of our heads. Emmett suggested that we think about sex and make decisions based on sex because that's the best way to make them feel uncomfortable. Apparently, both Edward and Alice stay out of his head as much as possible thinking that he's some sort of deranged sex addict. Having Edward and Alice think that we all had issues with sexual addiction was a small price to pay if it kept them from invading our minds. Eleazar helped by saying that we should only make last minute decisions on important family matters so that Alice couldn't see them. We also kept in constant contact with Jasper in order to keep him in the loop.

About three years after our arrival in New Hampshire, Edward started seeing a new human girl named Amanda. He insisted that she was the love of his life and never knew what he ever saw in Bella. He urged all of us to forget about Bella and get to know the new human and love her as a daughter and a sister since she was "the one" for him. I was furious! How could he so easily dispose of Bella as if she were yesterday's paper? We all made no particular efforts to go out of the way to meet Edward's new human. Finally, one weekend last year, Edward and Alice showed up on our doorstep with the girl in tow. She was terrified of Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie. Of course, Rosalie may have exasperated the situation by constantly fixating her killer glares on her and bringing Bella up as comparison, but I wasn't about to stop her. She was only missing her sister, after all. The new human was mousy, dull, greedy, and parochial in her mindset. She was a minister's daughter and was brought up to believe that women should not work outside of the home, rather that their jobs were to take care of home and family. She crinkled her nose when she found out that Rose and I owned and operated our own businesses in Boston. Fortunately, she had a strict 9pm bedtime that she adhered to so Edward always had to take her home early. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Edward and Amanda decided to get engaged about six months ago. Alice asked for help in planning the wedding, but I left it all up to her stating that I didn't have time due to work responsibilities. I, instead, offered to plan their honeymoon. Carlisle had a few discussions with Edward regarding her change and it was decided that Edward would change her after their honeymoon. Apparently, both parties decided to abstain from any sexual contact prior to Amanda's change for fear of injury. With this information, I set my current plan in motion. Alice will be going on Edward and Amanda's honeymoon to act as a chaperone. We wouldn't want Edward's lust to go out of control and he drain her prematurely, after all. When I explained all of this to Amanda, she thanked me and said she understood completely. She then went about trying to convince Edward to let Alice accompany them on their honeymoon, much to Edward's dismay. I sweetened the deal by saying that I would fund the entire honeymoon—a tour of all the European, African, and Asian countries. "Think of all the shopping, Alice..." I coaxed. With Alice firmly on her side, they double teamed it to finally convince Edward to let the Pixie join them on their honeymoon. Of course, what I still haven't told them is that the honeymoon will be a tour of all the major churches and religious sites of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Sometimes I'm so good that I even amaze myself.

As I looked down at the sight of my now sleeping daughter, I was still in awe that she was here with me now. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do to make up for abandoning her. Oh, dear God, what am I going to say to her? What if she doesn't accept me back as her mother? It doesn't matter, even if I have to live as a nomad to keep an eye on her for the rest of her life, I will. I heard a knock on the door that coaxed me out of my thoughts and went to answer it. It was Edward and he looked angry. "Mother, I don't understand why SHE is in Amanda's room."

"When did I ever say that this was Amanda's room, Edward?"

"Well, I figured it was for my fiancee because it's one of the larger rooms in the house and it has obviously been beautifully designed by you. I thought it was a wedding gift for her for when we return from the honeymoon."

"Um, no Edward, I designed this room with my daughter in mind. Amanda can put her belongings in your room on the other wing of the house. You're aware that husbands and wives generally share rooms, right?"

Edward looked flustered as he said, "Why would you design another room for Alice? She already has a room right next to mine."

"I never said it was for Alice, Edward."

"Rosalie shares a room with Emmett, mom. Unless, she's taking measures to help them both overcome their sex addiction problem. I can respect that."

"Edward, the room was designed with my youngest daughter, Bella, in mind."

Edward's jaw dropped. He proceeded to scowl and say, "Why would you design a room with HER in mind? I thought we agreed five years ago to be rid of her once and for all!"

I could hear the growls and snarls of the vampires downstairs as I answered, "Edward, we didn't agree—you agreed. Who you choose to have or not have in your life is none of my business. However, I will tell you now that Bella is my daughter and will always be a part of my life. You will not be interfering in that part of my life anymore. Now, please leave. Bella will be waking up soon and I don't want your face to be the first one she sees!" With that I slammed the door in his face and went back to sitting with my little girl.

**Bella's POV**

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Why is the Little Drummer Boy hanging out in my head and practicing his drumming? Pah-rum-pa-pum-pum! Aaaah! Ouch! Why the hell do I feel like I've been run over by a truck—twice? Why the hell was I dreaming of fucking Jasper, of all people, on a Corvette? Ugh! Think, think, think Bella! What the hell went down last night? Okay: Happy Hour, tequila, bachelorette party, jello shots, frozen Cock Pops, Cullens. Crap! Jasper. Oh shit! Blow job aimed at Jasper. Double shit! Jizzward. Ew...pervert! Dancing. More jello shots, Bella the Flasher, fuckhot oiled up stripper named The Major, chiseled abs, angry Carlisle, Jasper, more Jizzward, hot unknown vamps, friends, home, taxi, ear, yummy ear, Jasper, Corvette, single, cock, tasty cock, woods, ripped dress, naked Bella, naked Jasper...

"Oh shit! I fucked Jasper on the hood of his Corvette!" I yelled out loud as I greeted the morning sun that filtered through the window and made a bowline straight for my face. I opened one eyelid and decided that it was way too early to deal with all this drama and dragged the quilt back over my head.

"Language, Bella." I hear the deadly, yet sweet bell like voice of Esme. I slowly pull down the quilt to take a peek, uncovering only my eyes then suddenly sit up in shock. "Esme?"

I was greeted by the smiling eyes of the woman I thought of as a mother and bolted into her waiting arms for a hug. Esme's eyes were filled with venom tears that could never be shed as she gently rocked and held me while we both cried. Cried for years that were lost, cried for goodbyes that were never said, cried for the joy of reuniting.

"Bella, I have to tell you...no, I need to tell you something. Bella, I'm sorry. So, so sorry for abandoning you five years ago. So, sorry that I didn't stand my ground and remain in Forks to be with you. I'm so sorry that I didn't pick up the phone and try to call you right away. I'm sorry that I didn't at least say goodbye to you. A mother would never abandon her child. A good mother, that is. I failed you Bella and if I have to spend the rest of my existence making it up to you, I will." Esme said in agony.

"Stop, just stop. You're not a failure. You need to know that I forgive you. In fact, I forgave all of you years ago. I've had five years to talk things through with my bro...um...therapist and I've released all the pain from that time. When I look back at things now, I can see how unhealthy my relationship with Edward was. He's a control freak and I allowed him to manipulate me. I let him and Alice make all my decisions for me, most of which I didn't agree with at all. I was totally screwed up back then and too insecure to be in any sort of relationship. My br...therapist and I worked on me becoming more self-assured and independent. I'm really happy now. I just graduated from Boston University last weekend and, in the fall, I'm off to grad school at Harvard University. I need you to know something, Charlie and Renee, while I super loved them with my heart and soul were never really good at the parenting thing. It wasn't until I met you and Carlisle that I actually felt like a daughter. To this day, even with all the crap that happened with Edward, I still think of you as my mom and Carlisle as my dad. So, let's just let bygones be bygones and go with the flow. I mean, life happens, so let's just roll with it."

Carlisle suddenly slammed the door open and appeared at my side. He then engulfed me and Esme together in a hug that carried all the care, love, security, and warmth that a father could give his daughter. "Bella, I'm sorry and I love you," he said simply. Wow, that was kind of a Little House On the Prairie moment. Now, all we need is for Emmett to show up and we'd be complete. Ah...there's my Brother Bear.

"Bella?" he simply asked with his arms wide open. I jumped straight into Brother Bear's arms because out of everyone, he's the one I missed the most. Damn! Speaking of brothers...I better call him. He's probably flipping out, tearing apart Boston high and low by now.

"Bella, would you like to tell us what happened to Charlie and Renee?" Carlisle asked.

I wasn't expecting that question. Am I ready to tell them? Well, shit, it's my fault for mentioning their names in the first place. "Um...sure..." I started hesitantly. I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. "Bella, hold that thought. Excuse me for a moment." Carlisle was up and out of the room in a flash, no doubt to answer the door, followed closely by Emmett.

I peek at the clock on the nightstand and it reads 7:04 a.m. Who the hell rings a doorbell so early on a Sunday morning?

So, what exactly happened after the party last night? I remember chatting with Jasper then suddenly feeling horny and giving him road head. He tried to stop me, but there was no way I was stopping. I mean, who the hell can resist a hot, blonde sex god driving a lust inducing, red Corvette? I then, climbed on top of his cock and fucked him. He turned off the highway, found a wooded area, and then threw me on the hood of the Sex Vette. I remember him ripping my dress off and me begging for him to fuck me...and fuck me he did—good and hard, just how I like it. Oh God! I'm such a lush! After that, we sat and kissed for a while and I felt little electric shocks pulsating through my body and pulling me towards him. He's my mate. Oh God—the sex god is my mate! My brother's already gonna kill me for being irresponsible! What the fuck is he going to do once he finds out that Jasper's my mate? I can't tell him. No, I have to tell him. He'll get the truth out of me one way or another. Shit! Shit! Shit!

Oh my God! I'm still wearing Jasper's shirt and no panties!

**Carlisle's POV**

I heard the doorbell chime and I instantly became concerned. Hardly anyone knows we live here and people generally don't ring the doorbell at 7am on a Sunday morning. Before I answered the door, I motioned to Jasper and Emmett to come with me. They nodded and instantly flanked my sides.

When I opened the door, I was greeted by the sight of a young man in his early twenties who quickly acknowledged me and said, "Excuse me for disturbing you at this hour sir, but I'm looking for my sister, Isabella."

**What did you think guys? You know I love hearing from all of you, right?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you, thank you, thank you. I truly appreciate all the wonderful reviews! You guys keep me going! Per your request, I present to you-the brother!**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. ****The idea of Peter as the all knowing Yoda like vampire is the brainchild of I Dream of Eddy from her fanfiction Colliding Meteors. **I do not make one red cent off of this work of fanfiction. I am trying to figure out how to make a mold to mass market the Jasper Pop though.

**This story is AU and extremely OOC, meaning I've played around with the characters, events, and timeline.**

**There is a lot of swearing in this chapter-oh, okay the story in general. I apologize for my potty mouth in advance.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

**Emmett's POV**

"Excuse me for disturbing you at this hour sir, but I'm looking for my sister, Isabella."

No sooner than the words were out of his mouth did Jasper and I have both him and the bitch he was with, held by their throats and shoved up against the entry way. Pfft! His sister? Yeah, right, Bella has one brother and that's me fucker.

I heard Bella's feet pattering towards us and saw Eleazar grab her and put her behind him. "What the fuck are you guys doing?" she asked us. Before we knew it, some invisible force field had Jasper and me immobile and plastered up against the opposite wall. What the hell? What kind of power do these super vamps have?

"Are you guys okay?" I heard Bella ask the intruders as she crawled out on her hands and knees from in between Eleazar's legs. God she's sneaky. They nodded yes while the male pulled the female behind him. Bella turned towards us. "Who the fuck do you think you are threatening my brother and sister?"

What the fuck? Bella is doing this to us. What the hell is her problem putting her trust in these two fuckers? Edward must have fucked her up more than I thought. I'm gonna rip the pussy apart—slowly.

"You need to tread carefully, my mate." I heard Jasper say to Bella in his deadly Major's voice. Mate? "Mate?" I said out loud.

"Mate?" I heard both Carlisle and mystery vamp say at the same time. I saw Peter out of the corner of my eye pointing his iPhone towards us.

"Shut up Jasper! Just because we're mated doesn't mean that you can tell me what to do...or should I start calling you Edward?" Bella continued while ignoring Jasper's growl, "Now, if you can be good boys, I'll release you. Can you guys behave?"

We both nodded and Bella released us. Jasper pulled Bella into his arms and started checking her for injuries and putting his scent all over her. Not that she didn't reek of the fucker already. "Jasper, I'm fine. Let me go." As soon as he released her, Bella ran into the two vampires' arms. The male vampire lifted Bella's chin gently and said to her, "What the hell were you thinking? We were worried to death. You were gone all night. No phone call. No text message. You're never this irresponsible, Bella."

"I'm sorry," she said with genuine remorse, "I might have had a couple of drinks last night at the bachelorette party."

Uh-huh, a couple of drinks, sure—more like twenty. I heard the others cough and snicker something like "bullshit" and they were all met with Bella's deadly glare. Fuck, I thought Rosie was scary, but Bella?

"Bella, you know the rules. If you're drunk or are in any sort of trouble you call and we'll come get you. Now, I want to know why that didn't happen? Exactly how many drinks did you have? Oh, and don't bother lying to me—I'll get the truth out of you one way or another."

Bella grimaced and mumbled, "I think I had like twenty jello shots at Climax."

"What else?" Wanna-be brother vamp prompted.

"Um...and about 12 shots of Patron at the The Purple Shamrock's Happy Hour before that." She owned up.

Fuck me! 20 jello shots and 12 shots of Patron. Even I know that that's a fuckton of alcohol to consume in one night. Little girl is in big trouble now. Brother Bear will be sitting her down for a talking to and if I have my way she's never leaving my sight again. I was just about to say something when the imitation brother lost his cool with Bella.

"That's fucking outrageous, Bella! You could have died of alcohol poisoning! I thought I taught you better than that. Bella, you and I are all that are left of Charlie's bloodline. He died for us—let's show him a little more respect, okay? Besides, if I lost you, I don't know what I'd do."

Whoa! Did he say that they were all that's left of Charlie's bloodline and that he died for them. What kind of fuckery went down when we abandoned Bella? I'm really gonna fuck up Assward now. I look around the room and I notice that everyone else was wearing equally stunned expressions as mine.

"I know, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I think I just got caught up in the moment and just lost control. I'm so sorry." Bella started bawling into her other brother's arms. Damn! I hate to share her, but he seems authentic. Fuck!

"I suppose that would explain the YouTube video then?"

"What YouTube video?" Bella asked.

The brother vamp pulled out his iPhone and fiddled with it a bit then showed her a video. Bella's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Really sis, what the hell made you give a blow job to a frozen penis in public?"

"I didn't, I mean I did, but I didn't think..." Bella blabbered in desperation.

"Exactly, you weren't fucking thinking! This shit's gone viral now! It's the featured viral video on Yahoo for fuck's sake! Who the hell is this 'YodaLovesTatas' dude anyway?"

'YodaLovesTatas'? There's only one guy that would come up with a username like that and he was currently standing in our living room with his iPhone pointed right at us. Everyone in my family all turned towards Peter. He tried to make a run for it, but Garrett had him pinned to the wall with one hand. "Explain," the Major ordered as he walked up to Peter, "I thought you said you didn't film her."

"Sir," Peter said submissively, "I never said I didn't film her, I said I didn't take any pictures of her."

"Wait a minute! You're 'YodaLovesTatas'? Asked the male vamp.

Peter nodded in affirmation and the vamp nailed into him with a punch to the nose that landed him right on his ass. Mystery vamp then continued his questioning, "Who the fuck do you think you are filming my sister and posting it up on YouTube for all the world to see? What the fuck is this 'YodaLovesTatas'? You never put Yoda and Tatas together in one line. That's sacrilege motherfucker! Yoda's like a legend among legends, he's like a fucking Jedi god. That's like putting Santa and Pussy together in the same line."

Everyone then turned and looked at me. I tried to pretend like nothing was wrong and looked nonchalantly out of the window. "Spill it!" I heard my baby sister say. Damn! She's more like Rosie than I thought. When did she turn into a scary bitch?

"My YouTube username might be 'SantaLicksPussy'." I mumbled.

Might be or is, Emmett?"

"Is." I whispered meekly.

Bella looked shocked. She held out her right hand and the female vamp walked promptly up to her and placed her wrist in Bella's hand. Bella took female vamp's wrist and gave it a swift flick so that her palm slapped me. "Ouch!" I said out loud. Damn, that hurt!

When the hell did the conversation go from Bella's oral sex show to my YouTube username? Shouldn't we be disciplining her for being a lush instead of talking about my personal You Tube account?

"Bella," the female vamp said while holding up the torn remnants of a dress, "what the hell happened to my favorite dress?"

My little sister opened and then closed her mouth and looked pointedly at the dress. "Oh...that, um...ask Jasper." She said pointing at a bewildered Jasper.

"What the fuck did you do to my favorite dress? Are you such an animal that you had to rip it off of her?"

Jasper looked sheepishly at the female vamp and offered, "I'll buy you a new one."

"I suppose, then, that this belongs to you?" She questioned while holding up a man's belt.

"Uh...yeah, thanks, I was looking for that." Jasper replied.

"Enough!" I heard Esme say as she walked into the middle of the chaos. "I want everyone to sit down now! We're all going to talk about this like adults. Oh, and Bella—put some clothes on." She tossed a pair of pajama pants to Bella which she promptly put on. What the fuck! She was running around in Jasper's shirt and no panties this whole time. Oh great, I just got a look at her snatch—not something a brother wants to see. I really need to have a chat with her.

Everyone sat immediately down and then I heard my mother say, "Bella would you like to introduce us to your family?"

"Um...sure, this is my half brother Riley Swan Biers and you already met his wife and mate Victoria at the ah...um...baseball game."

We were all stunned. I was pretty sure that it was Victoria, but she kind of looked and smelled different. She still had red hair, but the color was toned down a lot. She's dressed nicely too. Not like the repulsive looking nomad she was when she was with James. It was almost like she went through one of Alice's makeovers, but it actually worked this time. She's kind of hot! Not Rosie hot, but hot in her own way.

Riley Biers. Riley Biers. I've heard that name before. "Wait a second? You're Riley Biers—the two time All American quarterback of the University of Washington Huskies Football Team?"

"Uh, yeah, that would be me." Riley said.

"Dude, you're a legend! I've seen all of your games. I remember that game against Oregon State when you scored five touchdowns. Five touchdowns man!"

"Can we please get back to the task at hand? So, how did you..." Carlisle started when he was interrupted by loud, frantic banging on the door. Carlisle immediately went to answer the door flanked by most of the male vamps.

"Irina, Laurent...we thought you were busy touring Europe." Carlisle greeted, "Isn't that why you're unable to attend Edward and Amanda's wedding tomorrow?"

Irina and Laurent both bolted into the living room without greeting anyone and did a quick scan of the room. They let out a sigh of relief when they spotted Bella. "There you are," Irina said, "we've been tracking you all night. When you didn't come home we thought you'd been abducted. Laurent and I ran all the way to Rhode Island before we finally tracked you here."

"Why were you in Rhode Island? I didn't go further south than Boston." Bella asked

"Well, we thought we detected your scent going in that direction." Laurent replied matter of factly.

Suddenly, Bella, Riley, and Victoria were cracking up. "You guys can't track for shit!" Bella said while clutching her stomach. "No kidding, I'm surprised that you didn't end up in Florida at the rate you were going." Vicky said.

"I know, but at least we tried." Irina said, as she pulled Bella in for a hug and ran her fingers through her hair. "Don't you ever do that to us again. We were all so worried. You smell like Jasper."

"Call us next time, baby girl. You know that we'll come get you, right?" Laurent added.

That's it! I've had it. Why the fuck are Irina and Laurent in the mix now? Eleazar's been trying to get them to come home for more than a week at a time for the last five years and they suddenly show up looking for my baby sis? Now, they're all cozy with her? I want to know what the fuck's going on now and by the angry look on Eleazar's face, so did he.

"Somebody better tell me what's going on right the fuck now!" Jasper roared, echoing my sentiments.

He then pulled Bella away from Irina and sat her on his lap and started nuzzling her neck. Now, he's scenting her again. Enough already with the fucking scenting. We get it, she's yours—fucker still has some explaining to do though. Looking at Riley and Laurent's expressions, I could tell that Jasper was going to be getting the third degree from the two of them and me. That's just us three. Carlisle and Eleazar both had murderous glares in their eyes. Yep, Jasper's a dead man. I mean, come on, we all heard Bella when she said that she fucked Jasper on the hood of his Corvette. I wonder if Rosie and I could take the Vette for a spin?

**Riley's POV**

Who the hell does this fucker think he is? That's my baby sis that he's trying to lay a claim on. No fucking way! Get your grubby little paws off of her. Little girl isn't ready for this mating shit and I'm not ready to let her go. No way in hell is fucker going to take her away from me and Vicky. We were all doing so well in avoiding the Cullens too—one night and it all flies out the window. Between the four of us, Irina, Laurent, Vicky, and I were managing to keep her happy, healthy, safe, and sane.

"Can we all sit down and discuss this?" I heard the lead vamp say. We all sat down again. "Let's finish introducing ourselves first. My name is Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife Esme and my sons Emmett and Jasper. This is Eleazar Denali, whose daughter Irina you already know, and his son in law Garrett. The man who you know as 'YodaLovesTatas' is Peter Whitlock. You just missed Edward, he left early to set up for his wedding and the rest of the wives are all heading down to Boston to prepare for the wedding as well. Now, if you could start with how you know our daughter Bella, we'd appreciate it."

Fuck! I just wanted to take sis and get out of here and now he's giving us the Spanish Inquisition? Can I trust him? Well, he seems honest enough. With my gift, I can tell whenever someone's lying and this guy was definitely oozing truth and honesty. Bella always said that she only blamed Edward and Alice for the shitstorm they caused and Irina and Laurent invariably backed her up. I looked to my mate and her beautiful smile as she encouraged me to tell them. Well, here it goes.

"Five summers ago, I had just graduated from University of Washington with a master's degree in clinical psychology. I was on top of the world. Not only did I just get my M.S., I was slated to start work at a counseling center in Seattle the next week. On top of that, I had just gotten in contact with my biological father, Charlie Swan. You see, my mother had gotten pregnant when she and Charlie were still in high school. Her parents had sent her away to relatives in Colorado to have me. She was supposed to put me up for adoption, but she refused and instead decided to stay in Colorado to make her own way. When I was five, my mother married a man named Tony Biers. He adopted me and raised me as one of his own. I was raised in a warm family environment with parents who loved and nurtured me and raised me to be the best person that I could be. Throughout the years, my mother never let me forget that Charlie Swan was my father. When my mom and Tony died in a skiing accident during my senior year of college, I decided to work up the courage to get in touch with Charlie Swan. I knew he was still in Forks and soon I found out that he was the Chief of Police there. It took me two years to work up the guts to call him. When I finally got in touch with him he was open and accepting and excited to meet me. We talked weekly and made plans to meet. I found out that I had a half sister, named Isabella Marie and I was looking forward to meeting her too. That was around the time I met Victoria."

"Honey, let me take over from here." I heard my beautiful wife say.

"As you're well aware, when I met you for the first time," she said as she looked pointedly at the Cullens, "I was still with James." The Cullens all nodded their affirmation.

"You need to know that when I was first turned about fifty years ago, I was changed by my sire to service the needs of James. James, as you know, was cruel and abusive. I was constantly beaten and used for his own sexual gratification the entire time I was with him. It got to the point where I thought the abuse was normal in a relationship. I was so naïve that I didn't know any better." At that point, mama vamp and Irina were sobbing into their mates shoulders and Bella was bawling into Jasper's chest. Is he fucking licking her tears off? Aw...gross man, cut that shit out!

"When I found out that James was killed, I was devastated and hell bent on revenge. I got in touch with Laurent who desperately tried to get me to come to Alaska, but I was so far gone that I had only one person's blood on my mind—Bella's." I heard growls coming from around the room at that point and I placed my mate behind me fearing for her safety.

"Come on guys, hear her out!" I heard my sister yell.

Victoria then continued her story, "I hatched a plan to create a newborn army in Seattle. I was well aware of how to go about making one, but first I needed to find someone strong and intelligent to control and lead the army. I had been watching Riley for a few days by then and I knew that he had all the characteristics needed to become a powerful leader—so when he came stumbling out of a bar alone one night, I changed him."

"How did you know what it takes to create a newborn army, Victoria?" I heard Jasper ask my wife.

"My sire was Maria, Major Whitlock, I'm well aware of who you and Captain Whitlock are." There were gasps all around the room as that tidbit of knowledge came to surface.

"I took Riley to an abandoned cabin that I found in Canada so he could transform. I was getting worried because he didn't scream or even whimper while he was changing. He simply looked like he was sleeping. When he woke up, he was calm for a newborn with absolutely no bloodlust at all. When I brought him a human to feed on, he refused. He said that he'd rather die than murder anyone. So, I did the next best thing and brought him a buck. I told him that it would be like hunting only without guns. He seemed to agree with me and finally latched on to feed. Weeks passed and we got to talking. I found myself opening up to Riley and telling him my story. He was so easy talk to and he, eventually, got me to understand that my relationship with James was abusive and that I was much better off without him. For the first time ever, I was in love and I realized that Riley was my mate. By then, I had dropped my plans on forming a newborn army completely and I was actually hoping to approach the Cullens and seeing if I could befriend them. Like Riley, I had started to feed on animals."

"Why didn't you contact us dear? We would have taken both you and Riley in." Esme said.

"I'm getting to that. Riley was so unlike any newborn I had ever known. He had completely retained every single human memory he had. He told me how Charlie Swan was his father and Bella his half sister and how saddened he was that he would never get to meet him. I told him then that with our new golden eyes we could probably meet both of them and that Bella was someone he could definitely get to know and love. I then told him what I knew of Bella from our brief encounter and how comfortable she seemed to be with our kind. We set out for Forks immediately. We ran through the forest and that's when we heard him. It was Edward breaking up with Bella. His words were so cruel. It reminded me of James in a way. He told her that he was tired of pretending to be human and so was the rest of his family. He continued on saying that she was not good for him and that her human mind was no more than a sieve. He told her not to worry about him because he could easily find other distractions. Then, he had the nerve to ask her to not do anything reckless. The kicker was when he just left her there, in the middle of the forest, standing. Bella soon started looking for him, but as you know our kind are fast and it would be impossible for a human to track him. When Bella broke down and started crying, Riley and I picked her up and brought her to your abandoned house."

**Bella's POV**

The snarls of outrage reverberating through the Cullen home, when Vicky finished telling everyone about the fucked up break up, were deafening. Several of the men, high tailed it out of the house to cull some trees in the surrounding forest. Jasper pulled me in even closer to him and kept checking me for injuries again and purring. Jesus Christ! I'm not so sure how much of this mating thing I can handle. I mean, I'm used to being around it considering I've been living with two mated couples for the last five years, but experiencing it first hand was a whole new ballgame. When we kissed last night, I knew right away that he was my mate. Not only did I feel those sparks that Irina and Vicky described to me time and time again, I also felt a strange magnetic pull attaching me to him. I thought they were just kidding about the physical dynamics of mating, but this shit's just fucked up. Why Jasper though? I never felt that pull to him when we were in Forks, but then again I never saw the dude. When I saw him at the club, though I was instantly attracted to him. Why I performed the blow job on the Cock Pop for him I'll never know, but I have a feeling that it all has to do with this mating thing.

After a few minutes, everyone came back in a little calmer. Carlisle walked straight up to me and looked me in the eyes and said, "Bella, we had no idea that Edward broke up with you in such a callous manner. He told us that you completely understood his reasoning and that you, actually, realized that you didn't want anything to do with vampires any longer. Bella, I'm sorry. We should have said goodbye and we should have checked up on you. Like idiots, we believed Edward so easily. Princess, we love you and we always have. You need to know that your mom and I searched and searched for you, but it was almost as if you dropped off of the face of the Earth." Why that lying motherfucking shit bucket, I can't believe the crap he spewed to his family!

"Yeah, Sissy, Rosie and I went looking for you too, but you were already gone. We missed you so much and we wanted to bring you back home." Emmett added.

Well, that's a surprise. Rosalie, the mother of all bitches, missed me? I'll have to find out what that's all about later. Who knows? Maybe we'll get along more now, now that I can give her a run for her money in the bitch department.

"Bella, would you tell us what happened after Riley and Victoria found you?" Esme asked.

I hate this part. I really do. It's bittersweet and it's tragic. I might as well get it out of the way now since I don't plan on repeating it anytime soon. I've been done with brooding over the shit life throws at you for years now, so bringing it all up didn't exactly float my boat. Still, they deserve answers too seeing as Jizzward lied to them too.

"I woke up in your living room after a few hours, and, naturally, I freaked out because I was in Vicky's arms and the last time I saw her she wanted to eat me. It turned out that she held me the entire time I was passed out. She told me that she didn't mean any harm and that she had heard what Edward said to me in the forest. She told me her history then introduced me to Riley who, in turn, told me his story. He backed up his claim that he's my biological half-brother by producing a copy of his birth certificate. On it, clear as day, Charles Swan of Forks, Washington was listed as his father. We talked for a while and they took me home to a furious Charlie. He had the entire town searching for me because, apparently, Edward had forged a note saying that I had gone for a walk in the woods with him."

Oh boy, maybe I shouldn't have told them that. More growls were coming from the vampires and at this rate, I'd be surprised if Eddie Boy lasted longer than today. I bet he's going to get a few limbs removed. Maybe they can pull his fingers off one by one. Hmm...I wonder if they'd let me watch.

I continued my story, "The next day, Riley and Victoria stopped by to introduce themselves to Charlie. I had never seen my dad so happy in his life. He was so overjoyed at finally meeting his son that he forgot about being angry at me. I thought that I would be more devastated over losing Edward than I was, but I ended up being more angry about the words he said and the way he handled everything. Having Riley and Vicky with me and hearing about the misfortunes they'd overcome forced me to realize that there were more important things in life than being dumped by a high school crush. The three of us talked everyday and I eventually came to terms with the fact that I missed you guys more than Edward and Alice. Riley pointed out that the way they acted with me was extremely controlling and manipulative and quite similar to the abusive way James treated Vicky."

Now for the tragic part. It was so shitty that I wasn't sure that I could repeat it. I looked to Riley and he flashed me an encouraging smile showing his support. I really do love my brother. "Go on baby girl, you're doing fine," he said, "I'm right here if you need me."

God, he really is the best big brother in the world.

"Things were going great. Vicky and Riley moved in with us—they even ate with me and Charlie just for show. We all became one big, happy family. On Sundays, Riley and Charlie would go fishing and Vicky and I would just hang out doing girl things. About two months after you guys left, I got the phone call from hell. Renee and Phil had been killed in a car accident. They're car was hit head on by a drunk driver and they died instantly. I was shattered. My mom was gone and I never got to say goodbye. I just wanted to see her, to hug her one last time. Riley pulled from his training as a clinical psychologist and from his own experience of losing his parents suddenly and he helped me to grieve. Unfortunately we were hit with even more tragedy three weeks later."

I needed to take a break. I was panting and had tears in my eyes from all the pain that the memories brought up. "Do you want me to take over Bella?" Riley asked.

"No, I need to do this." I answered. I felt a sense of calm wash over me at that moment and a boost of confidence. "Thanks Jasper." I said as I squeezed his hand.

"Charlie had surprised us all by taking us all to Seattle to watch the Huskies play football. It was such a rare thing because he was always a homebody and hated to go out. When we got home, Billy Black and his son Jacob were in the driveway. They looked angry. Billy asked us what we were doing with Riley and Victoria. Charlie explained that Riley was the long lost son he was telling him about. They, then, yanked me aside and told me how reckless I was being for bringing "bloodsuckers" into my home. They said that they thought I was over my "stupid phase" since the Cullens all left. I, of course, told them that we were in no danger and that Riley and Vicky were family. Riley, then, stepped in and pulled me behind him. Of course, Charlie had no idea what Billy and Jacob's problems were and at that point, neither did we. Suddenly, Jacob started shaking and just as Charlie moved to step in front of the three of us, Jacob phased into a wolf and attacked. Charlie took the brunt of Jacob's force and died almost instantly. His last words were, "I'm so happy that I got to spend the last few months with my children. Riley, Victoria take care of Bella. Don't brood over me, you guys are still young and I want you to live your lives and make something of yourselves. You three made me the luckiest and proudest dad in the world. I love you guys." Billy Black was remorseful and devastated at the loss of his best friend. His own son had accidentally committed an atrocious murder. Jacob and Billy both tried to apologize and get me to move to La Push, but how could I after what they did to my dad. After, Charlie's funeral, which the entire town turned out for, we took care of his estate and moved to New England for a fresh start. We visit his grave once a year on his birthday."

After I finished telling my story, I jumped into Riley's arms because I just needed my big brother then.

He rocked me until I was all cried out and when I looked to my side, Emmett was right there next to him rubbing my back. Every single vampire looked like they would cry if they could, even YodaLovesTatas.

Just then, my stomach started growling and Esme jumped up and ran to the kitchen to cook for me. Vicky went to help her seeing as she was probably more used to maneuvering around the kitchen. Enough crying. I hadn't cried like that in years. I felt strangely refreshed, though, as if I just released whatever frustrations were lingering in my soul. "Um...I'm gonna go upstairs to shower and change." I said to the room in general.

"Okay, honey, I laid out a fresh set of clothes and some towels in your bathroom." Esme called out from the kitchen. As I was making my way upstairs, I heard Esme yell, "Jasper, keep your ass downstairs and let Bella have some privacy. Give the poor girl a fucking break for God's sake!"

I had to laugh because I agreed. Any other time, I would have been game for a quick shower fuck, but right now I just needed some time to reflect alone.

**Esme's POV**

Oh, my poor baby. I was heartbroken when she finished telling her story. I kept thinking that fate has a funny way of dealing his cards. What can I say about Riley and Vicky? Those two are nothing short of wonderful. The way they were able to keep Bella going and raise her into the strong, independent woman she is, is nothing short of a miracle. Vicky had such a tragic beginning to this life. Fifty years with that bastard James, and she was able to turn all her hate into love. Riley is such a special young man. He shouldered the responsibility of raising his little sister and repairing his mate's damaged soul, and he did so by showing them all the love he could muster together. All I know is that I am determined to have the three of them move in with us. If they don't move in with us then I'm moving in with them. No longer will they be without a mother.

I took the opportunity, while Bella was showering, to get to know Victoria. I was amazed at how deftly she handled herself in the kitchen. "You handle yourself so well in the kitchen." I said.

"Oh, I've had years of practice. My parents owned a diner in Fort Lee, New Jersey. I was always helping out with the cooking." She then took the frying pan and flipped an omelette in the air without using a spatula. It landed perfectly back in the pan without falling apart.

"How in all heaven did you do that?" I asked her.

"Oh, it's simple really. It's all in the wrist. You have to keep your shoulder completely relaxed or the whole thing will flop to the floor. Here, you try." Vicky said as she handed me the frying pan. I gave it a whirl and then with a 'splat' the omelette tumbled to the floor. Well, that didn't go so well.

"I'm so sorry, I ruined your perfect omelette." I said remorsefully.

"Don't worry about it. They're easy enough to make. Here, you can practice more with the pancakes—they're a little easier to flip."

She then told me about how she, Bella, and Irina spend their girl time together taking fun classes like jewelry making and belly dancing. She added that she just graduated from college for the first time last weekend with Bella. She majored in teaching and she was excited to start applying for her first real job. I could tell that she, Bella, and Irina were close and I hoped that they would be able to bring Rose into the fold. Rose has been so lonely since she had her falling out with Alice and she could really use some female companionship.

"So, how did Irina and Laurent come to live with you?" I asked, knowing full well that the others were listening.

"Well, after Charlie died, we weren't quite sure what to do. Although, I'd been a vampire for many years, I was a virtual prisoner under James' control so I truly had no idea how to make it in the real world. So, I called Laurent and explained what had happened, and he and Irina came to Forks right away. Charlie had recently changed his will and left everything to Bella and Riley. We took his life insurance money, 401K, policeman's pension fund, and the proceeds from the sale of his house and pooled it together. Irina got in touch with Jenks and we were able to forge new identities and destroy our old ones. Time was of the essence because Bella still needed to finish high school and we were determined to make that happen in a new town, away from those wretched wolves. We decided to move as far away as possible from Forks. We ended up in Boston because I'd always wanted to visit the city as a child and with so many hospitals, it would give Riley a better opportunity to find a job. With Charlie's money, we were able to set ourselves up so that we could rent a nice apartment and pay for Bella and my college education. Riley works at Boston Children's Hospital as a clinical adolescent and child psychologist so that he can support us."

She took a deep breath and then continued, "Anyway, Irina and Laurent ended up tagging along with us to Boston. They told us about how you were now living with them and about how everyone, except for Alice and Edward, missed Bella terribly. Irina formed an immediate attachment to Bella and refused to leave her so we all ended up living together."

I was absolutely surprised about how Irina took to Bella. Out of all the Denali girls, she was the unfriendliest and never really went out of her way to get to know us. When she and Laurent left Denali during our stay, we thought it was because she wasn't happy about the fact that we were all living with them. Now, I come to find out that they were keeping an eye on Bella all along. Maybe Irina has a bit of Rose in her—lonely on the inside, but refusing to show it on the outside. In any case, I can't wait to tell Carmen about finding Irina. She's been so worried about her refusal to come home these past five years and felt like a failure as a mother.

Ah, there's my Bella, she looks so much more refreshed than earlier. She walks up to me with a huge smile on her face and gives me a bear hug that could rival Emmett's. I feel so complete with my daughter back in my arms and my two new children. She sits down and Vicky serves her an omelette.

"Yummy Vicky, how come whenever you make an omelette it comes out nice and fluffy and when I make one it comes out all cardboardy?" She says between bites.

"I just have that magic touch sis, you know that." Vicky responds.

"So, you have a wedding to go to today." Irina said to Bella.

"I know, I'm still hungover though, but I'm in the wedding so I have to go. Hopefully, I'll feel better by then."

Just then, Garrett pipes in, "Dad, I don't see why we have to go to Preacherward and the nun's wedding? How come Laurent and Irina don't have to go?"

"Yes, I agree, I think they should go." Eleazar says to a bewildered Laurent and Irina.

"Really, Dad, I don't want to go. You know how I've always hated Malice and Prudeward and from what I hear from Tanya and Katie, the girl's a judgmental, venomous bitch." Well, that was certainly an accurate description.

"After what you've put your mother and I through for the last five years, I believe you owe it to us to put up with this wedding like the rest of us." Eleazar told Irina.

"Oh, Daddy, please don't make us go. Besides, Riley, Vicky, Laurent, and I have plans to go hunting tonight."

"You can go for a quick hunt before the wedding."

"But, Dad..."

"My answer is final. You and Laurent will go to the Virgin couple's wedding and pretend that you're enjoying it like the rest of us!"

"Fine!" Huffed a glum Irina who was currently pouting and stomping her feet out of frustration.

"I'm gonna kick the fucking crap out of you!" Growled an angry Laurent who proceeded to chase a victorious looking Garrett out of the house.

Speaking of weddings, it appears we all have one to go to. I should probably go save the girls who were all covering my hasty departure to go see my daughter. Just then, I heard my cell phone ring. Ugh, it's Alice. I put my fingers to my lips and motioned for everyone to keep quiet.

"Hello." I answered in a lusty voice.

"Aren't you and Carlisle done yet? We do have a wedding today, you know. Edward's been in Boston helping to set things up since 6 a.m. We're about to make our way there." Alice's grating voice came through from the other end.

"Almost there, almost there..." I panted into the phone, "...oh, Carlisle, right there, more, more...what was it that you said, Alice, I'm kind of in the middle of something?" Whenever I didn't want to speak with Alice or Edward, I always pretended to be in the throes of passion.

"Ugh! You guys are so disgusting, it's not like you never have sex. When I was still married, I didn't have sex as much as you two do. We were on a precise once a week schedule. You have to train Carlisle like I did Jasper, there's a time and a place for marital relations. Even Jasper had more self control than Carlisle does."

I looked over at Jasper and he currently had Bella pinned against the pantry door in a lip lock and his hand was straying dangerously close to her breasts. Some self control he has. Humph! Train my husband indeed! Time to get the annoying Pixie off the line.

"Alice, do we have to do this now...mmm...yes, baby... I'll meet you in Boston in two hours. Tell Carmen to drive my car to the hotel and oh, oh, oh, Caaaaarlisle!" With that, I snapped the phone shut and looked up to the shocked faces of my family.

"What? It's the best way to get Prunella off the phone. Really, Jasper, I don't know what you ever saw in her!" I admonished. "Bella, what time is your friend's wedding at?"

"Um, church ceremony at 5 p.m. followed by a reception at 7 p.m."

"What are your plans for after? I'd like to pick you up and make sure you get home okay." I said.

"I'll be fine. I'm staying in the bridal suite because the bride and groom are leaving for Hawaii right after the reception." Bella said to a delighted Jasper. We still had yet to discuss this apparent "mate" thing that Jasper and Bella both mentioned. I keep forgetting that Bella is almost 23 years old and a grown woman. It was such a difficult concept for me to grasp and I was determined not to smother her.

"Oh, well, that's nice. Would you just do me a favor and give me a call so I know you've settled in for the night?" That's not too much to ask for, is it?

"No, problem. I usually do that with Riley and Vicky anyway. I just kind of forgot last night."

We all exchanged numbers and made plans to meet up the day after the weddings. Carlisle took the opportunity to extract a promise out of Bella that she won't drink too much at her friend's wedding. Emmett loaned Riley his Hummer so they could drive back home since they all ran in order to track Bella to our house. Time to go to the fucked up Virgin wedding, I suppose.

**I'd love to hear what you think of Bella's brother. Let me know, I promise to write back.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow! You guys rock with your reviews, alerts, and faves! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. One Stripper Major for all of you!**

**This story contains lots and lots of swearing. Please do not read if this type of thing bothers you.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. I do not profit from this work of fanfiction at all. No copyright infringement intended.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only. If you're still in high school, you shouldn't be reading this.**

**Rosalie's POV**

Do this! Do that! Yak, yak, yak! Screech, screech, screech! The fucking bitch is driving me insane! I don't even want to go to this damned wedding. Why would I even want to attend Fuckward and his new human's wedding?

"Rosalie, make sure that the florist arranges the flowers the way I want them. What is your problem? This is a day of celebration and you're bringing me down!" Alice snipped.

Oh good, I'm doing my job correctly then. Like that bitch deserves even a shred of happiness. There's the florist. "Should I just arrange these flowers the way Miss Cullen asked?"

"Go for it, do whatever you want. I don't give a fuck." I said.

The florist shook her head and I could swear I heard her mutter "bitch" under her breath. You haven't seen bitch yet, lady!

"Oh good, she's here." Alice says as she walks back into the church.

"Alice, who the fuck puts Daisies and Queen Anne's Lace together in a floral arrangement?"

"They're a tribute to Edward and Amanda. I'll have you know that Daisies represent purity and Queen Anne's Lace stand for delicate femininity. Things you know nothing about."

"At least I'm not sex starved and repressed like you are bitch."

"I don't have time for your petty insults Rosalie. At least I don't suffer from a sexual addiction problem like everyone else in the family seems to these days. Honestly, I think you all need to seek help—it's not natural to be so obsessed with sex. Now are you going to help me or not?"

"Not!" I snapped and walked out of the church. I've had enough of this bullshit and if she wants to put this wedding together she's gonna have to do it on her own. I don't even like the greedy, human imbecile anyway.

I walked to the Boston hideaway that Carlisle set up for us. I could have gone to my shop and finished up on a couple of repairs, but with everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, there was no way I could concentrate on anything.

I'm still in shock that the guys found Bella. Emmett and I have been searching unsuccessfully for her for almost five years now and the guys run into her at Fuckward's bachelor party of all places. I saw the YouTube video of her popsicle blow job complete with her sicko ex cumming while moaning her name and I didn't know what to make of it. She's changed so much. The Bella we knew in Forks would never have done such a thing. Hell! She wouldn't have been caught dead in a strip joint. She seems happier and more confident though. I just hope she gives me a chance to get to know her. I was such a bitch to her in Forks because I was jealous of her humanity and because Alice was paying so much attention to her.

Alice—ugh! I wish she'd just crawl into a fire pit and die. I really hate her. When we left Bella and she called her former best friend white trash, I knew that I couldn't stay friends with such a superficial bitch. I thought back to our time in Forks and Bella was never anything but pleasant to me. I goaded her and played on her vulnerabilities like an asshole. I truly regret that I did that. I hope she'll forgive me because to be honest, I could really use a nice, female friend.

I also wanted to make the effort for Emmett. I've never seen my mate so devastated in all my years with him. For the past five years, Emmett has been spending all of his free time hacking into school, hospital, and government data bases around the globe searching for Bella. Every year, on Bella's birthday, he flies back to Forks searching for traces of her, but to no avail. He told me that he leaves flowers and beer at Chief Swan's grave and sits and hopes for some kind of divine intervention to tell him where his sister is. The guilt stemming from my past mistreatment of Bella intensified after hearing that.

A text message from Emmett roused me from my thoughts.

**From: E McCarty**

**To: R Hale**

**Hey Babe. Heading your way now to help set up. C U at church.**

I quickly texted him back.

**From: R Hale**

**To: E McCarty**

**Don't bother. Alice is a certified grade A wonder bitch. Come to hideaway instead.**

If I'm not helping, neither is my husband. I won't allow the Pixie to order Emmett around. Besides, I wanted to hear what else happened last night. As soon as she found out about Bella, Esme left in a rush asking us to cover for her. The last thing I got was a text from Emmett saying that Bella was riding Jasper in his Corvette. How do you ride someone in a Corvette. You'd have to be pretty agile to do that. I'm going to have to ask her to show me because I plan on taking my Grizzly Bear on a ride in Jasper's Vette. Come to think of it—those were some pretty stellar oral skills she displayed on that YouTube video. I wonder where she picked up those new talents of hers. That's it! Little sister is gonna be tutoring me starting tomorrow.

'Buzz!' Another text

**From: P Whitlock**

**To: C Whitlock; R Hale; C Denali; K Denali; T Denali**

**Thought you ladies might want a visual of what went down last night and this morning.**

**See video attachments.**

Well, that was pretty thoughtful of Peter. I think I'll just watch them now.

What? Oh my God! Oh, Dad looks scared. Is Eleazar actually shaking? Good going Mom, fuck him up! Why the hell are they both half naked? Holy fuck! Mates? Ooh—that guy is fuckhot! Damn, he landed a good one on Peter. Put some fucking pants on girl! Brother? Victoria? Irina? Laurent? Oh motherfucker—shit went down this morning for sure.

Who the hell is knocking at my door? "Who is it?" I called out.

"It's us, open the fucking door beyotch!"

I open the door and asked, "What the hell are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Alice?"

"No way. You aren't leaving us with that barracuda. If you don't have to help then neither do we. Carmen's still there and Esme, Carlisle, and Eleazar just arrived. Besides, she can breathe down Eddie the Pants Cummer's neck." Charlotte said.

"Yeah and if Charlotte's not staying, neither am I," added Tanya.

"Uh-huh and I can't stay because I need one of you guys to keep me from shocking the Prude, the Prune, and the Priss," said Kate.

Good point...although a little pain may do the three peons some good. "Did you get the videos my husband sent?"

"Yes, Char, I just finished watching them. What do you guys make of them?"

"I don't know what to say. I'm stunned about Irina and Laurent. We thought they were touring Europe, but it turns out they've been in Boston all along. I'm glad, though, Bella seems to be a really nice girl. Her story was downright tragic, but I'm glad that she wasn't alone. To be honest, I've never seen Irina care for someone so much." Kate said.

"Speaking of her brother. Did anyone other than me think he was hot?" Tanya asked, "I mean, I know you girls are all mated, but that man just oozes sex."

"Oh and did you see the way he punched Peter and dropped him on his ass? Sorry Charlotte." I added.

"Sugar, I may be mated, but I'm not blind. Peter was a shit for posting that video and he got what was coming to him fair and square. Now, I know a fine specimen when I see one and that Riley is

F-I-N-E—fine."

"Yeah and the way he's so loving with his wife and his sister just puts him over the top in the sexiness scale." Kate said.

Yup, Bella's brother is one hot ticket. I love my mate. I really do, but a little eye candy never hurt anyone and this guy is just easy on the eyes.

Suddenly, we heard growling outside the door. "We can fucking hear you, you know." I heard my mate say. I opened the door to the jealous faces of Emmett, Peter, and Garrett plus a grinning Jasper.

"Yeah, Riley's hot, Riley's sexy, Riley's loving, Riley, Riley, Riley! You gals haven't even met the guy yet and y'all are fawning all over him." Peter said.

"I'll have you know that, with the exception of Tanya, you girls are all mated." Garrett added.

"I didn't think he was that bad." Jasper said.

"That's cause he's not a threat to you. He's your mate's brother." Peter said.

"What the fuck guys? Are you jealous? Maybe you can learn a thing or two from him." Kate said to the guys.

"Yeah, he's kind of like a modern day Mr. Darcy." Charlotte gushed.

"So, are none of us helping the Pixie with the wedding?" I said to change the topic.

"She can handle it all on her own." Jasper said with an evil grin.

I happened to agree with my brother. We spent the next few hours watching movies and chatting. Soon, it was time for us to get ready for the wedding. I had to wear a fugly bright yellow bridesmaid dress and everyone was cracking jokes at me. I had Emmett bring my red Dior gown with him to the church. I planned on changing into it as soon as the virgins both say, "I do." I don't give a fuck what the fucking Pixie bitch says, I'm not staying in this atrocity. Yellow is the new black my ass!

_**Later, at the reception...**_

This is purgatory. No, this is hell—burning hell. Personally, I'd rather go through the change over and over again rather than endure this shit. We're at Edward and Amanda's reception which is being held in the Seaport Ballroom at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. Apparently, they have two ballrooms because with our vampire hearing we could hear a second reception happening on the floor above us. The guests at the other reception were obviously having a better time than we were because I could hear actual laughter.

This has to be the dullest party I've ever been to in my existence. You'd figure after a three hour church service they could at least entertain the guests better, but no, they had to keep to the theme of torturing their guests until they went insane. The actual wedding was horrific. We had to endure a three hour lecture on morality led by Amanda's minster father. The guy was on a mission. He preached about the evils of adultery and fornication. The idea, no doubt, put into the guy's head by Edward and Alice who are mortified by our supposed sex addiction. Three hours later and the virgins were finally married and I was out of that hellish yellow dress before I even left the church.

Alice was a sour bitch. She was pissed off at all of us for not helping her with setting up the wedding and getting Amanda ready for her big day. Amanda was dressed in some kind of shepherdess dress complete with a bonnet. Blech! The Pixie was also upset about all the noise coming from the wedding upstairs. She had just returned with the bride's father from complaining to the wedding party upstairs about all the excessive noise. Sure, go and ruin someone else's wedding.

The orchestra that Alice hired is playing classical music and traditional waltzes. No one was really dancing except for Edward and Amanda and a few other couples. Alice seemed to be bothered by this and walked up to our table and said, "You guys could be sociable and go dance, you know."

"We don't feel like it Alice." I answered for everybody. The one good thing was that Charlotte, Peter, Katie, Garrett, Tanya, Jasper, Emmett and I were all seated at one table. Alice mentioned something about her being unable to trust our behavior around the happy couple. Poor Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar, and Carmen were trapped at the same table as the bride's parents.

"Jazzy, would you come and dance with me?"

"No, I don't think so Alice." Jasper answered.

"Come on Jazzy, we could dance all night and maybe later we could go to my room and 'you know' for old times sake?" Alice whispered to a horrified Jasper.

So, the little bitch is as horny as a toad—she probably hasn't been laid since the divorce. Well who the hell would want to fuck her?

"No way, Alice. That would be fornication and adultry, in my case. Weren't you listening to the sermon?"

"Silly, it wouldn't be fornication, we were married at one time. Besides, I can help you relieve your pressure. It's been almost five years, you know."

Relieve his pressure? Ew! Alice doing anything sexual is simply disturbing. How Jasper stayed married to her for so long, I have no idea.

"Speak for yourself, Alice. Trust me when I say that I'm doing fine in that department." Jasper smirked. Yeah, well, that's an understatement. I'd say fucking inside and outside of a Corvette is more than just plain fine.

Alice huffed and started pouting when the doors to the ballroom slammed open and three women flanked by two men stormed into our ballroom and headed straight for her. Is that Bella? Oh, it is. She's gorgeous. She looks angry. Oh, this is gonna be good. Finally, some entertainment. Her eyes jet straight towards a stunned Alice and she says to her friends and their dates, "Let me handle this guys. I've met the witch before." I do a quick scan of her friends and notice that they've all got her back and one of the men—oh my, he's got to be the most mouthwatering human man I've ever seen.

**Peter's POV**

My eyebrows were twitching and so was my cock. Bella was here to hand Alice her ass—well, I mean what little ass that flat pancake has. Yep, Bella is a one thousand percent improvement over Alice. Woo—those tits. I hope she doesn't mind a little extra company in the bedroom like me and Char because I can just picture myself titty fucking those tatas. Yep, Yoda sure loves his tatas. Jasper is giving me the death glare as I eye-fuck his mate. Fuck, better cover my ass. I plastered on a serious expression and whispered, "Jasper, shit's gonna go down, but you need to stay seated. Your mate can handle this." He blinked once in acknowledgment. I take a peek at my mate and notice that her eyes are trained on one of the human men. What the hell? I look around the room and notice every single female—vampire and human—are staring at this one dude. Who is this guy? He looks familiar. Holy shit! It's the Stripper Major from last night. He must be here with Bella's blonde friend because she's hanging on him like white on rice.

"Oh my goodness, Bella. It's so good to see you. I missed you so much." Alice squealed.

"Cut the crap Alice. You didn't miss me and I certainly didn't miss you."

"Bella, I don't understand all this animosity. We're here celebrating Edward's marriage to Amanda." Alice said smugly.

Bella looked over at Amanda in her wedding gown and said, "Hi, I'm Bella. Alice and I are old acquaintances. Congratulations on your marriage. Cute costume, by the way. Are you supposed to be Little Bo Peep? That's so original."

Fuck, I love my new little sis. You go girl!

"Why are you here, Bella?" Alice asked darkly.

"Well, Alice, one of my very best friends, who also happens to be celebrating her marriage today, is upstairs sobbing on her wedding day because you and the bride's father seem to have a problem with her reception upstairs."

"Bella, you have to admit that the raucous partying upstairs is behavior unbecoming to a wedding reception. We just pointed that out to the bride and groom. Besides, it was getting extremely loud for us downstairs."

"Oh, really, just because we choose to celebrate rather than have a puritanical gathering and sing Kumbaya while holding hands doesn't make our behavior unbecoming."

At that point, the minister decided to step in and speak. "Young lady, I don't know who you and your devil worshipping friends are, but you are interrupting my daughter's wedding. Now, I happen to agree that your friend's wedding is outrageously loud and the music that you are playing leads to inappropriate dancing and fornication. Please remove yourselves from our party and keep the noise level down to an acceptable level."

"Excuse me, who the hell do you think you are calling us devil worshippers. Let me remind you that you and Alice are the ones who first came up to our reception and interrupted us in the first place. How dare you make presumptions about us!" Bella replied angrily.

Edward's Virgin Wife decided to pipe in suddenly with, "He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. Proverbs 21:17."

Bella undauntedly replied, "I can see why you're perfect for Edward. Let me call to your attention that we're celebrating a happy occasion upstairs. 'To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3: 1 and 4' also used in Footloose, 1984—you can thank Kevin Bacon for that one."

"Good one, Sis." I heard Rosalie say. Alice seethed after hearing Rosalie's show of support for Bella.

"That's it Bella. I want you to take your slutty ass and your whore friends out of here! We're trying to celebrate here. Oh and keep the damn noise down!" Alice screeched.

"Did you just call me and my friends whores, bitch?"

"Yes, I believe I did." Alice smiled victoriously.

Bella then held out her right hand and whispered, "Irina."

Irina promptly walked to her side and placed her hand in Bella's just like Vicky did earlier. Bella then took Irina's hand and smacked Alice across the face. Alice hissed and tried to lunge for Bella, but Irina had already placed her sister behind her. In the mayhem, Bella's blonde friend was knocked down and by the looks of it twisted her ankle. "You okay, Kelly?" Bella asked her.

"I think I sprained my ankle." Kelly said. Stripper Major took his suit jacket off, rolled it up, and placed it under his date's ankle like a pillow.

Bella looked up at Alice and said, "Are you happy now? My friend is hurt because of your unladylike actions. I believe an apology is in order."

"Apologize now, Alice." Carlisle commanded the Pixie from his table.

"Sorry!" Alice said scathingly.

Bella nodded. She then got a mischievous glint in her eyes and said to Stripper Major, "Kelly's ankle is pretty badly sprained. I think you're gonna have to take your shirt off and rip it into strips so you can bandage her ankle for her."

Are you kidding me? I can't believe she just spouted that bullshit with a straight face.

"Is that really necessary?" Stripper Major asked.

"Absolutely, prompt bandaging will prevent further strain on the ankle. Trust me, my Daddy's a doctor, I know this stuff." She flashed a brilliant smile to Daddy Carlisle.

Carlisle looked bewildered and covered his face with his hands. I could see Esme restraining him as she, like every female in the ballroom, mentally undressed the Stripper Major.

"Well, okay, then. I wouldn't want Kelly's ankle to become worse than it is." In an instant, Stripper Major ripped his shirt off his body and sent buttons flying across the ballroom floor. I heard a few "oohs" and "aahs" coming from the women and I could smell their arousal as well. Gag! I think I just got a whiff of the Virgin Bride's arousal—it smells like moth balls and Lysol. I'll never get that scent out of my head. Can't this asshole unbutton his shirt like the rest of us do instead of ripping it off like he does on stage? Every single woman is staring at Stripper Major with lust-filled eyes. My wife's eyes are almost popping out of their sockets and she has her iPhone pointed straight at him. Rosalie's mouth is hanging open and Tanya is licking her lips like he's some sort of delicious meal. Even Alice looks like she wants to jump the guy. Yuck! I need to delete that image from my brain now. Stripper Major then proceeded to wrap Kelly's ankle and when he finished, Bella said sweetly, "Why don't you carry her back upstairs to the party. We'll be right behind you."

"Check out those tight buns, Sis." Irina whispered to Bella as she eyed up Stripper Major.

"I know, kind of makes you wanna just reach out and squeeze them."

Jasper suddenly appeared directly in front of Bella. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, hello Jasper. I'm just providing the ladies with some visual stimulation. They looked like they all needed it."

"We'll talk about this later, my mate." Jasper growled as he scented Bella. At hearing the word mate, the looks in Alice and Edward's eyes were priceless. They both appeared to be suffering from some sort of vampire brain aneurysm. Alice was rubbing her temples and muttering, "I didn't see this. Why didn't I see this?"

"I'm looking forward to it." Bella replied then held her hand out to Jasper and said, "I need a date for the reception."

She didn't have to ask him twice. Jasper, pulled Bella in close to him and walked out of the ballroom followed by Irina and Laurent.

About five minutes later, I heard my phone beep with a new text message.

**From: J Whitlock**

**To: P Whitlock**

**Find a way to get ur asses up to the Plaza Ballroom upstairs. Party's rockin'! Bride and groom say welcome. Pass phone around so mind fuckers can't see. Remember think sex.**

Well, alright now, that's what I'm talkin' about. I passed my phone around our table, being careful to think about sex, so everyone could read the message. Char soon stood up and said, "I think I just ripped the hem of my dress. Could one of you girls help me?"

"Hems can be really tricky. I think it's gonna take all of us." Tanya responded.

With that Rosalie, Tanya, and Kate left the ballroom like bats out of hell and it was just us guys seated at the table. Now, what are we supposed to do?

"I need to go outside for a smoke. I'll be right back." Garrett said as he left the table to go join his mate.

By now, Alice and Edward were looking suspiciously at our table.

It was just Emmett and I and we had yet to come up with a good excuse to get out of there.

"I've had a spermal expulsion in my pants and I have to go clean up." I announced to the horrified faces of the wedding guests.

"I'll help." Emmett said brightly as we both high-tailed it out of the ballroom.

And now for a real party...

**Well, what did you guys think? What's your first impression of Amanda and her father? What did you think about Alice? What about Rosalie? Let me know and I'll write back. I promise. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A huge thank you for all your spectacular reviews, faves, and alerts! A naked Emmett for each of you!**

**This chapter contains swearing, nudity, unexpected slash, violence, and lemons. Do not read if it isn't your type of thing.**

**This story is AU and extremely OOC. Sorry, but that's how I like it,**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**This story is intended for mature readers**** 18+ only.**

**Tanya's POV**

As soon as the girls and I read Jasper's text message, we found an excuse and marched out of that sorry excuse for a wedding reception. I can't wait to meet Bella. When Edward broke up with her five years ago, I was ecstatic, thinking that it would give me a better chance to get together with him. For decades, I had a huge crush on Edward and felt that we could be wonderful together as a couple. Soon, things started to change. After, Edward returned from South America, I noticed his true personality rather than just his looks. As soon as he started dating Amanda, it occurred to me just how controlling and manipulative the guy really was. He was also sickeningly puritanical in his ways and with my succubus tendencies, I could never be with a guy as repressed as Edward. I, also, couldn't believe all the nasty things he and Alice said about Bella. Calling her things like low class and white trash didn't really do either of them any favors in my book. For God's sake, this was a girl that they supposedly once loved and they were talking behind her back as if she were rubbish. I realized, then, that I could never be friends with people as callous and superficial as Edward and Alice.

We walked into the Plaza Ballroom to Bella's friend's wedding reception. I noticed that the bridesmaids at this wedding had sleek, black, silk halter dresses that hugged their curves and showed just enough cleavage to make it enticing. Very tastefully done, so unlike the bright yellow abominations that Alice selected for the bridesmaids at Edward and the Pilgrim's wedding. What a difference. This party was happening. The bride actually looks happy too. We quickly spotted our family and went to them. Rosalie ran up to Bella and engulfed her in a huge hug. "Bella, I missed you so much. We have so much to talk about. Can we get together later this week, just you and me?"

"Sure Rosalie, I can't wait. Just give me a call, Emmett has my contact info."

"Hi Bella, my name is Tanya Denali. It's so nice to finally meet you." I said and then, for some reason, I gave her a hug.

"Um, great to meet you too. I've heard so much about you and Katie from Irina that I feel like I know you girls already."

"Hi, I'm Katie. I hope everything Irina told you about us was all good."

"Oh, yeah, all good. Do you think you could tell me about the month you took all the Marine recruits for a test run? Irina keeps mentioning it, but she said I'd have to ask you for the details." Bella replied.

Charlotte then stepped in and hugged Bella. "Hi Sug, my name is Char—better known as Mrs. YodaLovesTatas. I'm sorry about my asshole husband posting that YouTube video. You do give a magnificent blow job though. Oh and your brother is a looker, when do I get to meet him?"

"Uh...thanks Char. I'm sure you'll meet Riley soon. I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

Gee whiz. I really worry about Char's verbal diarrhea sometimes. She's right about Bella's oral stimulation skills and about her fuckhot brother though. Oh, why are all the good men taken? It's been really tough on me to be the only single one around. Being a succubus, I need sex as much as I need to feed in order to feel fully sated. Katie and Irina have found their mates so it's been easy going for them. Whenever they feel the need for release, their mates are there to fulfill it for them. As for me, I generally have to call one of my friends with benefits or dig out my trusty Rabbit. Thank fuck for the human genius that invented the Rabbit—without that, I would be aiming the shower nozzle at my clit for hours. I have to admit that things have been a little easier this week, though, because Peter and Char are always eager for another bed partner. Let me tell you, those two bring horny and kinky to a new level. Char's not a succubus and she's almost as bad as I am and Peter, I've never met anyone with such an obsession with breasts. I think I've been titty fucked more this week than in my entire existence. Anyway, it's nice that they welcome me to their bed, but in the end I always feel like a third wheel. Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me. Men never seem to want any sort of meaningful relationship with me. Most of the time, they just want sex—I wish I could say no, but with the way my body craves it, it's almost impossible for me. I really hope that I can find someone for me someday. Maybe Bella has a friend that she can hook me up with.

I was snapped out of my thoughts with the arrival of Garrett.

"That was quick, honey, where are the other two?" Kate asked her mate.

"They're still downstairs. I told everyone that I needed a cigarette—I figured Pete and Em would both follow me out saying that they needed one too. I even winked at them, but they didn't take the bait. They just sat there looking clueless." An exasperated Garrett said.

"They'll make their way up here, they aren't idiots, ya know...I think..." Jasper said a little unsure of himself.

"Well, no sense waiting for them. Let's hit the dance floor." Rose said as she dragged both me and Bella along with her. Everyone else followed and soon we were all just rocking to the beat of the music and having a good time. Ten minutes passed and suddenly the ballroom doors swung open and Emmett announced in his big, booming voice, "Santa and Yoda are in the house!"

Suddenly a gaggle of drunk female wedding guests and a couple of men started screaming as if they just saw a naked Brad Pitt in person. Brad Pitt, mmm...now that's one human I could learn to love. I wonder if I could change him? One of the girls said, "I saw those guys at Climax last night!" With that, almost every woman in the ballroom, young and old, surrounded Emmett and Peter and started grabbing whatever body part they could.

The bride rushed across to join her friends and announced drunkenly, "Oh my God! You hired strippers for me on my wedding day. I love you guys."

We were all rolling. Jasper was leaning against the bar with an amused smirk plastered on his face and I have a feeling that he was the one responsible for the sudden increase in lust and laughter in the room.

I could hear Emmett and Peter asking for their mates to come and help them, but they both smiled and shook their heads 'no' and told them to figure it out themselves. They then pleaded, "Bella, do something!" to which she sighed and nodded 'yes' to a relieved Emmett and Peter. She walked up to the DJ, whispered something in his ear, and took the mike from him. "Okay girls. Live and in the house, please welcome Santa and Yoda performing their legendary tandem strip rendition to Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'! Give it up for Santa and Yoda girls!"

That did it. Every single female was now up and out of their chairs. Some were waving twenties at the guys while others started digging out their cameras. The wedding photographer turned his camera right at Em and Pete and started snapping shots. "Come on Yoda—shake that ass! Let's see what ya got!" yelled Char from across the room.

"Yeah, Santa—rip off Yoda's shirt. It'll make me hot baby." Rose encouraged. Apparently, his wife being turned on was all that Emmett needed because he suddenly turned to Peter, ripped his shirt off and said, "We gotta take one for the team man. Think about it, how many guys can say that they were manhandled and ogled by a hundred horny women. You heard Bella, we're legends man!" With Emmett's pep talk, Peter got a determined look on his face and they both started gyrating and stripping to the hoots and hollers of all the horny women.

"Spank that ass, Yoda!" I heard Katie yell.

"Oh, yeah, take it off...take it all off!" Irina cheered.

"I'll give each of you a thousand bucks if you come up to our room after the reception and give me and Kenny private lap dances," offered an eager young gay man.

"Um...we don't swing that way, man." Peter responded.

"Are you sure? You have such soft features," continued the man undeterred, "Is it the money? I can pay you more."

"What the hell do you mean by soft features, dude? You call this soft?" He said as he ripped off his pants to the delight of all the women. Peter was now clad only in his Star Wars boxer shorts.

"Well, that's kind of anticlimactic. What kind of stripper wears boxers? They aren't even silk!" The bride's mother complained.

"Show us what you got under there, big boy!" yelled another woman to Emmett.

"Yeah, Santa let's see what you got underneath those trousers!" Garrett goaded.

Just as the song came to a climax, Emmett shrugged his shoulders, took a deep unneeded breath, and with a resolved look ripped his pants off. The crowd erupted as Emmett stood there with his hands on his hips baring it all for the world to see. Apparently, he had gone commando this evening.

"Now, that's more like it!" said the bride's mother.

"Erm...maybe we should go get them some clothes." Rosalie suggested to Charlotte.

"Yep, I think so." Charlotte replied as they both rushed up to their hotel rooms to grab fresh outfits for their mates.

Bella approached Emmett and Peter with a sheepish look on her face and said, "Sorry guys, I couldn't resist." She handed Emmett a tablecloth which he promptly wrapped around his torso, much to the dismay of the audience still surrounding him. She then turned to everyone and announced, "Okay, ladies, show's over."

"Aww...can't they do one more dance?" Someone shouted.

"Sorry, one dance and one dance only. It's in their contract." Bella said.

Many of the women and the two men were begging to have their photos taken with Santa and Yoda. They graciously obliged and even signed a few autographs.

"Legends, man, we're legends, remember that." Emmett whispered to Peter. Rosalie and Charlotte had, by now, returned with clothes for their mates and urged them to get dressed.

I noticed that Jasper, Garrett, and Laurent were all at the bar drinking whiskey and deep in conversation. Bella, Irina, and Katie were off doing tequila shots with some of Bella's friends. The girl named Kelly and the bride were among those at the table. I decided to join in on the fun.

"Come join us, Tanya," Bella said, "we're just having a few drinks and chatting."

We all introduced ourselves and started drinking and talking. "So, Kelly, how did you meet that gorgeous date of yours?" I asked.

"Oh, we all saw him at the bachelorette party last night. It turns out that he has a part-time job at an escort service. I needed a date for the wedding so I hired him. Here, I have his card—you can have it, I have another one." She said as she handed me his card.

"Rex Fantasia? Is that his real name?" I said, as I glanced at his card.

"I know, right. It's a perfect stripper name. I guess that's what his parents named him. He's really interesting to talk to—he was a Major in the Marines and he just finished his degree in Teaching Physical Education. He's working as a stripper and an escort while looking for a real job." Kelly replied.

"You know, Tanya, I think you should hire him for when we all go out to dinner on Friday night." Bella said with a wink.

"What dinner?" I asked dumbly.

Bella then kicked me under the table and I said, "Oh...that dinner. You're right, let me go see if he's available."

I spotted Rex at the bar chatting with the bartender. He was a few seats over from the guys, who were all looking at me with puzzled expressions. Oh my, he is so delicious looking...and that body, my God it's to die for. He looks like a stallion with slicked back, jet black hair and deep, penetrating blue eyes. Kind eyes. How do I approach him? Suddenly, he turned and I found him staring right at me. Oh dear! He's coming to me now. Shit! I've never been this nervous before in my life. I felt a sudden sense of calm engulf my body and heard Jasper saying, "You okay, T?" I whispered a quick yes and thank you to him. His power was exactly what I needed right now. "A little confidence, too, please?" I asked Jasper. He acknowledged me and sent his gift my way just as my dream sex god said, "I've been watching you all night and I can't seem to keep my eyes off of you. My name's Rex Fantasia."

Oh my God! That voice—so deep, so sexy, so velvety. My already wet panties were now drenched with my arousal. I want this man so badly. I felt another burst of confidence from Jasper suddenly and I decided to speak. "My name's Tanya Denali. I've been searching for you my whole life."

**Carlisle's POV **

Where are those kids? I can't believe that they so blatantly ditched the wedding and in such rapid succession too. They used such poor excuses too. Four girls to fix a torn hem? Peter's spermal expulsion and Emmett's offer to help clean up? Did they all lose brain cells during their change? The only plausible excuse was Garrett's because he really does smoke, but it doesn't take this long to have one cigarette. He should have been back in five minutes tops.

I was shocked when Bella and her friends came down to the reception to give Alice and the minister a talking to. Who would have thought that both weddings were being held in the same hotel? I was so proud when my daughter spoke her mind and stood her ground with Alice, the minister, and Amanda. Her use of a Bible verse to respond to Amanda's Bible quote got me to wondering why I never thought of using that tactic. For God's sake, I'm a preacher's son myself and even without my vampire memory, every verse of that Bible is permanently ingrained into my brain. That was really quick thinking of Bella and a good way to put Amanda into her place.

When Alice tried to attack Bella, it took every ounce of self control to keep myself restrained. Eleazar and I both had to hold Esme down in her chair. Otherwise, she would have ripped Alice's head off and burned her to pieces in front of all these humans. How dare she call my daughter and her friends whores after she so blatantly propositioned Jasper in front of all of us. I chuckled when I thought of her face when Jasper let slip that he and Bella were mates. Which reminds me, I still have to talk to him about that. I also need to pay a visit to Riley in private. I want to get to know him and thank him for taking such good care of Bella. The hospital he works at is not too far from mine so we could probably meet next week at some point.

I could hear the reception going full swing upstairs. It seems as though...what? Did I hear correctly? I think Bella just said that Santa and Yoda were going to be doing a tandem strip rendition. I look over at my wife whose eyes are wide as saucers, Carmen has her hand covering her mouth, while Eleazar's hand is clasped at his forehead. Edward then approached the table and whispered, "Dad, can you do something? Obviously Bella's influence has gone too far. You need to get everyone back downstairs, especially Jasper. Alice is extremely hurt by his behavior and Amanda is upset that everyone has disappeared. This is all very embarrassing for me too. I'm surprised that you and Mom are just sitting here instead of finding them and reprimanding them."

Well, fuck you too, Edward. Gee, you don't think this milksop wedding combined with you, your bride, and the Pixie's attitude didn't have anything to do with everyone's sudden departure. You're more clueless than I first thought.

"Excuse me," I announced to the table, "we're going to go and try and find our children." I motioned for my wife, Eleazar, and Carmen to follow me.

"I think that's a good idea." the Minister cleared his throat and said. "When you return, I'd like to discuss indoctrinating your children into my church. Clearly the devil's influence has made a big impact on their lives and you and your wife have encouraged it by doing nothing about it."

Did the asshole really say that? Oh yes he did. Before I could speak, my wife was in his face yelling, "Did you just insult my family, sir?" Oh shit! I'm glad I'm not going to be on the receiving end of this tirade.

The Minister looked shocked at my wife's outburst and didn't say anything as Esme opened her mouth again, "You, sir, do not have a right to make any sort of judgment about my life or my family's life. If you have formed opinions, it would behoove you to keep them to yourself. Furthermore, it may benefit your daughter to learn that same lesson while she is around my family. I'm informing you now that I have no intentions of putting up with her bullshit or yours so you both better learn to keep your fucking mouths shut!"

At that point, Alice and Edward both tried to step in and calm Esme down.

"Mother, I think you need to just sit and calm down. You're creating a scene." Edward said.

"Fuck off, Edward."

"Um...Mom, let's just take a breather. Amanda's father was just pointing out a few key facts and I also know that we're all still upset about Bella showing up and disrupting our party. I can't believe what a whore she's become. Did you see the way she hit on Jasper? I know she did it to hurt me."

Oh fuck. Alice is screwed. Esme narrowed her eyes and glared at the Pixie, "Don't you dare insult my daughter—ever, Alice. You have some nerve calling her a whore when you were the one begging Jasper to jump into bed with you 'for old times sake.' Are you upset that he rejected your advances Alice? Let me get something straight with you and Edward. We are done with your bullshit. You will no longer be dictating who we can see, what we can do, or where we live. Furthermore, you will both stay away from Bella and keep Amanda away from her as well. If I find that either of you approached her without my knowledge, it'll mark the end of your time as Cullens. I have no problem whatsoever handing the three of you your pink slips and restricting your access to Cullen family members or funds!"

After hearing that her access to Cullen family funds could possibly be cut off, Amanda gasped while Edward and Alice's jaws dropped in shock. Amanda mustered up all her false sincerity and said, to Esme, "Mother, I think that Bella girl is nice. She said sweet things about my wedding gown and seems to have knowledge of the Good Lord's Book." Yeah, like that's going to butter up my wife.

"Amanda." Esme said.

"Yes mother?" The fake twit asked my wife.

"First of all, call me Mrs. Cullen. You have your own mother and I, in all honesty, don't want to take her place. Second, I want you to listen to this carefully: 'The desire of a man is his kindness; and a poor man is better than a liar.' It's from Proverbs 19:22, it may benefit you to review that verse." My mate said. That's right, Esme, put the lying, greedy bitch in her place.

The minister in a sudden burst of rage raised his voice to me, "Dr. Cullen, I suggest you gain greater control of your wife. It's obvious that the devil's influence has affected her the most and I worry about sending my daughter to live in your den of inequity." Alright, asshole, you can insult me, you can insult my home, you can even insult my kids to an extent, but never, ever insult my wife. I was pissed off and I nailed into him with a right hook to the jaw. I had to control the strength so it would equal that of a human, but I think I got the fucker good. He was currently sprawled out flat on his back on the ballroom floor.

"Let's get out of here." I said. Esme, Eleazar, and Carmen immediately followed.

"Oh Carlisle, I love it when you stand up for me and go all Rambo. It makes me all wet and tingly." Esme whispered in my ear. Oh yes, indeed, I'm getting some good lovin' tonight.

The four of us made our way upstairs to the other reception where I was positive that all of our children currently were. We were greeted by a rousing welcome by the bride and groom who were obviously inebriated. How they plan on boarding a plane to Hawaii tonight, I had no idea. I looked around the ballroom and saw that, unlike the funeral downstairs, every single guest was enjoying themselves. With the open bar, many of them were drunk and had already lost their inhibitions.

I spotted the guys standing by the bar socializing with other guests and drinking copious amounts of whiskey. I'm actually thankful that Alice had the foresight to book us all rooms at the hotel because by the looks of it, some of my children were already tipsy. It would take several bottles for the alcohol to take effect, but vampires could definitely become drunk. How in the world did they convince the bartender to give them each a bottle of Jack Daniels?

I looked to the girls and saw them all at a raised table drinking tequila shots. Wait a minute. That's not a raised table—that's the Stripper Major. How did they persuade him to lay down on a table? He's still shirtless too. Why does Tanya have her shot glass balanced in his crotch? Oh God! She's drinking from it and she's only using her mouth! If Edward were here, we'd definitely have to deal with another one of his spermal expulsions. Seriously, that boy has deep-seeded issues. This must be some new fangled drinking game that the young kids have come up with. Where's my wife? What the hell? Now, she and Carmen have joined in. They've both balanced their shot glasses on each of his nipples. Pretty kinky, if you ask me. You know, I would gladly strip and act as a table for Esme to drink off of. I had no idea that she was interested in becoming a little more adventurous. Get back to my side, wife! What is it about this man that makes the women want him?

"I suspect he's an incubus, Carlisle." I heard Eleazar say as we approached the guys at the bar. "Look at how he draws all the women, and even some men, in without any effort. You can especially tell by the way my three girls are affected. Succubi tend to have a greater pull towards incubi. Katie and Irina are less affected than Tanya because they are mated. If the three of them were still unmated, there would be a bloodbath just to gain his attention."

"So does that mean that Tanya and the Incubus are mates?" I asked.

"I believe it's quite possible. Traditionally incubi and succubi make strong mates. We'll need to have Charlotte use her power to tell us for sure. She's never wrong, as you well know."

Charlotte has the ability to tell who is mated to whom. She knew early on that Jasper and Alice weren't mates and she could also immediately see that Edward and his new bride are mates. I really pity Edward for being stuck with a girl like her. No, I don't.

"I wonder what Charlotte saw between Bella and Jasper?" I mused out loud.

"I can answer that one Pops." Peter said, "Char said Bella and Jasper are a go. In fact, she said she's never seen such a strong mating bond between a human and a vampire before."

Suddenly, we were interrupted by loud squealing from the dance floor. Irina and Bella were both doing some kind of erotic dance and were currently sandwiching Stripper Major in between them. I could see Jasper and Laurent quickly losing their patience while the girls cheered them on.

"Where the hell did you two learn how to do that move?" Katie asked.

"Oh, Bella, Vicky, and I have been taking a Stripping for Fitness class at the YMCA on Monday nights." Irina replied. Since when do they have stripping classes at the Young Men's Christian Association?

"Oh my God. Can anyone go? Can I go with you?" Rosalie asked.

"Yeah, sure—it's pay per class—so anyone can go." Bella said.

"Woman, we aren't leaving this area until you take at least twenty of those classes." Peter ordered his wife.

"No problem, babe." Char smirked, then turned to Bella. "Show me some of those moves, sug."

Bella, Char, and Irina then started doing some sort of slow erotic gyrating. Bella was behind Char moving her hips with her while Irina was grinding into her front. The rest of the girls all gushed at how cool this sensual dancing was and soon joined the three of them for lessons.

"We also take Belly Dancing lessons on Wednesdays too." Bella said, "You guys should come with us." Stripping for Fitness? Belly Dancing? What kind of classes are these?

"Laurent, what exactly do Bella, Irina, and Vicky do during their girl time?" I asked.

"I've no idea, really. Trust me, Riley and I stopped asking two years ago after they came home from a class called Fabulous Fellatios and Sensual Spanking. Besides, we found that we benefit from the classes just as much as our mates do." Laurent replied.

"Well, shit, no wonder Bella's got mad oral skills. She's taking sex classes to hone her technique." Garrett said as Jasper and Emmett both growled.

Garrett held his hands up in surrender and said, "I'm just saying..."

"Oh, come on Jasper, tell me you didn't benefit from that Fabulous Fellatios class last night. We all know about the road head classic that Bella gave you on the highway." Peter prodded.

"Alright, I give." Jasper said with a grin, "She is pretty talented plus her mouth is all warm because she's human. It was the first blow I got since Char gave me one last year and it felt incredible. You know how Alice was-'Ew Jasper, I'm not putting that thing in my mouth.'"

Everyone was well aware that, whenever Alice went away for one of her frequent extended shopping trips, Jasper would take off to Texas to work his frustrations out with Char and Peter. Who could blame him? After hearing that she scheduled sex once a week, I really felt for the guy.

"How the fuck did you put up with the Pixie Bitch anyway?" Garrett asked. "I mean she smells like bleach and laundry starch."

"I used to hold my breath, besides it wouldn't take long to make her cum. I just used my gift on her and she'd be screaming my name within five minutes. I don't think I've actually fucked her for at least thirty-five years now." Jasper admitted.

"I'm telling you this now. I'm signing Char up for those classes that Irina, Bella, and Vicky take. From now on she's their fucking apprentice."

"Yeah, Katie too. She likes biting my dick when she gives me head and that shit hurts!" Garrett said.

"You, too, man? I keep telling Rosie that my dick don't like being bitten, but she keeps doing it as if she thinks I enjoy it. Plus I need her to lick my balls more, but she refuses to." Emmett joined in.

"Char's pretty good at giving the ball sacs a good sucking and Tanya's given her a few pointers this week, but damn—sex classes are pretty fucking awesome." Peter said, "Do they have them for men?"

"Yeah, they actually do. They have couples classes too. I've been to a few." Laurent said.

Get me out of this mess now. As a father, I really don't need to be hearing about my daughters' and nieces' sex lives and their compulsion to take classes in all things erotic. I also don't need to be hearing about my sons' and nephews' problems with their sex lives.

A slow song came on and I took the opportunity to suggest to the men to ask their mates to dance. Soon we were all dancing, as were almost everyone in the ballroom. After the song ended we stayed on the floor and danced some more. We went back to the bar and had a few more drinks and noticed that things were winding down. Bella and the rest of the bridesmaids ran up to help the bride get ready for her honeymoon and soon they were all back downstairs in the ballroom wishing the happy couple 'bon voyage.' As soon as we did that, I received a text message from Edward.

**From: E Cullen**

**To: C Cullen**

**We're just about done with the reception. If you and the others wouldn't mind coming down to help send the guests off, we'd appreciate it.**

Damn! I suppose he's right. We are the adoptive parents, after all. Before I left, I made sure to find the hotel manager and inform him that I would be taking care of the entire bar tab for Bella's friend's wedding. I explained that my family and I were sudden guests and that we consumed an enormous amount of liquor. I told him to look at this as a wedding gift from us to the happy couple. He thanked me and I gave him a large tip for his services. I gathered up everyone and we made our way back. We left Jasper and Bella alone, as well as, Tanya and her incubus. There was no way we were prying those two couples apart.

We arrived downstairs in time to thank and wish all the guests well. We said an uncomfortable goodbye to the Minister and his wife who insisted that there were no hard feelings before they called it a night. Alice, then, suggested that we all needed to have a short chat in their suite before we called it a night. I happened to agree so the vampires plus Amanda headed up to the Admiral Suite on the eighteenth floor. Just as Edward was about to open the door, the other elevator pinged and Jasper and Bella came barreling out, locked in a passionate embrace.

Bella's legs were wrapped around Jasper's waist and his shirt was completely undone with his tie dangling haphazardly around his shoulders. They were furiously making out and smashed together at the lips.

At that point, Amanda fired off a succession of questions to Edward, "Darling, what are they doing? Isn't it dangerous for a vampire to kiss a human? Why is he touching her everywhere? Isn't that sexual assault? Are they going to fornicate? Is he going to eat her?"

"Oh, yeah, he'll most definitely be eating her." Peter smirked.

"Edward, you have to save her. It would be un-Christian of you not to save her life." Amanda said.

We were all stunned by her comment and questions. We didn't realize how naïve and repressed she actually was.

"Maybe it would be best if we all went inside the room." Edward suggested uncomfortably.

Meanwhile Bella was working on unfastening Jasper's pants while he was unashamedly fondling her breasts.

"Jazzy. Please stop. You're making a big mistake. Jazzy, honey, there's no reason for you to release your frustrations on Bella. Who knows who she's been with? I'll sacrifice my body so you can relieve yourself. " Alice interrupted.

Is she being serious? Oh shit! At that moment, a pissed off Kate shocked the Pixie and she was writhing painfully on the floor. Rosalie, then, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall. "Give me a reason bitch! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just end you right here!" Rosalie demanded as she squeezed Alice's neck.

"Rosalie, enough!" Esme said. "Do I need to remind you of the warning that I gave you earlier, Alice?"

"No Esme." Alice croaked. She looked down and stayed silent the entire time. The rest of us shifted uncomfortably wondering why Edward still hadn't opened the door to their suite. The child looked mesmerized. He was greedily taking in the scene of Jasper and Bella's frenzied passion as if he were watching a porn film for the first time.

The amorous couple were still oblivious to our presence and by now Jasper's pants were undone and he had Bella slammed up against the door of the adjacent suite. Bella was attempting to slide the key card into the slot without releasing her hold on Jasper. "Oh God, Jasper!" Bella breathed. Amanda's eyes widened in response to Bella's moans. "Bella, babe, hurry up and open that door. I've gotta get inside you." Jasper urged. The couple were panting and moaning, ravenously devouring each other. Bella finally slid the key card in and the door opened just as Jasper ripped her panties off and threw them on the hallway floor. That was when, Edward, lost control and came in his pants once again while moaning "Bella!"

"You sick fuck!" Emmett chastised.

"Disgusting Edward." Carmen added.

"Um...you know, they left the key card in the door." Amanda pointed out uncomfortably. She was clearly unsure of what to make of Edward's reaction.

Charlotte picked up Bella's discarded panties, took the key card, and proceeded to open the door to their room as she said with a sly smile, "I'll just make sure she gets these back." She then snapped the door to the suite closed.

Alice finally took control and opened the door to the Admiral Suite. We all filtered in quickly and were assaulted by the belabored breathing, panting, and moaning from the Commodore Suite next door. Edward quickly excused himself to clean up and soon returned wearing a new pair of pants. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat down and said, "As you can see, Bella's presence is not doing us any favors. She forced me to have yet another episode and once again my powers seem to have disappeared. We definitely need to move from this area immediately."

"Why would we move Edward? Jasper and Bella are clearly mates. How would you feel if we moved you away from Amanda?" I said.

"Daddy," Alice said in her sickly sweet voice, "there's no way that Jasper and Bella are mates. I would have seen something. I agree with Edward. Bella has been nothing, but trouble since we met her five years ago. I knew she was white trash then, look at how she's thrown herself at my Jazzy? She probably spreads her legs open for anyone that comes her way. I mean, look at what she's doing now?"

In a flash, Irina had Alice pinned to the floor. Rosalie had Alice's head in a headlock and was just a second away from twisting it free from her body. Kate was on standby ready to jump in, just in case they needed assistance.

"You fucking frigid bitch." Irina said. "You have no idea what Bella's been through these last five years because you discarded her like yesterday's rubbish while you went off to find yourself in Europe and then play human with Fuckward and the Pilgrim. Laurent and I have been with her all this time. We know the hell that you and Edward caused. We were there for her through all her screams and tears. Did you know that her parents are dead? Did you know that her father was mauled to death in front of her by a werewolf? Did you know that if we weren't there she would have been all alone? Do you even care bitch?"

"Obviously, she doesn't. Look at the selfish witch. She's more worried about her fucking self again!" Kate said as she gave Alice a jolt of her power.

It was then that we noticed Alice vigorously rubbing her temples. "I can't see. I can't see anything. Oh my God, what's happening to me."

I saw Eleazar smirk out of the corner of my eye. He gave me a look that said "later."

"What do you mean when you say that Bella caused you to have an episode and that your powers have disappeared, Edward? Is the girl possessed?" Amanda asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Edward replied.

"Is that why you shouted her name earlier in the hallway?" Amanda questioned.

"Um...yes, Love." Edward answered uncomfortably. "She seems to have some sort of hold over me that forces me to lose control of my body."

"Then the girl needs saving. We must exorcise all her demons. Clearly, the devil has taken complete hold of her. I won't take no for an answer Edward."

"Are you for fucking real?" Peter interrupted. "Bella most definitely does not need saving. She's a red, hot horny 22 year old woman who is now having a mind blowing menage-a-trois with her mate and my wife. Your husband just ca..."

"That is enough Peter! I forbid you to expose my mate to your vile thoughts." Edward interrupted angrily.

"I'm just giving her the facts, Eddie boy! She's gonna have to find out about your control issues sooner or later."

"Edward, I am going to sleep. I've had a very long day and we have an early flight tomorrow morning."

"That's a wonderful idea, Love." Edward said. "I'll be in to tuck you in, in a moment."

"What is she five? She can't go nighty-night on her own?" Rosalie questioned scathingly. "Oh, and by the way Pilgrim, if you try and even talk to my sister about your biblical mumbo jumbo, I'll snap you in half like a twig!"

Amanda sat down next to Edward—the look of fear apparent in her eyes while her mate growled at Rosalie.

"Don't you fucking growl at my wife, Pussy!" Emmett threatened.

The sounds of passion coming from the next room brought us all to attention.

"Oh yeah, Char, your tongue's like magic on my nipples..." We heard Bella pant through the walls.

"Bella, Bella, aw...babe, you taste like heaven." Jasper then moaned.

"Sug, rub right there...that's right. I like...oh...oh...my...oh..." Charlotte started screaming.

We were all becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the activity next door and the lust being projected by Jasper was sky high. With our vampire hearing, we could tell that almost every occupant in the hotel was either having sex or getting off on their own.

From another room we heard a man utter, "Oh Kenny, you're so hot tonight. I'm gonna make you cum hard tonight."

"I want you to call me Santa tonight, okay, Randy sweetie? Let's role play, I'll be Santa and you be Yoda. Now, come over here and let me spank you, Yoda."

We all looked at Emmett and Peter who were both speechless with mortification. The girls were all giggling like there was no tomorrow.

"Jasper, we really need to have a talk tomorrow." I said out loud.

I was answered with two knocks to the wall which I took to mean that he got the message.

Alice suddenly declared that she needed a shower. We certainly didn't want to witness what she was most likely about to do, so we all made our excuses and wished the newlyweds and Alice a safe honeymoon.

"Come on Peter. You can join me and Garrett tonight." Kate offered. Peter grinned and followed the couple onto the elevator like an excited school boy. Rosalie and Emmett, who were half undressed already, joined them on the elevator down to their floor.

The rest of us waited anxiously for the second elevator to arrive. We were all riding on Jasper's projected lust and, undoubtedly, looking forward to a long night of lovemaking with our mates. Just as the elevator doors opened we heard the high pitched wail of Alice screaming, "Jasperrrrr!"

"What the hell? I think someone's strangling a cat." I heard Bella say.

"No, baby, that was just Alice cumming." Jasper replied.

With that, the elevator doors firmly shut and we were all on our way to our rooms to form our own adventures with our mates. Hmm...I think I'll let Esme spank me tonight. I wonder if she packed that riding crop?

**Well, what did you guys think? I love hearing from you and promise to reply to your reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Big hugs and thank you to all those who have read, reviewed, faved, and alerted. Hmm...what can I do for you, I know...breakfast, Jasper style, to each and every one of you.**

**This chapter contains sex, swearing, Jasper worshipping, implied sacrificial rabbits, and two idiots who think they're having an intellectual conversation.**

**This story is AU and OOC because I like it like that.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. Stripper Major belongs to me though...unfortunately, so does Eddie's wife.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

**Several readers have requested that I include this important warning: Do not read if you are eating or drinking at the computer, at your workplace, at any public place with WiFi, or if you have to pee.**

**Bella's POV**

Mmm...that feels nice. Feather light kisses were being placed along my neck. God that feels amazing. "Mornin' Darlin', open your eyes." Jasper's soft, southern drawl prodded me awake. I fluttered my eyes open and saw that he was now hovering over me with his lips just millimeters from mine.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, still half asleep.

"It's about ten a.m." Jasper said as he kissed me softly on the lips.

"Mmm..." I moaned as Jasper released himself from my mouth and started kissing me down my body. He stopped at my pussy and said, "I need a taste, Bella, call it breakfast if you will." Then he was off. His tongue felt like velvet as he sinuously devoured my folds inside and out. He took two fingers and started rubbing small circles on my clit and I was slowly succumbing to his ministrations. Jasper was non-stop in his assault of my pussy and by the time he started fucking me with his tongue I was begging him to let me cum. "Oh no, babe, you don't get to cum until I let you." He said.

"Please, Jasper." I begged.

"No way." He then flipped me over so that I was on my hands and knees. Before I knew it, he had entered me in one swift move. My back arched as Jasper fisted my hair to pull me towards him. With his other hand, he pinched my nipples as I moved my own hand to my clit and started vigorously rubbing like there was no tomorrow. I was quickly reaching my peak as Jasper pounded in and out of me relentlessly.

"Jasper, please! I need to cum!"

"Hold it, Bella!"

"Oh, God, Jasper!"

"No, Bella!"

"I'm going to die!"

"No you won't, Bella" He said with a chuckle.

"Help me...oh God...Jasper!"

"Now, Bella! Cum now! Aaagh!" He screamed as we both came together and slumped onto the bed.

"Well, that was a pleasant way to wake up." I said breathlessly.

"Babe, you were incredible." Jasper praised.

"What happened to Char?" I asked.

"She left a few hours ago."

"Oh." I mused and decided to speak up, "Jasper, is Char going to be a regular presence in our bed? I mean, it was okay last night, but I really think I'd prefer it if sex was just us. I'm really not big into sharing."

"Baby, I like it better when it's just you and me too. I don't even know how she got into our room anyway. I was about to ask you if you had invited her to join us in bed." Jasper said.

"I thought you let her in our room, Jasper. How did she get in?"

"Hell if I know. We'll have to ask her later."

As I became more awake, reality set in and I realized that Jasper and I had a lot to talk about. I pursed my lips as I thought of all the questions I had for Jasper.

"What's wrong, babe? I feel a little anxiety coming from you."

Fuck! He's an empath. I'm gonna have to put my shield around me. That's better.

"What the hell did you just do, Bella? I can't feel any emotions coming from you."

"I...I...nothing." I said.

"Don't you dare lie to me, my mate. I can see that you're lying even without my power." Jasper said as his eyes darkened. Geez! He can be really scary sometime. Then again, both Vicky and Irina warned me yesterday that Jasper was someone that you didn't trifle with. Maybe I better release my shield, I really don't feel like dealing with a pissed off mate on a Monday morning.

"That's better. Now, what was that? Are you a shield, Bella? Is that the power you used on me and Emmett yesterday? Answer me now, my mate."

Great. Now, I'm in a pickle. I was told by my family that under no circumstance was I to tell any vampires about my shield. Apparently, I'd be a hot commodity. Why, I had no idea. What about Jasper, though. He is my mate and I already physically restrained both him and Emmett using it—in front of almost everyone too. Thank God, Edward and Alice weren't there yesterday. I wouldn't want them knowing about my power.

"Bella?" Jasper asked again.

"Um...I have to make a phone call."

Jasper looked at me with a perplexed expression in his eyes as I grabbed my cell and dialed.

"Riley Biers' office." Answered the voice on the other end.

"Janet, this is Bella, can I speak to my brother?"

"Oh, hi Bella, let me see if he's available. Yes he is, let me put you through."

"Bells?" My brother answered.

"Riley, I kind of have a problem. I did something and..."

He cut me off then, "You're not in jail again are you? What did I tell you about controlling your temper."

I looked up to see Jasper with a horrified expression on his face. "Jail?" He mouthed to me.

"No, I'm not in jail. Besides, that was just a one time thing. Those girls from Tufts University attacked me, Kelly, and Megan and you always told me to hit back if it comes down to it. So, really, it's your fault I got thrown in jail for a night."

"What is it, then, Bells. Dr. Cullen's coming to my office in ten minutes."

"Carlisle's coming? Why?"

"I don't know why, sis. I'll tell you when I get home tonight, okay. Now, why did you call me?"

"Oh, I kind of, might of, sort of used my power on Jasper this morning. He wants to know what I did and you guys always told me not to tell anyone. So, I'm calling to ask you what I should do."

"First answer this Bells. He's right there listening isn't he?"

"Uh...yep."

"Look, I don't see a problem with most of the Cullens and the Denalis knowing. I highly doubt that they're going to use you for nefarious purposes. You already used your power yesterday anyway. Just don't tell the mind fuckers anything."

"Can Edward and Alice hear, Jasper?" I asked in a moment of panic.

"No, they left for the airport at five am so they're on a plane somewhere flying over the Atlantic Ocean."

"Oh good, maybe the plane will crash." I said and then went back to talking to my brother, "Okay, so I'll tell him."

"Bells, you're gonna learn quickly that you can't hide anything from your mate. That's all I'm going to say. Now, put Jasper on the phone."

Jasper grabbed the phone from me and put it to his ear. "Hello." He drawled in that velvety voice of him. Oh, yeah, baby. Keep talking. Damn! That voice of his just turns me on and on.

I hear him chatting with my brother and my curiosity is peaking. This is one of those times that I really wish I had vampire hearing.

"I understand...Yes...No, I would never take advantage of her...Yes, I'll bring her home...Yes, I'll be there...Of course...Okay...See you later, then." Jasper snapped the phone shut and handed it back to me.

"So, my mate, you were saying something about your power?" He said as he pulled me onto his lap and ran his fingers through my hair.

Mmm...that's so soothing. Dear God, I'm getting horny again.

"Later, after you tell me." Jasper said. I don't think both of us being naked is helping I can feel myself becoming soaked just by looking at the nude perfection holding me on his lap. Oh great—now he has a hard-on too. I wonder if it's the mating thing again. Oh who am I kidding. This guy is a sex god.

"I'll tell you if you explain this mating thing and what's going on between us a little more." I said.

"Done."

"I'm a shield," I said as Jasper's eyes widened.

"I figured as much." He said. "Mental and physical?"

"Yes."

"How did you find out and who taught you how to control it? Do you have full control over it?"

"Um...Vicky and Irina mostly taught me. Irina knew well enough from being with Eleazar that I was a shield. She knew that Edward could never read my mind and she was pretty sure that shielding was my ability. Vicky, also, came to the same conclusion. She knew from all her time spent with Maria what characteristics shields display as humans. Apparently, Maria was always looking for a shield, as was James, so she was well versed on spotting a human shield."

At the mention of Maria's name, Jasper held me closer and started purring. "Vicky's right, shields are prized possessions for power hungry vampires. Maria would tear the world apart looking for someone like you, so would the Volturi. A mental and physical shield is a rare gem. Did Vicky and Irina train you to use your power too?"

"Yeah, they did." I said simply. After a moment of contemplation I asked my mate, "Jasper, is it true? Were you really the most feared warrior in Maria's army? She said that you trained and culled newborns and that they used to refer to you as The Major and Peter was your captain. She also told me about how Peter and Char came back and pulled you from Maria's evil clutches."

"Everything Vicky said is true Bella. I'm not proud of who I was then, but I didn't know any other way to live. I was called The Major because that's what I was when I was turned—the youngest Major in the Confederate Army. I guess the name just stuck."

"Jasper, I know that you didn't know any other way to live. Vicky was the same way. I'm so proud of both of you because you overcame all your issues and figured out how to live life for yourselves."

"I've never met anyone like you, Bella. You see the good in us vampires—you don't see us as the monsters that we are."

"How can you say that you're a monster, Jasper? It's not easy to overcome your past and change who you are. I'm living proof of that. Before I met my brother and Vicky, I was just an insecure girl who followed Edward and Alice like some kind of lap dog. I was too scared to voice my opinions or show people who I really was because I didn't want to make anyone unhappy. It took two years of counseling with Riley for me to become who I am today. You and Vicky had much more to overcome than I did. You two had to learn a completely new way of living. I know that your bloodlust must have excruciating when you first switched. When Vicky and Riley moved in with me and Charlie, we had to douse our clothes in Lysol and keep moth balls in our closets so that our scents would be dulled—that way Vicky wouldn't stray. Charlie never knew, of course. After Charlie passed on, Riley, Irina, Laurent and I had to keep Vicky active so she'd keep her mind off of her bloodlust. We did everything from karate to knitting, and sometimes Riley would have sex with her every hour on the hour, just to keep her mind off of her bloodlust. Do you want to know how we learned about my physical shield?"

"How baby?"

"When we first arrived in Boston, I was alone with Vicky when a box arrived in the mail. Like an idiot, I took a knife to it to open it and ended up slicing my hand. Vicky's eyes turned black at the scent of my blood and she tried to attack, but luckily my shield fell over her and she couldn't get out of it. I immediately grabbed some animal blood for Vicky, which we always have on hand in the fridge, and then I called everyone to tell them what happened. I sat there holding Vicky, who was still in my shield, while waiting for everyone to come home. During that time, I couldn't help but think back to my birthday party in Forks when you almost slipped. It dawned on me that you didn't try to attack me until Alice and Edward's eyes turned pitch black after asshole threw me into the table. Jasper, you never would have attacked me if it weren't for the mind fuckers' bloodlust."

Jasper suddenly kissed me with an electric passion that I didn't know existed. There's that feeling again—the one where I feel like I'm bound to him by some kind of invisible rope.

"Jasper, that feeling where I feel like I'm tied to you. Is that a mating thing?"

"Yeah, it is. I don't know much about mating since this is a first for me too, but I do know that the electricity, the feeling of being bound together, and the pull are all physical aspects of mating." He said.

"Yesterday, when I went home, I felt like a ton of bricks just dropped on my chest. Did you feel that way too?"

"Yeah, I did. I felt like shit. I kept wanting to come after you and track you, but I knew that you had stuff to do for your friend's wedding. It's weird, though, because the pressure eased as soon as I got to the reception. Now we know it's because you were just a floor above me."

"Irina and Vicky told me that I belong to you—body and soul—and you belong to me. They also said that we're gonna have to live together because there's no way we would be able to endure the physical pain of being apart every night."

"They're right on both counts, Bella. Look, I know we don't know each other well, yet, and I know that you have your own life to lead. I'm just asking you to give me a chance because this mating thing—well, it's inevitable. We'll never be able to be with other people again. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I love you right away either. What I can say is that I feel like you fit perfectly into my life and that I can never let you go. I'm also willing to bet that we'll fall in love sooner rather than later."

Holy shit. I'm melting. That has to be the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. Motherfucker, not only is he a sex expert, but he's a word wizard too. If I wasn't convinced that he was 'the one' before, I certainly was now. Not only that, but that purring is making me horny again. I'm still sitting on his lap and I'm dripping my arousal all over his thigh. Oh, someone save me. What's wrong with me. Oh my God! He's finger fucking me now.

"Bella, I'm sorry, I need you again. I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't seem to stop myself." He said as he kissed me with a new fervor.

Well fuck, don't apologize do something about it. Can't you feel how I need you too?

"Don't stop, Jasper. Please, don't stop. Oh God—I need you inside me now, Jasper. Put me on the bed and fuck me now!" I screamed.

No sooner than the words were out of my mouth, Jasper had me on the bed and was thrusting in and out of me as if he were a jockey racing towards his goal.

"Aww... Bella, you're so hot. Holy hell. Fuck! Bella!"

"Jasper, God, I'm cumming already. Jasper hurry! Jasper aaahh!"

I couldn't hold it in any longer as my muscles clenched down on his pulsating cock. Holy fuck—how much more sex can I possibly be have. It's not a bad thing, but we really do need to check out of this room plus I'm getting hungry after all the activity last night and this morning.

We held each other while we kissed and talked. We told each other about what we'd been up to for the last five years. He told me about how he used to bathe in my emotions when we were in Forks. We were just about to get up and take a shower when the door to the suite sprang open and there stood Peter and Char.

"Jesus, aren't you guys done yet?" Peter asked. You've been going at it all mornin' and you've been projecting throughout the hotel. Kenny and Randy have been going at it all night. I'm not so sure they'll be able to walk at all today."

Who the hell are Kenny and Randy? Did Char and Peter hop into bed with two gay guys? They're kinkier than I thought.

"We were just about to jump in the shower. How did you guys get in here anyway?" I questioned.

"You dropped your key card yesterday, I kinda held onto it for ya. Thanks for last night, by the way. I tried that tongue trick on Peter's cock and it worked like magic. He came in five minutes flat." Char said.

"Uh, sure." I said a bit uncomfortably. Does this woman have no verbal filter? No, I believe she doesn't. That's okay, though, she's sweet as pie and her hubby seems like a nice guy too.

"So, are you taking my wife to the stripper class tonight?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, if she wants to go and it's a Stripping for Fitness class. We don't actually take our clothes off."

"Sugar, as long as Char learns to move like you, I don't care what it's called. You're also taking her to all those sex classes you go to. Nice rack, by the way."

"Oh fuck!" I say as I realize that I'm standing next to Jasper in front of Peter and Char and we're both stark naked. Jasper seemed to have no shame though. He just picked me up in all his glory and carried me to the shower and told them that we'd be right out.

After a quick shower, we got dressed. Peter and Char, it seemed had absolutely no intentions of giving us privacy so we just let them ogle us. While we dressed and packed, Peter filled us in on what went on last night, while Jasper, Char, and I were busy, between them and Jizzward, Bitch, and Little Miss Muffet. Apparently, between the three idiots, they've theorized that I'm some sort of possessed, devil worshipping whore that has the power to take away vampiric powers and involuntarily cause Eddie to jizz his pants. I'm also desperately in need of saving in the form of an exorcism. They do have one part correct, I do have the ability to block all vampire powers. Well, almost all of them, I could never block Riley's for some reason. We think it may have something to do with being actual blood relatives.

While we were checking out of the hotel, two guys suddenly came running up to Peter and gave him a hug. "Yoda, you're still here! Do you remember me from last night? I'm Randy and this is my other half Kenny."

"How could I forget?" Peter said.

"Yoda, I just want to thank you for making our fantasies come true. We role played last night. I was Yoda and Kenny here was Santa. Where is Santa anyway?" Randy asked curiously.

"Santa is just my stage partner." Peter replied.

"Oh, so you must be his real life other half. I can see why. What's your name sweetie?" Randy asked a horrified Jasper.

"You can call me Major." He replied with a smirk.

"Major? Oh, you need to change your stage name, honey. They already have a guy named the Major at Climax. He's a raven haired sex god with a body like Adonis. I hate to tell you this, but you really don't measure up. You have potential though. Hey, if you want we could get together next week and brainstorm some new names for you." Kenny said as he eye-fucked Jasper who now looked as if he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

Charlotte, Peter, and I were doing our best to keep it together and failing miserably at it. We finally said our goodbyes after Randy renewed an offer to pay Peter for a private lap dance, which he quickly declined. Char stepped in, citing that she was their agent and she knew for a fact that they were fully booked through the end of the year. Kenny and Randy left the hotel dejectedly and we were finally able to make our way to my apartment.

**Riley's POV**

"Mr. Biers, Dr. Cullen is here to see you. Are you available?" Janet's voice rang loud and clear through the intercom.

I've been contemplating all morning why Carlisle Cullen would want to see me. We told him everything he needed to know yesterday and I really didn't know what I could add to that. I hope he doesn't think that he's taking Bella away from us. I understand that she's mated to Jasper now, but he's going to have to move in with us where I could keep an eye on him and Bella. We have a good life here in Boston and I refuse to allow him to waltz in and destroy it. With a renewed determination, I hit the button on the intercom and said, "Send him in Janet. Thank you."

The doctor quickly found his way into my office and I greeted him with a nod, "Dr. Cullen, have a seat." I pointed to the wooden chair in front of my desk. For some reason, he grimaced when he looked at the chair.

"Please, call me Carlisle." He said as he seated himself and shifted uncomfortably. I could swear, I heard him whisper "ouch" as he sat down. "So, Riley, uh...we met under interesting circumstances yesterday."

"Yes, we did." I replied.

"Um...out of curiosity, how old were you when you were changed?" He asked, this time flinching uncomfortably in the chair.

"Twenty-three, about two months shy of my twenty-fourth birthday, why?"

"Ah...you're the same age as me." He mused. "Ouch." He whispered again.

"Carlisle, are you okay? You seem uncomfortable." I was concerned because he seemed to be in pain.

"I'm fine really, you wouldn't have a pillow or a cushion would you? I had a little accident after the reception last night."

What kind of accident can a vampire possibly be in? Must have been a bad one. He seems to have problems with sitting. I immediately grabbed a throw pillow from the loveseat in my office and handed it to him. He thanked me profusely and we continued with our conversation.

"Carlisle, I'm sure you didn't come here to ask me how old I am. Let's get down to business. Why are you here?" I asked.

"Well, I can see where Bella gets her no nonsense approach from. How shall I put this? I wanted to thank you for taking care of Bella and raising her into the strong young lady that she is."

"She's my real sister, Carlisle. I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise."

"Yes, well, you still did a wonderful job."

"Mr. Biers, there's an Esme Cullen here to see you." Janet's voice interrupted.

I raised my eyebrow in question at Carlisle and he whispered. "I have no idea why she's here." I could tell with my power that he was telling the truth so I pushed the button and said, "Send her in Janet."

"What brings you here today, Mrs. Cullen?" I asked.

"Call me Esme, dear. Carlisle, what are you doing here?" She chuckled at the sight of her husband sitting on the throw pillow.

"We were just getting to that." I said.

"Oh, carry on then."

"Um...well...I wanted to know where you live?" Carlisle said.

"Impossible, Carlisle there's no way you came all the way to Riley's office to ask him what his address is. You're a vampire. You would just track his scent. I think, what my husband wants to know is if you are happy with your current living arrangements?"

"Yes, the apartment could be a bit bigger, but with Vicky starting work in the fall, we were planning on purchasing a house."

"Ah. What if you didn't have to purchase a house?" Esme asked.

"I don't understand." I said because I really didn't understand.

"Riley, I would like for you, Victoria, Bella, Irina, and Laurent to come live with us."

Jesus Christ. This woman doesn't beat around the bush does she.

"Um...thank you for your offer Esme, but I'd have to discuss it with my family. I'm not so sure how comfortable we'd be living with so many people. I also don't want Bella to be around Edward and Alice."

"Don't worry about Edward and Alice. I'll handle those two pricks." She said with a bit of mischief.

"I'd still have to discuss it with my family though. We're pretty well situated where we are right now." I said.

"What's there to discuss? I want my daughter living with me and I already feel a bond forming with Vicky. You, Riley, need a mother as well. I will not have you three running around without a mother and father to care for you and guide you."

"Uh, yeah, what she says." Carlisle finally says. Geez! Can this guy be anymore pussy whipped?

Fuck. I thought they were gonna try to take Bella away, not inviting us all to live with them. The worst part is, if any two needed a mother it was Bella and Vicky. Bella because her human mother was more of a friend than a parent and Vicky because she needed to be nurtured after the hell she went through with Maria and James.

"Esme, thank you for your offer, but I'd still have to discuss it with everyone." I said.

"Riley, I know that you've been taking excellent care of everyone up until this point. I would never dream of ever undermining what you did for Bella and Vicky. I just want to take a little bit of the load off of your shoulders so that you could take a breather and act your age. How old are you Riley?"

"Same as me." Carlisle answered.

"You're only twenty-three? You're too young to shoulder the responsibilities of a family by yourself. I want you to be able to live a little. I want to give you the opportunity that Carlisle never had. I think you'll find living with our family can be a supportive environment."

Shit, if this woman wasn't already a motivational speaker then she should be. She wasn't lying at all, she meant every word she said.

"I'll talk to my family tonight, Esme." I said.

"That's fine, I'll start working on your rooms then."

"But...I didn't..." I was at a loss for words.

"Hush now, I know what I'm doing." She said with a smile, then quickly left my office.

"So, that was my wife." Carlisle said. "She can be quite convincing can't she?"

"I'd say so." I replied.

Carlisle and I spent the next half hour talking about our careers and how I eventually wanted to go to medical school. The man started beaming with pride when I said that and he was positive that I'd go far as a doctor due to my lack of bloodlust. By the end of our meeting, he was calling me "son" and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't like it. I knew then, that I had made my decision. I just hoped my family would agree with me—especially Bella.

**Alice's POV**

"Edward! Edward are you listening to me?" I said to my brother. We were on a flight headed for Spain. It was the first stop on our three continent tour of nations. The weird thing is, after looking over the itinerary, I wasn't quite sure where many of these cities we were touring were. Paris and Rome were easy enough, but our first stop is a place in Northern Spain called Santiago de Compostela. Where the heck is that? Esme even has us signed up for bus tours in every country we're visiting. I have to admit that it was pretty nice of her to do, but really she owed me after she made me plan and execute Edward's wedding, in it's entirety, on my own.

"Shh...Alice, not so loud. Amanda's sleeping. What do you want?"

"Edward, I think we need to discuss the return of Bella. I haven't been able to see anything since we ran into her. In fact, I haven't been able to see much of anything in terms of our family for a while now."

"I know, Alice, my power has been ineffective since I first ran into her at my bachelor party. I can only read your mind and Amanda's mind."

"What? You never said anything about running into her there. I never saw it. Why didn't you tell me?"

"To be honest, Alice, I didn't want to upset you or Amanda on our wedding day."

"Edward, you're always so selfless. I'm a strong woman. I can handle it. Now, what happened?"

"Well, as soon as we ran into her, she orally manipulated a popsicle and caused me to have a spermal expulsion. After it happened, I couldn't read anyone's mind. It was disgusting and lascivious, Alice. She aimed her performance straight at me too. Clearly she was trying to use me to get back into our family."

"Oh, disgusting! She was destitute when we knew her in Forks. She's probably had to resort to prostitution by now."

"I don't doubt it Alice. During the party, I overheard her and her friends talking about sacrificing live rabbits in order for them to achieve a sexual release."

Live rabbits? I didn't know you could use them to have an orgasm with. I'll have to find some literature on that and then order a few for me to test out. I wonder what breed of rabbit is the highest quality? I only what the best for me, after all.

"Why would you need to find literature on using rabbits, Alice?"

Oh fuck! He can still read my mind. "Edward, I believe it's important to learn what kind of person we're dealing with when it comes to Bella. If she's doing something as disgusting as bringing a house pet to bed, who knows what other things she has up her sleeve. Did you see how she was with Jasper? She had him wrapped around her finger. He believes that she's his mate and so does the entire family. Edward, I may no longer be married to my Jazzy, but I still care about him a great deal. What else happened?"

"I'm not sure you want to hear this Alice, but I'll tell you since you said you can handle it. Well, Bella threw herself at a male stripper begging him to take her. She even placed money in between her bosom to entice him. Carlisle had enough at that point and brought her back to our place. I tried to get her to come to my side, but she yelled profanities at me. Then, she threw herself on Jasper. We all decided that it would be best if Jasper used his power on her to keep her calm, but like me, he was powerless against her. She first orally manipulated his member while he was driving and then she engaged in sexual intercourse with him."

"While he was driving?"

"Yes Alice, while he was driving."

How the hell did she fuck him in a Corvette? I didn't think that was possible with those narrow bucket seats. Besides, Jasper always wanted to do it in our room and he never lasted more than three minutes.

Oh-oh, Edward's looking at me funny again.

"Is that all that happened, Edward?"

"Uh...pretty much, yes. Oh, and the room that we thought Esme was gifting to Amanda apparently has been for Bella all along. Esme pretty much slammed the door in my face when I demanded that she remove Bella from there."

"What? That room has a two person Jacuzzi tub, a luxury walk-in shower, a spa dressing area, a huge walk-in closet, a separate library, and Hawaiian Koa wood flooring. Do you know how rare and expensive that is? On top of that, I believe all the furniture is hand carved out of Hawaiian Koa wood specific to Esme's design. I figured it was Amanda's room because of the king sized bed."

"No, Esme assured me that it was always meant for Bella and that Amanda would be living in my room. She even put a roll-away bed and a sleeping bag in the corner of my room for her."

"Edward, I think we're going to have to come up with a plan to rid the family of the curse that is Bella. It's obvious that since she couldn't get her hands on you, she's now trying to use my Jazzy as a way into our family. Jasper isn't as strong as you are, Edward. He could easily fall prey to her evil clutches. I'm not saying that we should kill her, but I think we might have to pay her off so she stays away from our family."

"Maybe we should consult with the Volturi while we're in Rome?"

"Absolutely not, Edward. I have one vision that remains constant. If we approach the Volturi, they will kill all three of us as soon as Amanda opens her mouth to speak. I don't know what she says to set them off, but I do know that the three brothers descend from their thrones and immediately dismembers us and sets us alight. They don't even drain Amanda, they just snap her neck."

"Alice, I think it's best if we stay as far away as possible from Volterra."

"I agree, Edward."

**Well, tell me what you think. Do you want Jasper to serve his breakfast in bed to you? Do you think Bella is okay with the mating thing or still confused? What do you think of Riley's thoughts? What's wrong with Carlisle's bottom? What do you make of Alice and Edward? Let me know and I promise to write back. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**You guys are so awesome with all of your encouraging reviews, faves, and alerts! Thank you for continuing to read this story. Yummy hugs from Riley for all of you.**

**This chapter contains swearing, sexual situations, a nice, but sex-crazed female vampire, and excruciating mating pain.**

**This story is AU and OOC-I've really messed with the storyline and characters so it may not be for all of you.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer except for Rex Fantasia and the shepherdess.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

***Just want to note that in my story, vampires still have normal hair growth after their transformation.***

**Vicky's POV**

I couldn't wait for Bella and Irina to get home from their weddings. I've been sitting here bored all morning waiting for them. I tried cooking, knitting, yoga, I even gave it a go with the Rabbit, but I just couldn't concentrate enough to accomplish anything. Irina called a few minutes ago to say that she was with Carmen and Eleazar getting the third degree about everything that's gone on in the past five years. Apparently, Eleazar is pissed because Bella's still human and Irina was getting her ass reamed by him.

"I'm home!" Bella announced. I smelled the scents of Jasper and Peter and an unknown vampire.

"I'm in the kitchen!" I called out.

"Hi Sis. You already met Jasper and Peter yesterday. This is Peter's mate Charlotte." Bella introduced us.

"Hello Sugar, why you're even hotter than Petey said. That's one fabulous ass you have on ya. I bet Riley likes to give it a good spankin', don't he? Let me take a look at ya." She said as she stepped behind me to check out my derriere.

Oh. My. God. Did this woman just say that I had a fabulous ass and then examine it? I was speechless. I really didn't know how to respond. I've never met anyone as open as this lady.

"Don't worry about Char darlin', she's got no verbal filter." Jasper said.

I nodded my head, still rendered silent. "So how was the wedding, Bella?" Somehow, I had managed to find my voice again.

"Megan's was fine. It got a little wild though, but come on, we knew that her wedding would be a little nuts. Fuckward's was worse than an Amish funeral. Oh and I met his wife. She was dressed like an eighteenth century shepherdess. I'm not kidding you. She even had one of those bonnet thingys on her head."

"Was it a costume party?" I asked. I mean, it has to be a costume party, right? Who the hell would wear a bonnet to a wedding?

"Nah, Sug, Amanda is just that fucked up." Char said. "So, my husband tells me that you were in Maria's army too. When?"

I definitely wasn't expecting that question. That's certainly straightforward and a little personal, if you ask me. Then I looked at the three vampires in front of me, I realized that everyone here besides Bella were changed to serve in the malicious bitch's army. I saw all the scars on their arms—so similar to mine—I bet they knew the story behind each and every scar—just like I did. For some reason I felt like opening up to them.

"I was turned in 1959 when I was 24 for the sole purpose of fulfilling a sadistic vampire's sexual desires. I was with him until Jasper and Emmett killed him a little over five years ago. Jasper, I never got to thank you for that, I would have never met Riley if you hadn't killed him. I know that you didn't do it for me, but it benefited me in more ways than you can ever realize. I could never repay you for setting me free." I broke down thinking about how sadistic James was and the decades of torture I endured with him.

I was suddenly pulled into a warm hug and I felt an overwhelming sense of calm. It was Jasper. "You never have to feel so insecure, darlin'. Peter, Charlotte, and I know how treacherous that bitch Maria can be and from the emotions I got from him, that James was just as bad. He's never coming back, Vicky. I made sure that each and every part of him turned to ash. The three of us have got your back if you ever feel threatened again, just as I'm sure you've got ours."

I can't believe that I'm being comforted by, of all people, the Major. In our world, he's known to be cruel and sadistic. James was terrified of him and, from what I hear, even the Volturi cringes at the thought of the Major. Yet, here he is, in my kitchen making me feel calm, secure, and wanted.

"Sug, I was changed for the same reason as you," Charlotte said, "only I was lucky enough to meet my mate in the process of it. I only had to serve for a little over a year before we escaped. You've got to be a strong woman to have survived fifty years."

"I was in Maria's army for about twenty years. She didn't get rid of me because I kept James and her sexually satisfied and I was a strong fighter. When James finally decided to escape, like an idiot, I begged him to take me with him. He did, of course, and then we met Laurent somewhere along the way. He became a friend to me. For years, he tried to get me to leave James and his cruel ways, but I couldn't. I was so afraid of being alone. When we met the Cullens at the baseball game and James wanted to go after Bella, Laurent couldn't take it anymore and left. That was the beginning of my new life because, as you all know, 48 hours later, James was dead."

"Do you have any gifts, Sugar?" Peter asked.

"I wouldn't call it a gift really, but I have some sort of self-preservation and evasion thing that triggers whenever I'm in danger. Riley thinks that may be why I was able to survive Maria and James for so long. Whenever they were on the verge of ripping me apart, I'd always come up with some good excuse for them not to. Irina thinks that Eleazar would be able to tell me more about it. I'm really looking forward to being able to finally talk to him."

I saw a pair of brown doe eyes look up into my gold ones. With her thumb and index fingers, she traced the outline of my orbs and said, "You need to hunt, sis."

"I know, Bella, I was just waiting for Riley to get home." I said. "You know how I hate to hunt alone."

"Sorry, no dice, you can go with Jasper. You need to hunt now. Look at your eyes, Vic, they're darkening by the second. Oh, and Jasper, you're not doing much better so get the fuck out of here before I kick your ass."

"How the hell do you expect to kick my ass?"

"Oh, trust me, she'll find a way, she always does." I said.

"Alright, let's go." Jasper said as he gave Bella a quick peck on the lips.

"We're going with you guys." Peter suddenly declared.

Jasper and I both looked at the two red-eyed vamps quizzically.

"Listen, we're fixing to stay for awhile this time around. Besides, if Char's going to be hitting all those sex goddess classes with Bella and Vicky here, it'll be best if she became a golden eyed vamp too."

"Sex goddess classes? What kind of bullshit have you been feeding these people?" I asked.

"He means the dance classes at the Y and the workshops at Good Vibes." Bella said. "Speaking of which, you guys better hurry if we're going to make the Stripping for Fitness class."

Oh, that's right. It's Monday, isn't it? We better run.

"Okay, sis, we'll be back in a few hours." I said as the four of us headed out of the door.

**Bella's POV**

**To: B Swan-Biers**

**From: R Hale**

**What time is stripper class? Where?**

I quickly texted Rose back with the time and place of the class and she texted me back saying that she, Kate, and Tanya would meet us there. I made myself a quick sandwich and decided to take a nap because, truth be told, I was exhausted after last night's activities. About an hour into my nap, I was roused awake by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Who is it?" I called.

"It's me, Sissy, let me in."

I opened the door to find Emmett with a big smile plastering his face. "Whatcha doing here brother bear?"

"School's out and I don't really have anything to do so I thought I'd visit my favorite little sis." Rosie, Esme, and Carlisle are all at work so it's just me."

"You're welcome to hang out here anytime, Em. It's usually just me, Vicky, and Irina. Riley and Laurent both work."

"Laurent works? What does he do?" Emmett asked, a bit shocked.

"Oh, he works at the YMCA as a personal trainer and instructor. He teaches Zumba, Spinning, and Karate classes."

"No shit, really?" Emmett asked a bit shocked.

"Yeah, really."

"So, Bella, I wanted to talk to you."

"Sure, shoot."

"I wanted to talk to you about sex."

Sex? Why the hell would Emmett want to talk to me about sex? No, no this is getting weird.

"Bella, when a man and a woman fall in love. There comes a time when..."

"Stop, stop right there. Emmett, I'm not a virgin anymore. I haven't been for about four years now."

"I was afraid you'd say that. You can't fault a brother for hoping though, can you? So, who was it?"

"Just a guy I used to date. It's over now, no big deal."

"Okay, here's the thing, sis. In my day, women weren't so overt sexually. A woman only had sex with her husband and that was after she was married. If a woman had premarital sex, she was labeled as a jezebel or a trollop. I'm not saying that you're any of those things sis. I know that you come from a different generation, but maybe, just maybe it's not such a bad idea to think about the consequences of your actions."

Okay, he had a point there. I didn't realize that Emmett cared so much.

"Bella, when you did that thing you did with the popsicle and it ended up on YouTube, I was really angry at you. Angry that you could put yourself on display like that. Peter was also in the wrong for posting that video, but ultimately it was your fault for putting yourself in such a vulnerable position."

Okay, now I feel like a complete shit. Cue the tears. Here they come. "I'm sorry Emmett, you're right. I shouldn't have done that and really, I have no one to blame, but myself. I hate that I disappointed you that night. You must think I'm a total slut." I sobbed.

"Bella, I don't think you're a slut. I think you weren't thinking that night. I just don't want to see you get hurt Sissy. I may be overprotective, but it's only because I love you. I lost you once for five years and I'll be damned if that happens again."

We were both suddenly startled by the sound of the front door slamming shut. I wasn't expecting anyone and it was too early for the others to come back from hunting. My eyes widened in fear and Emmett immediately pulled me behind him and got ready to attack.

"What the fuck are you doing? Did you really think I was going to attack you?"

"Riley, what are you doing home so early? It's only four o'clock." I asked.

"I'm done with appointments for today. My last two patients cancelled because of the flu. I wanted to talk to you about your behavior the other night, but I think Emmett did a great job. I heard everything he said."

"You were eavesdropping?"

"Well, sometimes it's hard not to with the super-sonic vampire hearing. Besides, you should be happy because you've been spared from another lecture." Riley then turned to Emmett and said, "Thanks man, for caring about her so much."

"Hey, it was nothing. I just don't want to see her get hurt." Emmett said.

"So, Riley, what did Carlisle want?" I asked. I've been dying to ask him all day so I was kind of glad that he was home early.

"It wasn't just Carlisle, Esme showed up too."

"Well, what did they want?"

"Bells, how do you like living here?"

"I love living here. You're not going to send me away are you? It's me, isn't it? Am I too needy? I'll try my best to stay out of your way." I said in a moment of panic. I guess I wasn't completely over my abandonment issues.

Riley grabbed me and placed me on his lap. "Whoa Bells, stop. We're not leaving you. Together forever, remember?" I nodded acknowledging my brother. He continued, "Good. What I meant was how do you like this apartment?"

"It's a little small, but it's good. It's what we can afford right now. If you'd let me work we can get a bigger place." I said. Riley wouldn't let me work because he was hell bent on me enjoying my life and experiencing college like a normal student. Sure, I didn't get to live in the dorms, but I had as normal a life as any college student and I lived close enough to campus so that I could see my friends all the time.

"Not happening, kiddo. I'm asking you this because...because...well, I'm just gonna come straight out and say it...Esme asked if we would move into their house in New Hampshire with them. I wanted to know your thoughts on that."

"Hell yeah!" Emmett said excitedly. "Sissy and Riley Biers living with us. Dude do you like to play Madden Football? Can you show me some of your moves. Shit! Riley Biers the two-time All American quarterback living in our house? I feel like I just won the lottery!"

Okay, well we know Emmett's excited.

"Do you want to move in with them Riley?"

"Oh no, Miss Self Sacrifice, you're not going to turn this shit around on me. I want to know what you think."

"Okay, then, I'm not so sure I'm ready to move in with them. Sorry, Em. These last 48 hours have been a bit overwhelming. I don't know if I could just jump right in and get cozy with the family again."

"I think that's a fair statement." Riley said. "Is there anything that you want to talk about?"

Uh, yeah, I have a fuckton to talk about. Mainly this whole fucking mating thing that's confusing the shit out of me. Sure Jasper said that he wants me to give it a chance and that he knows it'll be forever, but why? What the hell can he possibly see in me? I'm just Bella Swan-Biers, average twenty-two year old human, with a recent degree in American History, and a possible, newly acquired sex addiction that may require many intensive counseling sessions. Well, who wouldn't be addicted to sex when a sex god like Jasper is willingly offering his body to you?

"Riley, Emmett...this mating thing is confusing the hell out of me. I feel like I've completely lost control of myself. My body seems to involuntarily respond to Jasper. I keep wanting to jump on the guy for God's sake. I mean, between last night and this morning we must have had sex at least eight times!" My brothers both cringed at hearing that verbal diarrhea. " Jasper says that he feels a connection to me and that he thinks he'll eventually fall in love with me. I'm not so sure how I feel about that. I mean, I barely knew him in Forks and now, supposedly, we're mated and we have no choice, but to be together forever. What if, after I get to know him, I hate everything about him? It already bothers me how he keeps nuzzling me and licking me in public."

"Okay, Bells, the nuzzling and the licking is called scenting. It lets other males know that you belong to him and him alone. It's part of the natural mating process and purely instinctual for males to scent their women. I can talk to him about you being uncomfortable about him being so obvious about it. If it helps any, when Rosie and I were first mated, I stripped her naked in the middle of a park and licked her from head to toe against a tree."

Okay, that was just a little too much info, but I get the point. "That would be great if you'd talk to him Em." I said.

"Bella, how do you feel now?" Riley asked.

"My chest is killing me. I mean it's truly painful. I feel like a tractor is sitting on my chest and not moving. On top of that, I want to go out and look for Jasper right this second."

"He probably feels the same way, Bells. I feel like that whenever I'm away from Vicky, but as time goes on—it gets easier. For example, when I'm at work, the pain isn't too bad because I know exactly when I'll be seeing Vicky next. I'm sure Emmett feels the same way about his mate." Riley said.

"Yeah, like right now I know that Rosie is at work so the pain isn't too bad, but let's say she goes away on a weekend trip with Esme—the pain would be worse, but still manageable. If, God forbid, she were in danger or kidnapped then the pain would be excruciating. I wouldn't be able to fight the pull and the pain wouldn't stop until she were safe." Emmett explained.

Well fuck! I really hate this. It goes against every one of my beliefs. This mating thing is so unfair! Why me? Why the physical pain? I'm really not into pain at all. Alright, maybe a little spanking here and there during sex is okay, but I digress...I'm talking about this crushing chest pain that I feel whenever Jasper is away. This shit hurts!

"When I was with Edward or Tommy or Blake, I never felt like this. I never felt crushing physical pain nor an insatiable urge to find them and have my way with them. This all feels so weird."

"Bells, Edward wasn't your mate and Tommy and Blake are both human. Mating is completely instinctual—it's an animal instinct that humans just don't possess." Riley said.

"Well, I'm human, what the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Nothing, Sissy, there's nothing wrong with you. Besides, you're not the only human mated to a vampire. Believe it or not—Edward's new wife is actually his mate. Charlotte can see mated pairs with her power and she said that Eddie and Amanda are definitely mates." Emmett said.

"You know, I can actually see that. From what I've seen, she's perfect for Jizzward. They both seem so repressed." I said.

"Bella, you have no idea. Alice went on the honeymoon with them in order to keep Amanda pure. Eddie doesn't want to risk killing her during sex so he won't even kiss her until she's changed."

"Are you kidding me? How are they both denying their mating instincts?" Riley asked.

"I have no idea, dude. I think the fact that they're both virgins help. Also, Eddie boy practically martyrs himself in the name of control."

Yeah, right, because creaming himself while moaning my name is the essence of self control. The guy is so sick—ew! I can't believe I ever dated the pervert.

"So, did Charlotte see anything between Bella and Jasper?" Riley asked Emmett.

"Definitely. She said that she's never seen a stronger mating bond. You know that if Jasper changes you, you guys will be bonded mates, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there. What the fuck is a bonded mate?"

"Bonded mates are the strongest form of vampire mating. It happens when one of the mates sires the other. Carlisle and Esme are bonded mates. So are your brother and Vicky. The siring actually enhances the mating bond."

"So, by enhancing the mating bond, you mean enhancing the pain?"

"Well, yeah sort of, but the main thing is that you'll feel a lot more connected to your mate."

"Oh my fuck! So, you're saying that I have to feel even more pain and Jasper is going to lick me in public more. No, no, no! No, thank you! I'm going to my fucking room now and think of a way to get rid of this so-called mating bond! If I have to, I'll join a monastery in the south of France and become a fucking nun!" With that I slammed the door to my room and locked it. I didn't want anything to do with this painful mating thing. I don't care what my brothers or my mate says.

_**One hour later...**_

Knock, knock, knock...knock, knock, knock... "Bella, open the door please." I hear Vicky say.

"No!"

"Bella, sweetie, please."

"I said no!"

"Isabella Marie Swan-Biers, open the motherfucking door right the fuck now!"

"Fuck no!"

God damn it! What part of no don't these fucking vamps understand. I climbed out of my window so I could be alone to think. This whole mating thing just happened so suddenly and it's scaring the crap out of me...and this pain in my chest isn't helping matters. I really just want to...

"Where do you think you're going my mate?" A dark voice asked.

"How...how did you know I wasn't in my room anymore?

"You're my mate, I know when you're near me and when you're not. Besides, you're human and we heard you opening your window and climbing out of it."

"Well, that's just fucking great! Now, leave me the fuck alone!"

"Not until we talk, Bella. Your brother and Emmett told us what happened."

"Fucking wonderful! What happened to keeping it between us you fuckers!" I yelled knowing that Riley and Emmett could hear me.

"I really don't have anything to say to you Jasper. I really don't want a mate. I'd rather die than feel this physical pain. I don't even know you anyway. Sure, we had great sex together, but that isn't enough to form a relationship. So, if it's all the same to you—I'd just like to walk away while this is all still new. I've decided to become a nun in France anyway."

"No." Jasper stated.

"No?" I asked.

"No." He stated again. "Bella, you can't break a mating bond unless you die and then you take your mate with you. So, unless you want us both to die, you can't break the bond. Besides, I don't think you'd survive as a nun."

"Well, that just sucks! You're saying that your life is in my hands?"

"Exactly. Essentially, that's what mating is."

Oh. I get it now. I hold his life in my hands just like he holds mine in his. It's quite simple when you look at it that way. I suppose I need to stop wallowing in self pity because this shit isn't going away.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by I won't survive as a nun?"

"Bella, you have to take a vow of chastity and obedience. I doubt you can handle that." Jasper chuckled.

"I can survive without sex and be a good girl. I'll just take my Rabbit along with me in case I need to get off."

Jasper looked at me with the most quizzical expression at the mention of my Rabbit. "You're okay with using a rabbit to get off?" He asked uncomfortably.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be? If it weren't for my Rabbit, I'd have to rely on my hand to get off or call an ex in for a favor. I'd really prefer not to go the second route."

"Uh, no...besides, now you have me so you won't need any of those things."

"Jasper, just because I'm mated doesn't mean I'm giving up my Rabbit. Besides, I think we can have fun with it together."

Jasper's jaw dropped in a horrified expression. "Together? How's that possible? Um...I'm not so sure I'm ready for a rabbit in the bedroom. Don't they move around a lot?"

"Oh, Jasper, keep an open mind. The possibilities are endless. Besides, you have complete control over the Rabbit." I said.

Jasper now looked truly terrified. Jeez! Who knew that the most feared vampire in the world would be scared of a little jiggling vibrator. This is just too funny.

"Um...I'll think about the rabbit thing. It's a lot for me to process." Jasper said.

"Jasper, relax it's really no big deal. Oh and you're right, I would never survive as a nun. I was just joking anyway." I said and turned towards my window.

"Where are you going?" Jasper asked.

"I'm going to climb back in through my window." I said. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, hang on a second." He said as he pulled me up flush against him and enveloped me in a passionate kiss. "Don't ever keep anything from me again. If you've got something on your mind, tell me. I'm your mate, Bella, we'll work through it together. I don't ever want you to feel uncomfortable with me." He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed me once again.

We climbed back into my room and sat on my bed and talked. I told him about all my fears and reservations about being mated. I told him that I was terrified about this whole bonded mate thing and how I really hate being in pain. He, in turn, told me about how completely shocked he was to discover that I was his mate. He thought he'd be one of the unlucky vampires that would go through all of eternity without a mate. Regarding the pain, he said that everyone says that it'll get a lot easier as time progresses and I accept the fact that Jasper's my mate.

Our talk was interrupted by Vicky knocking on my door and telling me that it was time for us to leave for our Stripping for Fitness class. I tried to get into my gym clothes quickly, but Jasper kept trying to molest me. Okay, maybe getting naked in front of Jasper wasn't a good idea.

"Reign that shit in Jasper, you're projecting! We don't have time for that right now. I have to learn how to become a stripper!" I heard Char yell from the living room. After a quick kiss goodbye, the girls and I left for the YMCA.

Char, Irina, Vicky, and I got to class with moments to spare. We introduced Char to the instructor and set up in our usual spot in the center of the back row of the room. Suddenly, we heard the gasps and whispers of the other students. We looked at the instructor and her eyes were gaping while whispering, "Oh my God." We turned to the studio door and fuck me-there stood Rosalie, Kate, and Tanya in full on stripper wear.

"Hello! Is this the stripper class?" Rose asked cheerfully. She was wearing some kind of skin tight spandex cheerleading outfit complete with tassels and five inch spiked heels.

"Umm...yes it is." The instructor said, clearly flustered.

"Where do we set up?" Kate inquired in her red lace chaps complete with matching bikini top, thong underwear, clear, acrylic platform heels, and red cowboy hat.

"Are you guys here to teach the class?" One woman asked.

"No, this is our first class. We're so excited to be here!" Tanya gushed. She was wearing some sort of school girl outfit with a micro mini red plaid skirt that barely covered her hoochie and a white spandex top that simply tied underneath her boobs. Is that a flogger she's holding?

"Holy fuck." Irina said. "Maybe we should have told them to wear gym clothes."

"You think?" Vicky and I said at the same time.

"Oh there you are!" Rose said, recognizing us.

"Why aren't you girls dressed?" Tanya asked. Yeah, this coming from the half-naked blonde dressed as every man's fantasy schoolgirl. Geez. She even has her hair in pigtails.

The instructor finally regained her composure and announced, "Ahem! I'll be starting class as soon as the three new girls get set up. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for coming today and remind you that this class is called Stripping for Fitness—not Stripping for Business."

By the time the class ended, there were men plastering every inch of the glass walls surrounding the studio. How could you blame them? You had Rosalie, the All-American beauty queen dressed in a red, white, and blue cheerleading outfit plus two gorgeous succubi dressed as a cowgirl and a schoolgirl. On our way out, the instructor made it a point to remind the three women to dress in appropriate gym attire for the next class. After a quick chat, we decided to hang out for a bit at Carlisle and Esme's Boston hideaway. When we asked Rose about the hideaway, she told us that everyone needed a place to get away from Edward, Alice, and Amanda. Hmm...interesting.

"Okay, dish!" Irina ordered Tanya as soon as we all entered the apartment.

"About what?"

"What do you mean, about what? We want to hear all about the Stripper Major. Was he every girl's fantasy come true?"

"Well, he's a gentleman, if anything." Tanya said.

"What do you mean? Didn't you get down and do the dirty with him?" Rose asked.

"No, we actually dropped Kelly off at her apartment because she hired him for the night. He didn't even charge her because he felt bad that he'd spent half the night chatting to me. After that, we sat in a coffee shop and talked. Then, he dropped me back off at the hotel."

"No kinky sex? No impromptu blow jobs? You have a bonafide sex god in front of you and you don't ravage him? I'm so ashamed of you!" Char said.

"Char, not everyone is as sex crazed as you are." Kate said.

"I'm not sex crazed, I just jump at an opportunity when I see one." Char said.

"I noticed." I said pointedly to her. "So, when are you going to see Rex again?"

"Friday night. We're going to dinner with you and Jasper. I figured with you being human, it would be less intimidating for him. Jasper's gonna have to suck it up and eat human food. Rose, can I borrow the hideaway? We're gonna need a place to 'talk' after the date."

"Sure, no problem—I'm just gonna need details afterwards."

"So," Tanya turned to Vicky, "your husband is one mega hot vamp. What's he like in bed?"

Vicky looked mortified. "You...You've met my mate before?" She asked shyly.

"Oh my God. Vicky, I'm so sorry sis. Here, we are chatting away and I never got to properly introduce you to everyone." I said, then proceeded with introductions.

"Guys, she doesn't know who Rex is because she wasn't at the wedding." Irina said.

"Here, I filmed him ripping his shirt off at Fuckward's wedding." Char said then proceeded to show Vicky the video on her iPhone.

"This guy looks like one of those marble Greek statues in the flesh. I've never seen anyone so chiseled." Vicky said.

"Well, if you girls want to get a closer look at him, I happen to know that he's performing at Climax on Thursday night." I said.

"We are so going." Vicky said.

"I go where you girls go, you know that." Irina said.

"I am so in." Rose chimed.

"Me too." Kate said.

We all looked at Char for confirmation then, "Well, I'm not missing a naked major, are you out of your minds? You in Tanya?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She replied with a grin. "Now, can we get back to the sex god that is Vicky's mate please."

"Okay, I met him briefly, earlier today, and the guy is a certified hunk. As soon as I saw him my nipples were standing at attention and my panties were drenched. Plus, he's not a caveman like our mates are." Char declared looking pointedly at Rose and Kate.

"Yeah, Riley's pretty in touch with his feminine side. He's pretty sensitive to Vicky, Bella, and my needs. He's done wonders for Laurent too."

"What do you mean he's in touch with his feminine side? He's not gay, is he?" Kate asked.

"Of course he's not gay. How could he be with Miss Bodacious Ass Vamp as his mate?" Charlotte declared while everyone checked out an embarrassed Vicky's rump.

"By being in touch with his feminine side, I mean that he knows women. He's really sensitive to our feelings and our wants and needs. He also maintains his whole package—monthly haircuts, trims his brows, works out, watches chick flicks with us, still has time to hang with the guys, goes shopping without complaint, and he keeps to the times with his fashion. On top of that, he goes to sex workshops with us to gain a better understanding of our wants and needs in bed. Plus..." Irina explained.

"There's more? How perfect can a guy be?" Rosalie said in amazement.

"As I was saying, plus he's a great listener. If we're feeling bitchy or sad, he'll just sit and listen until we're all talked out then he'll add his words of wisdom at the very end. He's done wonders for Laurent." Irina continued.

"Okay, but let's get down to the meaty stuff here. Vicky, does he trim his man bush?" Tanya asked.

If she were human, Vicky probably would be blushing three different shades of red. She was used to being open in front of me and Irina, but she barely knew these women. "Um...yes...yes he does."

"Oh my God! He is the perfect man!" Rosalie exclaimed. "I tried to get Emmett to go to the salon to get a little work done, but he scoffed at me."

"Yeah, it's hard enough getting Garrett to get a haircut once a year!" Kate piped in. "I can't imagine how he'd react if I asked him to trim his testicular topiary."

"No shit! Pete's like a fucking neanderthal when it comes to grooming. He's always going on about how a real man doesn't need to keep up with the times." Char complained.

"He's pretty hot, though, your hubby is." I said to Char. "He has that rugged cowboy look going and it seems like all his man parts are working."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Girl, you have the Major as a mate. If any one has well-oiled man parts, it's Jasper." Kate declared.

Somehow, I had the feeling that Jasper's tried out his man parts on more than just Char before me. In a fit of jealousy, I scowled at Kate.

"Now, now baby girl, the Major's been around a long time." Kate cooed. "Besides, we all had to help him with his Alice problem throughout the years. Did you know that he didn't even penetrate her for the last thirty-five years of their marriage. He just used his gift on her to make her cum."

Okay, that didn't make it any better, but I understood why he had to go to different women to get his release. I couldn't expect him to wait over 150 years to meet me. All I know is that I had a sudden urge to fuck Jasper into submission. Again, I seriously think I'm developing some kind of sex addiction.

"Let's get down to why we're all really here." Rosalie said. "How did you manage to fuck Jasper in his Corvette? Those bucket seats are pretty narrow."

"Ah Rose, that was all yoga, my friend." I said.

"Yoga? You do yoga too?"

"Sure, on Sunday mornings, Vicky, Riley, Irina, Laurent, and I all go to yoga."

"Did you just say that Riley and Laurent go to yoga with you?" Charlotte asked in amazement.

"Yeah, it was actually their idea. Something about increasing flexibility and stamina in the bedroom. They didn't want to leave me at home alone so we made yoga Sundays a family thing."

Rosalie's jaw dropped at hearing that we did yoga as a family. I didn't see what the big deal was, it's just yoga.

"Okay, lil' sis, show me the yoga move that you did." Rosalie said as she positioned herself on the chaise lounge like she were in a Corvette. "Climb on and show me, Bella." She ordered then patted her lap.

Well, why not? We're all experienced women here. "Okay, Rose," I said as I positioned myself, "this is called the garland pose. You have to keep your hips centered and your feet steady. See, you guys are like stone so steadying my feet on your thighs is pretty easy. Normally, you'd keep your head upright and centered too, but, in this case, you have to remember to keep your head nuzzling his neck so he can see while driving. So, then, you just move yourself up and down from there. Pretty easy, don't you think?" I asked the girls as I showed them.

"Rose, do you have a strap-on that you can use so that Bella can demonstrate again?" Char asked in all seriousness.

"Charlotte, I'm not going to ride a strap-on. Are you fucking insane?" I chastised. Geez, I live with Irina who's a succubus and she's not nearly as insatiable as Char is.

"Well, I was just thinkin'..." Char said.

Suddenly, Vicky who must have had a delayed reaction asked, "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that you had sex with Jasper while he was driving his Corvette?"

"Yep at 130 miles per hour, and then he took her on top of the hood of his Vette afterwards." Katie answered.

Vicky, seemingly over her shock, then asked, "Well, can you explain when the brute ripped my favorite red dress off of you because now I have nothing to wear to see the fucking Greek statue on Thursday night!"

Gee. She's angrier about that dress than I thought. "Um...sometime in between the two fucks...I think..." I offered, "...but remember, Jasper promised to buy you a new one. We could go shopping first thing tomorrow even, yeah, that's what we'll do." I tried to appease her. God I hate it when Vicky glares at me. She can be really scary sometimes.

We all made plans to get together on Thursday night to see Stripper Major. It was decided that it would be best if we just said we were getting together for a girl's night out instead of telling our mates where we were really going. Our mates? God, that just sounds so weird. Oddly, after having some girl bonding time, I felt much more at ease with the term "mate." I also, still had this insatiable urge to fuck "my mate" silly. Good thing he's waiting for me at my place. Oh my God! I am a full blown sex addict. Eight times in 24 hours with Jasper isn't enough anymore. I really have issues!

**Well, what did you all think? I'd love to hear from you. As always, I promise to write back.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for all your fabulous reviews, faves, and alerts. I am absolutely touched by all of you. Jasper in the buff for all of you!**

_**On a separate note. I tried to respond to each and every one of your reviews, but unfortunately this website disabled all my alert features without warning and there were two of you whom I could not respond to. I apologize for that. I've since learned to check my settings daily to make sure that my alert settings are enabled and that under account settings, my ability to receive private messages are enabled. I urge you all to do the same because I learned this weekend that my account wasn't the only one affected. That's my public service message for today.**_

**This chapter contains sex, swearing, and a ton of twists and turns.**

**This story is AU and OOC-but really it makes it all the more fun. **

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**This story is intended for mature readers over the age of 18.**

**Jasper's POV**

The week was going well. Bella and I were getting to know each other and I could feel that she was becoming more comfortable with the fact that we were mates as each day passed. I stayed with Bella at her apartment every night. She was happy with her life in Boston and didn't want to move in with the Cullens.

While talking to Riley, he brought up that Esme wanted everyone to move into the house in Amherst. Vicky and Riley were all for it and so were Irina and Laurent. Apparently, the only person holding everyone back was Bella. She had told Riley that she wasn't sure if she wanted to be surrounded by everyone yet. So, for now, everyone was keeping their opinions to themselves not wanting their wishes to influence Bella in any way.

Staying with Bella's family was a completely different experience from living with the Cullens. This was one busy family. Aside from working, Riley and Laurent spent a few hours working out at the gym everyday. When I asked them why a vampire would need to work out, Laurent explained that vampires can actually become more physically conditioned from working out. I guess Riley, as a former college football player, couldn't give up his workouts after his transformation out of habit. He hated going to the gym alone so Laurent joined him and liked it so much that he ended up becoming a certified personal trainer. I thought about what they had both said about working out and realized that they were right, I was a lot more in shape and my reflexes were sharper when I was in Maria's army from the grueling daily regimen of training newborns. Huh, I bet I know something Carlisle doesn't. From that point, I joined the gym and worked out with them everyday. Emmett came with us too—seeing that he had developed a crush of sorts on his idol—Riley Biers, two time All American quarterback for the University of Washington. We were all getting sick of hearing about it and you could tell that poor Riley was embarrassed about being idolized like that.

After the gym, we'd talk on the way home. I'd never met two men more open than Riley and Laurent. Both of them were focused on keeping their mates happy and making sure that everyone in their family lived full lives. I felt like such a bum. I'd been spending the last five years roaming between the Cullens and Pete and Char's and here these guys were earning a living, taking classes, and bettering themselves everyday. The women were just as active. Bella was going to graduate school in the fall and Vicky was, hopefully, gonna be teaching. Irina, I found out was the only one not working, but she kept her days busy volunteering at a women's shelter. I'm really gonna have to get a job or go to school if I'm gonna keep up with Bella.

As the days passed, I realized that Bella was an independent and modern woman. As vampires, we like to keep our mates by our sides most of the time with the male being the dominant partner. Not with Bella, though. Her views were extremely modern and she expected to be treated on equal footing. I had to remind myself that my views were that of a 167 year old and they were completely outdated—especially for my twenty-two year old mate. She had an extremely full life and a packed schedule. She had classes at the YMCA, nights out with her friends, girls night out with Vicky and Irina, alone time with her brother, and then she'd finally have time for me.

Tonight Bella was going on a girls night out with Vicky, Irina, Char, Rose, Tanya, Katie, Esme, and Carmen. Since all the women were leaving us, we decided that it would be a great time to go on a hunt and have some male bonding time. We all met up at the Boston penthouse and spent a couple of minutes saying goodbye to our mates.

"So, where are you ladies going?" Riley asked.

"Oh, nowhere special really. We were just going to stroll through Faneuil Hall." Vicky said sweetly. Lie.

"Then walk around the North End a bit." Irina added innocently. Another lie.

"Then go to Clery's for drinks. Right girls?" Rose looked at the girls for confirmation of her lie.

I heard the women all murmur their agreement to the plan just as I saw Riley arching his eyebrow in question. He caught my eye and I nodded my head slightly in agreement. They were lying. Each and every one of them were lying and hiding something from their mates. I could feel the deception with my power. I narrowed my eyes at Bella who flashed me a brilliant smile then gave me a quick peck on the lips and said, "Well, we don't want to be late so we need to go. Bye guys. Have fun hunting!

"Right, well let's go ladies. Ooh! This is so exciting." Esme said.

With that, they all filed out of the door and snapped it shut. After about five minutes, when we were sure they were out of hearing range, Riley and I both spoke at the same time, "They're lying."

"What do you mean they're lying?" Carlisle asked.

"Simple, they're lying about where they're going. I felt deception coming from each one of them." I said.

"I can confirm it too." Riley said. Oh yeah, my future brother in law's power is definitely going to come in handy. Did I say brother in law? Who am I kidding? I was falling in love with my mate more and more everyday and I fully intended to make an honest woman out of her. I just hoped she felt the same way about me.

"What I can't understand is why? Irina, Vicky, and Bella have never intentionally lied. What could be so terrible that they have to hide it from us?" Laurent asked.

"So, we've established that they're all lying. What do we do now?" Garrett asked.

"We track them." Peter said angrily. My brother may be lenient with his mate, but deception was one thing he couldn't abide by. As vampires, it was in our nature to demand total honesty from our mates.

"I agree," Eleazar said, "it's a clear night so their scents should still be lingering."

"Alright, let's do this." I said. We all marched out of the door on a mission to find our mates.

Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves on a familiar street. I looked up at the neon sign on the building where our mates' distinctive scents disappeared into and read it: "Climax." There was a banner hanging underneath the sign that read: "Tonight—Ladies Only. All Male Revue. Featuring The Major."

"I can't believe that my Rosie would come to a place like this." Emmett said in disbelief.

"Why not?" Riley asked, "Weren't you guys all here just a couple of nights ago? What's the difference between you watching female strippers and them watching male strippers?"

"Dude, there's a huge difference. Our mates should only be looking at us." Peter said. That's right bro. You tell him.

"That's a pretty archaic way of thinking man. Women have urges and desires just like men do. You can't expect them to suppress their desires while you openly express yours." Riley said. He had a good point there, but that didn't mean that I had to like it.

"I agree with Riley. Women should be able to live without their main purpose in life being pleasuring their mates." Laurent said.

"Well, if you dudes are so comfortable with your mates ogling strippers, why the hell are you even here?" Garrett asked. Good one man. Point one for our side.

"I'm here because, while I'm okay with the fact that my mate is here, I'm not okay with the fact that she felt the need to lie to me." Riley answered. God, damn it! Does this guy have the answers for everything? I thought about it and I'm okay with Bella being here too. I mean, for God's sake, this is where our mating started. It's the fact that she felt the need to hide it from me that I'm pissed off about.

"So, we're going in, then?" Eleazar asked.

"Do we really need to? Why don't we just let them enjoy their night out? We can address the deception issue later." Carlisle said. Hell no! Carlisle was beyond pussy whipped. We all knew that Esme actually held the reigns in the family.

We all turned to go in when we were stopped by two goliath sized bouncers. "Sorry guys. Ladies only. Unless you suddenly grow tits and a pussy, you guys aren't moving beyond this point."

We could have taken these two humans easily, but not without making a scene so we all retreated back to the street. Besides, they were just doing their job so how could we fault them for that. Just then, two familiar figures came flitting up to us.

"Oh my God! Yoda, Santa what are you guys doing here? Oh and Major Junior, you're here too. Have you thought of a new stage name yet? There really can't be two majors, you know." The guy named Kenny said.

Major Junior? What the fuck? Since when did I get demoted? Major Junior? Major Junior?

"So, they wouldn't let you guys in either, huh? They're so strict about this Ladies Only policy here. I just wanted to get a glimpse of The Major, but no, I was born with the wrong body parts, unfortunately." Randy said and then turned to Emmett. "Santa, I never got to thank you for the other night. Kenny and I had the most erotic sex ever while role playing you guys. I was Yoda and Kenny played you." Emmett's jaw hung open, mortified.

"I wanted to chat with you, though, Santa." Randy continued as he pulled Emmett aside and whispered, "After you showed us everything you had during your show at the wedding, I noticed that you're not really good with your grooming. Honestly, since you're in the public eye—you need to consider manscaping your bush. It really does do wonders appearance wise, makes everything look bigger, if you catch my drift. I can refer you to my girl at Waxorama, if you like." Emmett's eyes gaped and his jaw hung even lower. He was rendered completely speechless.

"Ooh! Who are you?" Kenny said, noticing the other vamps in our group. What's your stage name, honey?" He asked a stunned Carlisle.

"Oh, that's Dr. DILF and this," Peter smirked pointing to Eleazar, "is Zorro."

"Dr. DILF? You must do well. The ladies love hearing the word doctor and daddy in the same line. It makes you all the more marketable. So, how many kids have you and Zorro adopted?"

"What? Me and him? We...I..." Eleazar tried to get something out, but his tongue seemed to have lost all function.

Randy then noticed Riley and Laurent and gushed, "Who are you two? I've never seen two more perfect specimens in my entire life." Hey! What happened to us? What are we—chopped liver?

"Dude, I'm straight. I'm just here looking for my wife." Riley said.

"Oh, pooh! The hot ones are always straight." Randy said.

"I'm their personal trainer." Laurent said with a grin.

"Also straight, I suppose." Randy said. Laurent confirmed his statement with a nod.

Now, why the hell didn't I think of saying I was straight from the get go like Riley and Laurent. Duh! Had I done that, these guys would have left me alone from the get go.

"Now, don't think we forgot about you, big boy. What's your stage name?" Kenny turned to Garrett.

"Uh...I'm Buzz Lightyear and I'm here to rescue you!" Garrett said.

"That's really a terrible stage name. You and Major Junior really need to come up with something new if you're going to make it in this industry. Well, it was nice to see you guys. We have to go now—ciao!" Kenny said.

As they walked away, we heard Randy saying, "Sweetie, let's role play again tonight. You be Zorro and I'll be Dr. DILF."

We all stood silently on the street for a minute, no doubt contemplating the fucked up conversation we just had with Kenny and Randy. Finally Carlisle cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, I think maybe we should just go to The Black Rose across the street and wait for them to come out. I could really use a good strong drink right about now."

"Good idea." I said as we all crossed the street and went into the bar away from the hell that was Climax and Kenny and Randy.

**Charlotte's POV**

I'm in heaven. I've never seen so many hot men in one place. The waiters are all wearing loincloths and strutting around showing their muscles carrying drink trays over their heads. I wonder if those loincloths are available for purchase. Oh, the things I'd do to Pete if he were wearing one of those. That's it, if I can't buy one. I'm stealing one.

"What can I get you lovely ladies for drinks?"

Um...you can get me some of you, honey. I want to see what you're packing underneath that loincloth you're wearing. Yummy!

"Excuse me, would you happen to know if the wonderful loincloth you're wearing is for sale?" Oh, and can you take it off and show me how you attach it to your body, I added silently as I fingered the piece of cloth barely covering his manhood.

"They sure are ma'am. Just go to our gift shop to the left there. They're 45 dollars for a cotton/poly blend and 95 for suede. Now, what can I get you to drink?"

"Thanks gorgeous. I'll be sure to grab one of those on my way out. Um...I think I'll take one of those penis shaped ice pops to drink." Are they shaped like you, baby?

"You mean the Cock Pops?" Oh, say cock pop again, sugar.

"Yes, a Cock Pop."

"What flavor? We have limoncello and mojito?" A what? What the hell are those?

I looked to Bella for help. I had no idea what either of those were. "I like the limoncello, but you'd probably prefer the mojito flavored one. Less of an aftertaste." She winked.

Ah...I see. The mojito one probably will be easier to digest for us vamps.

"I'll take a mojito one then." I said, as did the other girls at the table except for Bella who asked for the limoncello one.

"Nine Cock Pops coming right up!" Include your own and make it ten baby.

"You girls are going to show us what you learned at that Fabulous Fellatios class, aren't you?" Rose asked.

"I suppose we could." Irina said.

"Irina and Vicky are way better at it than me. They don't have a gag reflex. I always choke if I bring it in too deep." Bella said. What the hell is she talking about? Bella should be crowned the blow job queen.

The waiter soon returned with our Cock Pops and soon Irina and Vicky were demonstrating what they learned. We were all trying out the strategies that Irina and Vicky showed us. Bella was actually chomping at her popsicle not bothering to savor it. "These are so yummy and refreshing. I wonder how they make these?" She pondered.

"This is so much fun. It's really the first time I've ever let myself just have fun with the girls." Esme declared. "I think I'm going to let myself get tipsy tonight. What's good to drink?"

"You might want to try Patron. It's easy for us to digest and it packs a punch so we feel it's effects faster." Irina informed her.

"Okay, Patron it is." Carmen said.

We were having fun. For the first time ever since my transformation, I was letting loose and just having fun with the girls. Peter, even with all his good natured ribbing, has always been a little overprotective of me. He worried incessantly whenever I was gone from his side even for a little bit. I think seeing how Jasper has had to adapt to Bella and observing Irina and Vicky's relationships with their mates has made Peter loosen up a bit. Maybe the fact that Bella is with me tonight is helping too.

I really like Bella. I've been so lonely all these decades. Peter and Jasper are nice, but they're men and sometimes a woman needs the companionship of another woman. Bella is so easy to talk to. She's very open and she's not afraid to put Jasper or Peter in their places. She's been taking me along with her to the gym and to her classes. I even got to go on a lunch date she had with her friend Kelly. I had to eat human food, but it was worth it to just talk with the girls.

I like Vicky a lot too. She and I have so much in common when it comes to the reason we were turned that I feel a sisterly bond with her. How can we not when we were both changed to be raped and abused on a daily basis? How she survived twenty years with that bitch Maria and another thirty with that savage James is beyond comprehension. I have so much respect for Vicky, she just turned her life around completely to live a life of humanity. She's painfully shy, but I could see her coming out of her shell around me.

The one thing that scares me beyond belief is that Peter will want to go home to Texas. I'm really hoping that he'll want to stick around for a while because I'm not so sure that I can live without my two new friends anymore. I love how they have such a close knit family. I really wish that I were part of it. I'll even drink from animals for the rest of my existence if it meant not being lonely anymore.

"Mas! Deme mas Patron ahorita!" Carmen demanded the waiter in Spanish. Apparently, she reverts to her native Spanish when she's drunk.

"Um...I think she wants more Patron." Vicky translated. Like me, she spoke Spanish fluently from her time in Maria's army.

"Tu eres tan guapo, mi amor." Carmen slurred to the waiter.

"She says you're very handsome my love." I offered.

"Thank you gorgeous. I'll bring your drinks right away." Damn! These waiters were good.

Two hours later, Carmen and Esme were both out of control. Carmen was currently wearing a helmet that she wrested out of a stripper wearing a fireman's costume. He just gave her the hat after he realized that he had no chance of winning against her. Esme was standing by the stage swatting the strippers with a riding crop that she fished out of her purse. The rest of us slowed down considerably on our drinking as we saw the two matriarchs slowly lose their senses. Bella had switched to soda after two Cock Pops and a shot of Patron stating that she was still recovering from the bachelorette party and the wedding this past weekend.

Suddenly the dj's voice rang in loud and clear through the speakers. "Ladies! I know who you've been waiting for..."

All around us, women started chanting "Major, Major, Major, Major." I looked at Tanya and her face was in a completely jealous scowl and she looked about ready to lose control. I whispered to Vicky and Irina that we might actually have to restrain her so be on the ready. They nodded 'yes' in agreement.

The dj continued, "Here tonight at Climax, performing live for you...The Major!"

The screams were deafening! Every single woman in Climax surrounded the stage at once. Stripper Major stood on stage in full US Marine dress blues and started swaying to the beat of Kid Rock's "So Hott." Oh my God. This man has to be the most tempting man on the planet. I could smell the arousal of every single woman in the club. This man had some sort of super sex power that could just draw women to him. Holy shit! Gah! He just ripped his shirt off. Those muscles, holy shit. What if I cum just sitting here watching him? No, I don't want to pull an Edward. Rex suddenly winked at Tanya and tossed his hat to him which she deftly caught.

"Tanya, if you don't fuck him tomorrow night on your date, I will." I said.

"Oh, I plan on it Char—don't you worry." She better fucking let me join them in bed one of these days. I want some of that ass.

"I don't think I've ever seen a more perfect man." Vicky said.

"No kidding." Breathed Rose.

"Fuck me! He has eight pack abs guys!" Bella said.

We were all swooning and drooling over Tanya's new man.

"I don't know if any of you noticed, but Esme and Carmen are both waving their panties like flags and they're on stage with Rex." Bella pointed out in a panic.

"Holy fuck!" We all said at once as we looked at the stage.

"Okay, we need to come up with a plan!" Katie said. Both ladies were currently grinding up against Rex while the bouncers tried to pull them off of the stage.

The song was rapidly coming to a climax and Esme and Carmen were not giving up at all. Carmen was rubbing baby oil all over Rex's chest while Esme was going to town with her riding crop. Rex was taking it all in stride and just dancing away. Damn! That boy can handle pain. That was a pretty hard whack that Esme just gave him. Suddenly, just as the song came to an end, Carmen and Esme both ripped Stripper Major's trousers off simultaneously. The crowd roared!

"I think we need to just grab them." Irina said. We told Bella to sit tight and Rose, Vicky, and I grabbed Esme while the three Denali girls grabbed Carmen.

"Maybe it's time we leave." Rose said.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let me just go say goodbye to Rex." Tanya stood up to go find her man.

"I'm just going to hit the gift shop." I said.

"We'll come with you." Esme said. We all ended up going to the gift shop and purchasing everything from t-shirts to loincloths.

Tanya soon caught up with us and we left Climax feeling on top of the world. I kept thinking about how much fun it...Oh fuck!

**Bella's POV**

"Hello ladies. It's nice to see you had a nice time out." Jasper said.

We were all struck silent. How the hell did they find us?

"Where is my mate?" Carlisle asked.

Where is Esme? She was just with us.

"She should be coming out any second now." Rose said anxiously.

"We'd like to know why you felt the need to lie to us." Riley questioned.

"Well, would you have let us go on a ladies night if we told you we were coming here?" Katie asked the guys.

"Hell no!" Garrett said. You're our mates and you shouldn't be ogling men at a place like this.

"Oh, so you guys get to hit strip joints whenever the fuck you feel like it and we're supposed to sit at home and knit?" Rose yelled.

"You've got a body like the devil and you smell like sex." Esme suddenly staggered out of the club singing Kid Rock's song and latched on to Carlisle. She had her riding crop in one hand and a loincloth in the other.

"Esme?" Carlisle asked with his mouth agape.

"Oh, Carlisle, I need you to put this on now." She ordered as she waved the loincloth in front of her mate's face.

"Sweetheart. We're in the middle of the street."

Whack! Esme's riding crop came down hard on Carlisle's left cheek. "Now Carlisle! Put the damn loincloth on if you want to cum tonight!"

"Not so hard! I'm still in pain from the reception dear...um...well, we're going to run back to the Penthouse now. See you later!" Carlisle threw Esme on his back and ran like a bat out of hell.

"That certainly explains things." Mumbled Riley to himself.

Eleazar, in a similar position with an amorous Carmen, took off saying something about finding a hotel for the night.

Tanya excused herself knowing that a shitstorm was brewing with the rest of us.

"Well guys?" Rose asked.

Peter was the first to open his mouth. "As men, we're responsible for your safety. When you lie to us about where you're going, how are we to know if you're okay or not. Besides, you shouldn't be at a strip joint staring at men. As our mates your devotion should be for us and us alone."

"That's right, tell 'em Petey." Garrett said.

That's it! I can't take this shit. "You fucking neanderthal! How dare you say that we, as your mates, should be devoted to you and you alone. This isn't the middle ages asshole. You're a god damned hypocritical ape too! Don't you fucking tell us that we can't go to strip joints when you did the same god-damned thing less than a week ago. Might I remind you, fucker, that you were the one that posted the YouTube Video of me!"

Just then, I saw a cab pull up to the taxi stand. "You know what, this mating thing is way too complex for me. You assholes just stalked us when we were having a good time. Sure maybe we should have told you where we were going, but the fact that we weren't comfortable with telling you tells me that this mating crap isn't a two way street for us women. Jasper, I'm sorry. Consider us over!" I said and climbed straight into the waiting cab without looking back.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"Just drive." I said. I wasn't going to risk them hearing where I was going to.

After five minutes of driving, I finally told the driver to head to Megan and Brian's apartment. Thank God they were still honeymooning in Hawaii for another week. I let myself in and plopped myself on the sofa. I felt that excruciating chest pain again and I hated it, so I let the tears come and just broke down and cried. I found a tub of Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream in their freezer and dug in. I was halfway through the tub when I heard knocking on the door.

"Bella, open the door." It was Jasper. I didn't say anything.

"Bella, I know you're in there. Please just open the door. I don't wanna have to talk to ya from outside." I still didn't say a word.

"Okay, we'll do it your way. What Peter said back there...that was his opinion, not mine. I was just upset that you felt the need to hide where you were going from us. Bella?"

He seems remorseful, but can I trust him? I wasn't so sure. Truth be told, I left the scene abruptly after hearing Peter's thoughts on the matter. Poor Charlotte. She shouldn't have to put up with a caveman like that—and Garrett agreed with him. Ugh! The fact is that I didn't give Jasper a chance to speak for himself tonight.

"Bella please open the door. I can't live without you. Bella, I..."

I opened the door. Jasper strode straight in and pulled me close against his chest. "Bella, I love you."

Well fuck! I'm turning to goo! He loves me and he chooses now to tell me—right when I was going to chew his ass out for stalking me tonight.

"Jasper, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lying to you tonight. I'm also sorry for not waiting to hear your thoughts on things. Peter's opinion just pissed me off to no end and I couldn't think straight anymore. I'm not sorry for going to Climax and having a good time with the girls, though." I said.

"Darlin' I'm sorry too. I'm sorry you felt the need to hide where you were going from me. That means I haven't been doing a good enough job earning your trust. I will though, my mate, I promise that you'll learn to have faith in me. Even if I have to spend the rest of my existence proving myself to you, I will. I don't know when I fell in love with you, but I did and I'll be damned if the woman I love doesn't trust me."

The Word Wizard was at work again. The funny thing is that I really believed everything he said. I felt safe with him and I had a feeling that this was all going to work out. "Jasper?" I nibbled on his ear while running my fingers through his hair.

"Yeah?"

"Just kiss me." And kiss me he did. Maybe we can work out some of our frustrations here since I didn't plan on going home tonight. Besides, I was really horny after spending the night surrounded by male strippers and now my very own personal sex god.

Around noon the next day, there was a slight break in the sunshine, so my sex god and I headed back to my apartment so that we could get ready for our night out with Tanya and Rex. We were met by a remorseful Peter and a devastated Charlotte who was being comforted by Vicky. I truly didn't have anything to say to the neanderthal so I walked straight into my room and slammed the door shut and locked it.

Why is he here? I had such a glorious night of unbridled sex with my mate just to be greeted by his caveman brother. I had no patience whatsoever for male chauvinist pigs and that's exactly what Peter Whitlock was. "Bella, I'm really sorry about everything I said last night. I was wrong. I spoke out of anger. Please come out of the room. You can hate me all you want, but please don't hate my mate. She really needs you as a friend. Please Bella?"

What the hell? Why the hell would I hate his mate? I burst out of my room mad as hell and got right in the asshole's face. "You fucking shit. Do you really think that I'd be so shallow as to hold your hypocritical, chauvinistic views against Charlotte? Or are you so full of yourself that you think your friendship means more to everyone than hers does? Guess what fucker! I'm not like that at all. Charlotte is my friend and is always welcome here. You, on the other hand, can go make nice-nice with Edward Fucking Cullen because, clearly, you two are cut from the same cloth! By the way, you need to apologize to your mate—not to me."

I must have really gotten under his skin by comparing him to Fuckward because his face contorted in an outraged look and he was suddenly flying across the living room with Jasper holding him by the throat. "You hurt my mate and I kill you man. I don't care if you are my brother. Lay one finger on her and you die." Jasper growled.

"Major, I wasn't mad at your mate. I was angry at myself. She's right, you know. I'm no better than Pussy Boy. I take Charlotte for granted. I'm too overprotective. Charlotte, Sugar, I'm sorry. I know I can be overbearing and overprotective. I'm just so scared that someone or something is gonna hurt ya. I can't risk losing you after all the shit you went through with Maria."

"I think I might be able to help you with this." Vicky said. "I think you might have some lingering traumatic memories and stress from your time with Maria. Believe me, I know, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. If you're comfortable with it, you can talk to my mate about it in private. He's done wonders for me and he's a great listener."

"Bro, I think you need to talk to Riley. He really is good at listening and he gives good advice. I've been talking to him all week and I'm feeling mighty good myself." Jasper said.

"Please talk to him, hon." Charlotte encouraged her mate.

"Okay, I'll give him a call. Bella, I really am sorry. I don't want to lose your friendship because I was a prick. I can tell that you really care about my mate and I appreciate that more than anything. You and Vicky are Char's first real friends and she really needs you girls. I'm going to work hard to earn your trust back because you're important to me too." Peter was truly apologetic.

"Just talk to Riley okay. He really is good at his job." I gave Peter a hesitant smile then made a beeline for the shower because I was sick of all the stress and I really hate to hold grudges. I turned the shower on and just as I stepped in I felt a pair of cold arms wrap around me. "Ya want me to wash your back?"

Duh! Of course I want him to wash my back, my front, underneath, on top, he can even poke around inside if he likes. I handed Jasper the soap and he grinned. I saw the naked perfection in front of me and dropped to my knees. My turn to make my sex god squirm. I took his solid mass of flesh into my mouth and he inhaled a deep breath. He leaned his back against the tub wall and closed his eyes. I worked my mouth up and down his length, eventually stopping to concentrate on the tip. Jasper's breathing became erratic. "Fuck Bella, your mouth is like lava against my cold flesh. Yeah...baby...work on that tip a little more...I really like it when you do that." I took his length in again, all the way in, as I palmed his balls then moved to lick them a little. By the time, I moved his cock back into my hungry mouth again, Jasper was fidgeting uncontrollably, "Baby, I can't hold it anymo...Bellaaaaa..." His delicious seed flowed over my tongue in waves as I took my mate over the edge.

_**A few hours later...**_

We were getting ready to go meet Tanya and Rex for dinner when suddenly Tanya burst into the apartment dressed in a robe with her hair up in curlers and a packed garment bag in her hand. Vicky looked at her with an amused expression and asked, "I hope you didn't run all the way here looking like that?"

"No, I drove. I need help. I don't know what to wear. I don't want to look like I raped the pages of Vogue like Alice Cullen does. I want to look young and hip, but I don't think I know how." She pleaded.

"First of all, where are we going?" I asked.

"He mentioned a place called Joe's American Bar and Grill on the waterfront."

"Okay, then, it's casual. We can go in pretty much anything. Plus, you and Jasper can order very rare steaks. I heard they go down easier because they're still bloody."

"What are you going to wear Bella?"

"Shorts, a nice halter top, and sandals. It's sweltering outside. Let's see what you've got."

Tanya opened her garment bag and pulled out her clothes. She laid out three satin cocktail dresses, one ballgown, a business pantsuit, and black leather pants. Okay, I see what she means by looking out of place.

"We need to talk sis." Irina said. "I think the Pixie Bitch has had way too much influence on your wardrobe."

"That's what I was trying to say! Now, can you help me or not?"

"Okay, I'm ready." Jasper suddenly announced.

"Jasper, why are you dressed in a business suit?" I asked.

"I don't know. Alice always said that you have to wear a suit when you go on dates. I figured she at least kept her head in the right place fashion wise." Jasper said.

"You see what I mean?" Tanya was hysterical. "The psychotic Keebler elf has even fucked with our fashion sense. Jasper and I are both clueless."

"Calm down Tanya. Vicky and Irina will work with you while I raid Riley's closet for something for Jasper to wear."

A half hour later had Jasper and Tanya looking more their age. Tanya was wearing shorts and a satin halter top with a pair of sandals. Vicky and Irina both assured her that there was nothing wrong with shopping at Marshalls or Target for something to wear. I threw Jasper in some cargo shorts and a polo top and a pair of Riley's flip flops. We, then made our way to meet Rex. Apparently, the cover was that Tanya and Jasper were cousins living together in Boston. Jasper was a recent college graduate starting grad school in the fall and Tanya was looking for a job. I, of course, am Jasper's girlfriend.

Rex was already waiting for us at the restaurant when we got there. Tanya was a nervous wreck. She was having a hell of a time acting human and looked almost robotic in her motions. I had to whisper to her to remember to blink and breathe. When I did that, she started gasping in huge amounts of air so I had to cover for her saying that she had asthma and needed to run to the ladies room to use her inhaler.

"Tanya! Calm down!" We had come to the ladies room so that Tanya wouldn't blow her supposed asthma attack cover.

"Bella! I can't do this. Acting human is really hard. Normally, I'm with human men for one night only and that's usually in their bed. I haven't had to act human in almost a thousand years and things were really different then. The concept of dating never even existed then." She cried.

A thousand years old? Holy shit that's a long time to wait for your other half. I suppose that I should be grateful that I found Jasper in just twenty-two human years. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. You blink when I blink and try to mimic my breathing patterns. When I eat. Try to chew like I do and swallow when I do. I'll try and initiate the conversation and you follow my lead. Jasper and I will try to help if you get into trouble."

Tanya nodded in agreement and we went back to our dates.

"Everything okay?" Rex asked with concern.

"Yes, thank you." Tanya answered with a smile.

"So, Rex, I hear you were a Major in the Marines." I stated.

"Not an actual Major, a Sergeant Major. A Major is an officer, a Sergeant Major is still a non-commissioned ranking—so I was never an officer. You'd have to be well into your thirties to become an officer these days."

I looked over at Jasper and he had a smug expression on his face. I swatted him on his thigh and he had the decency to look remorseful initially, but then broke out in a grin again before he spoke. "So, if a guy were to become a real Major before the age of thirty, he'd have to be exceptional?"

Oh my God! Let's just stroke our own ego, why don't we. I glared at Jasper who continued to have a shit eating grin on his face.

"Yeah, I think the youngest was a Major Jasper Whitlock during the Civil War. I read up on him during a class I took on the Civil War. Poor guy. He went MIA at the peak of his career. Hey, you have the same name as he does. Are you a direct descendant?"

We all choked as soon as we heard that. "Um...Jasper's parents were huge Civil War buffs and since they happened to share the same last name as Major Whitlock, they decided to name Jasper after him." I can't believe the crap that just shot out of my mouth.

"That's so awesome." Rex said. "I wish my parents gave me a hero's name."

Jasper actually looked like he felt bad for grinning at Rex's non-officer ranking. He was just called a hero after all. Who's the bigger man now, my mate? "Say something. Change the fucking subject." I whispered quickly so only the two vampires could hear.

Tanya nodded then threw out, "So, what's your favorite sexual position?"

No, no, no, no Tanya! Favorite sexual positions is not exactly appropriate first date conversation.

We'll have to go with it though since it's out there already.

"Um...what's yours Tanya?" I threw it right back in her face.

"Oh, I love to be on top. You know, cowgirl style? That way I can grind into him nice and deep." She fixed her smoldering succubus gaze onto Rex.

"Maybe we can try it out sometime, cowgirl." Rex whispered into Tanya's ear.

Jasper and I were staring at them with an "are you guys for real" expression on our faces.

The rest of dinner went without incident and we decided to stroll around the North End and grab some gelatos since it was such a beautiful night. Tanya and Rex were getting along fabulously and, by the way that Jasper couldn't keep his hands off of me, they must have been sending out loads of lust. After our stroll, the four of us took a cab to the Penthouse and we immediately retreated to our rooms.

As soon as the lock to his room clicked shut, we attacked each other's lips without abandon while furiously shedding our clothes. Before we knew it, we were both naked and Jasper was caressing my sex gently with one hand while gently kneading my nipples with the other. Somehow, through all of this, we were able to make our way over to his sofa. Jasper quickly placed me on his lap and we resumed our ferocious make out session. I shifted my body so that I was straddling Jasper and I quickly grabbed his manhood with one hand and started stroking it.

"Mmm...Bella...put him inside and ride me baby."

I rose up on my knees so that his pleasure rod was poised to enter me. I immediately sank down on it and relished in the feeling of my mate so deeply embedded in me.

"Jasper...feels so nice..." I whispered as he inhaled my scent and purred.

I moved my body in a gentle rhythm sliding up and down his cock, reveling in the sensation of flesh meeting flesh. I continued in this fashion for a few minutes until the heat in my core became unbearable. Suddenly, I found myself urgently riding him. I desperately needed my release and fast and furious was the only way I was going to get it.

"Look at me Bella! Look me in my eyes! I want to see your eyes when you cum."

I instantly obeyed my mate. Moaning as we both neared our peak. It hit, simultaneously, without warning...Jasper shot his cold seed into me just as I erupted in a fit of passion—never taking our eyes off of each other.

"Beautiful." He murmured in my ear as I collapsed into his body in a state of exhaustion. I soon found myself drifting into a comfortable sleep. "Baby, I'm gonna go for a quick hunt. I won't be gone for longer than an hour, okay?"

"Mm...kay." I mumbled as I fell into a peaceful slumber.

"BELLA!" I heard Tanya's terrified scream. I instantly bolted awake, rummaged through Jasper's dresser and threw on the first t-shirt I found. I ran into Rose and Em's room where I was met with Tanya's blood red eyes.

"Help me, Bella!" She grabbed both of my hands, whimpered, and turned her head towards the bed. I gasped and covered my mouth at the sight that beheld me. Tanya and I both faced each other and screamed. Then, we screamed again for good measure.

"Okay, okay, okay, we can figure this out." I assured Tanya without one iota of confidence. Then I started mumbling, "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" Tanya was hysterical. Seeing that there were no other vamps here, I grabbed Tanya's hand, lifted it to her face, and slapped her with it.

"Better?" I asked.

Tanya kept nodding her head up and down, her eyes wide in desperation.

I took Tanya's face in my hands and said, "We need Jasper. We have to call Jasper."

"Right, call Jasper. Good idea. Call Jasper. How?"

"I'm getting my cell phone. It's in my purse in his room." I then ran into Jasper's room and grabbed my phone—Tanya glued to my side.

I scrolled down to his number and waited for him to pick up. "Miss me already, babe? I was just about to head back." I lost it when I heard his voice.

"Jasperrrrrrrr!" I screamed into the phone. It was the only coherent thing that I could form with my lips.

**Oh my, I wonder what happened? I hope Carlisle's ass survives another beating. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think and I promise to reply.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am floored, absolutely taken by surprise at the response this story has gotten. I am so flattered by each and every one of your review, faves, and alerts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Kinky monkey sex with your choice of vamp for everyone!**

**Many of you have been asking me who I think Stripper Major looks like. For your pleasure, I am including a link-just get rid of the parentheses and spaces around the dots. http:/3 (.) bp (.) blogspot (.) com/_yPOtCNFCEmo/RpWyoW1ukFI/AAAAAAAAAOk/1m2X649HQyU/s320/Nathan+Kamp (.) jpg Here's one more for good measure http:/nathankamp (.) com/flash/portfolio/index (.) htm **

**This story is AU/OOC. Everything has been toyed with...especially the characters. **

**This chapter contains references to swearing, references to sex, actual male bonding, possessed female vampires, and vampires trying to acclimate themselves in a very human store.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

Jasper's POV

I quickly drained my third coyote and then buried it. I'd have my beautiful girl back in my arms in just a few minutes. My girl. I liked the thought of that. So beautiful. So sexy. So erotic. And mine, all mine. The mating tonight had drained me completely. I wanted to mark my Bella so badly—show the world that she's mine, but it was too soon for that—so, I settled for staring into her captivating brown eyes instead. I'd never cum so hard in my existence. I can't get her out of my head, it's almost as if...who the hell is calling me at three thirty a.m.? Ah...it's my mate, I bet she can't sleep without me. I better pick up the call so she doesn't worry. "Miss me already, babe? I was just about to head back."

"Jasperrrrrrrr!" My mate's terrified scream sent a chill through my already frozen body.

"Bella! What happened? Where's Tanya?"

"Bella, what do we do? What do we do?" I could hear Tanya's panicked voice in the background. Not good. When the lone vampire in the Penthouse is freaking out there can't be anything good happening.

"Bella! I'm coming baby. Hang on!"

I ran like a jaguar through the forest and sped through the city streets. Fuck exposure! I didn't care. Fortunately, at this time of night, the streets were dead. The only people that caught sight of me were the handful of drunks and homeless people roaming the streets and I was going too fast for them to identify who or what I was. As I approached the apartment I was assaulted with the sheer fear and panic coming from inside. I bolted into the penthouse eleven minutes after receiving my mate's distressed call. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared me for what I saw.

Tanya was sobbing. Her naked form clinging to my mate with her blood red eyes wide with panic. Bella was trying to soothe her. Both of them sent out boatloads of confusion, agitation, and terror—and from Tanya: absolute guilt. I quickly assessed that the girls were fine and peered at where Tanya's victim lay.

"Tanya, you need to tell me what happened." No reaction. Time to bring out a bit of the Major because this was of utmost urgency. I sent her a small dose of fear. "Tanya Denali—you will tell me what happened now!" I roared.

Tanya clung even tighter onto Bella and then spoke. "We had sex and it was everything I ever dreamed of and, then, when I reached my peak, I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to mark him—I had to mark him. I was in so much of a frenzy that I lost control and drained him. I screamed for Bella after that."

"Look at me Tanya. It is imperative that you calm down this instant." I sent some peaceful feelings over to both girls and saw them visibly relax. "Rex is still alive, but barely. You need to either change him now or put him out of his misery. Either way, Rex Fantasia will cease to exist today." I didn't mean to put it so harshly, but Tanya needed to see just how critical the situation was.

"He's still alive?" Bella asked, so I nodded yes to her. "Oh thank God. I thought he was dead. You've got to change him Tanya."

"I can't. I just can't. I'm too afraid." She cried. "I want to change him, but his blood is so intoxicating that I'll end up finishing him off."

Now what? We can't wait for Carlisle. I haven't changed anyone since I changed Charlotte and that was decades ago. Maybe Vicky can change him? She changed Riley five years ago. I could hear his heartbeat slowing down. We didn't have time to wait for anyone. Tanya would be without a mate for eternity if he wasn't changed. It was all up to me.

"Jasper, I know you can do it. You're strong, babe. I have faith in you. I love you." That did it. The words coming from my mate sent my confidence soaring. I gave her a passionate kiss and turned towards my task. Tonight, Rex Fantasia would become a Whitlock.

I descended upon Rex quickly. I was careful not to bite over Tanya's mating mark—knowing that she would want it to remain. I pushed as much venom as I could into his jugular then did the same to the inside of his wrists and behind his knees, as well as, his ankles. That's when the screaming started.

"Bella, call your brother and have him rush over here with his Suburban. Tell him it's a life or death situation. I'm going to try and keep Rex quiet before he wakes up the entire building."

She nodded and dialed her brother. "Bella, are you okay? It's four a.m., what the hell are you doing up?" I heard Riley's voice on the other line.

"Ry—we've had an emergency. It's a life or death situation. Can you bring the Suburban over to Carlisle and Esme's penthouse?"

"What kind of emergency? Life or death situation? Bella? Is that someone screaming? Bella! I'm coming right now baby girl—sit tight!"

Ten minutes later, Riley and Victoria came barreling into the apartment. They took one look at Rex's naked, changing form and said, "Holy shit!"

"What the fuck happened?" Victoria asked.

"To make a long story short—Tanya slipped and I had to change him." I said.

"Well, we have to get him out of here before he wakes up the whole building. Not to mention that it'll be daylight in an hour." Victoria said. You could tell that she spent many years with Maria, her military side was coming out—she was all business.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Vicky, you pull the Suburban up. Riley, you and I are going to carefully carry Rex out of here. We have to be really gentle because his heartbeat's still erratic. Bella, you have to get Tanya dressed and bring her down to the car. Everyone clear?"

They all nodded and we got to our tasks immediately. Five minutes later we were on the road headed up to New Hampshire with the newest member of our family. When we pulled into Carlisle and Esme's driveway in Amherst, Tanya was still latched on to Bella as if her life depended on it. We strode into the living room with Rex where the Cullens, Denalis, and Peter and Char were all watching t.v. Their eyes turned to us and at the sight of Rex changing, everyone's jaws dropped.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked, rushing over to us.

I gave him a quick overview of tonight's events and heard Tanya whimpering into Bella's shoulder.

"What's the matter with Tanya?" Asked a concerned Katie.

"She's in shock. She's been attached to my mate since it happened." I said. "Can we move Rex into a room or do Riley and I have to carry him all night?"

"Okay, let's move him into Tanya's room. It's one of the few with a bed." Esme said.

"Guys. We need to come up with a plan to stage his death." Victoria said. Like I said, she's all military when necessary.

"Yeah, you do realize that Rex Fantasia is a very public figure? He's supposed to perform at Climax tonight." Bella said.

How the hell does she know that? Does my mate make it a habit to hit male strip joints in Boston?

"How the hell do you know that?" Asked Emmett echoing my sentiments.

"I know from when I was planning Megan's bachelorette party. He performs on Thursday and Saturday nights. Why? Did you think I'm some sort of male stripper junkie?" She asked with a smirk.

"No, no...why would I think that? I was just wondering." Emmett said relieved. Phew! Glad Emmett asked her and not me. I thought she was some sort of stripper groupie. I look at my mate and she was still clad in my shirt. She looks hot. Damn! I want her. Not the time, not the time—get that thought out of your head now! Shit! Now, I've got a raging hard on.

"Bella, sweetie, you look exhausted. Why don't you go to your room and try to get some sleep? I've got Tanya." Esme said. "Tanya, honey, why don't you sit with me?" Yeah Tanya go sit with Esme so I can put Bella to bed.

"No...no... need Bella...an't let go." What? Come on Tanya, let her go. I just want to play with my mate for a little while and then you can have her back. Please, I'm begging you.

"Tanya, carina, Bella needs to get a little rest. I'm sure she'll sit with you when she wakes up."

"No!" Tanya screamed and clung on to Bella as if her life depended on it. Then she picked Bella up and ran up to her room. Okay, looks like Tanya isn't giving my mate up and I ain't getting any.

"Maybe Bella is who Tanya needs to be with right now. Besides, we've got more pressing matters to attend to. I'm gonna go upstairs and send her some lethargy to knock her out. That way they can both get some rest." I said.

"Jasper," Carlisle turned to me, "I'm proud of you. You did well my son."

I acknowledged him and ran upstairs to take care of business.

Eleazar's POV

What a mess! I can't believe what's happened in less than twelve hours. Tanya slipped and nearly drained her mate and then she has a complete breakdown and won't talk to anyone except for the only remaining human in our family. Honestly speaking, I was amazed at my niece's strength. I didn't know of any humans who had the temerity enough to comfort a vampire that just nearly murdered another human.

One thing was for certain, we weren't going to be leaving New England anytime in the near future. With Rex being a newborn, we'd have to stay in the area because moving him across the country to Alaska would be impossible. In a way, I was glad that Rex was no longer human, but I wish his change had happened in a less tragic manner.

The good thing about the change happening was that it provided Carmen and I with an excellent excuse for staying in the area. After my talk with Irina the other day, we had learned that Bella was indeed a shield. Not only that, she had full control of her mental shield and about 80% of her physical shield. Apparently, Bella was able to shield herself or restrain everyone else, but for some reason she couldn't do both at the same time. Upon learning that information, Carmen and I both decided to stay close to our niece until she had full control of both shields and until she was changed.

We learned from Irina that the family had no plans to change Bella until she finished her master's degree in two years. That was completely unacceptable in my book. I told Irina that she should have been turned as soon as she learned of the existence of vampires and every minute that she remained human puts her and us in danger from the Volturi and other power hungry vampires. I also urged her to return to Denali with Bella, Vicky, Riley, and Laurent. Irina scoffed at that notion saying that they had no intentions of leaving Boston and were doing a good job keeping her safe and besides, if anyone were to blame for keeping her human, it was the Cullens. I had to agree with her there. This is the very first time that I have been disappointed in Carlisle. He, of all people, should be well aware of the dangers our world poses. For him to keep his own daughter human was beyond irresponsible.

I snuck upstairs to check on Tanya and Bella. What I saw amazed me. Tanya was, for all intensive purposes, "sleeping" for the first time in nearly a thousand years. She was curled up next to Bella who was deep in slumber and cradling Tanya within her arms. Just then, Carmen came to my side and took a peek inside. "Incredible." She said. "They both look so peaceful."

"Bella is the only one that Tanya trusts at this point. Our daughter is appalled at her actions and doesn't even have faith in herself." Carmen said as she tiptoed in and quietly covered both girls with a quilt. "Come, mi amor, let them rest. We have important decisions to make downstairs."

I followed my wife down to the dining table where plans were being made to stage Rex Fantasia's death. It was decided that Katie and Garrett would immediately make their way to Rex's Boston apartment and gather any items that they deemed important. Jasper would take care of obtaining new papers and identification for him, while Carlisle, Emmett, Riley, and I would stage his death. Fortunately, with Boston being such a large city, there were many unclaimed bodies of homeless people within the city morgue. Emmett just had to hack into their computer system and find a man that fit Rex's profile. From there, I would go in claiming to look for my long, lost brother and take the body back with me. Finally, we would stage a car accident using Rex's vehicle.

Irina and Laurent walked into the house at that moment. Apparently, they had been hunting when Vicky and Riley got the call from Bella and only now found out about all that happened. To say they were shocked was an understatement. Irina immediately ran upstairs to check on Bella and Tanya. She returned after she was assured they were both okay and then asked what she could do to help.

"Esme, I need to use your realtor to find a house for our family. With Rex being a newborn, we can't return to Alaska. We also can't stay here with Bella still being human. We'd like to purchase a house in this area that's secluded enough to keep Rex in control while still being within running distance to your house." Carmen said. The women decided that they would all work on our relocation and with our plans made it was time to set things into motion.

_Three days later..._

Peter's POV

Staging Rex's death went off without a hitch. The Denali's were able to purchase a home in a secluded area of Amherst and they were just waiting for the last of the paperwork to go through before moving in. Bella had finally returned to Boston this morning along with Riley, Laurent, Carlisle, Esme, Rose, and Emmett. With the exception of Bella and Emmett, everyone else had work. Tanya had finally released her hold—literally—on Bella this morning. This was only after she convinced Tanya that she would regret it if she weren't here when Rex woke up. Tanya let her go home then, but only after Bella told her that she's just a phone call away if need be.

Bella. She was a firecracker and a sweetheart rolled into one. After she verbally ripped my balls off on Thursday and Friday, she still made an effort to at least be civil to me. When she compared me to Edward, I was hurt. The kicker was that she was fucking correct in her assessment. I was an overbearing, protective brute. Since we escaped Maria, I kept Char by my side most of the time and she never had the chance to make any female friends because we lived in seclusion in Texas. After Jasper met Alice we only saw him whenever she went on one of her extended shopping trips. Jasper needed a release and I was happy to share Char with him so he could have one. I couldn't imagine 35 years of not even penetrating your wife, but then again who the hell would want to stick his dick into that flat board. Does her pussy even have an opening? I shudder to even think about fucking Alice.

When Jasper finally found his mate in Bella, I was happy. The Whitlocks were going to be a family again. Bella was vibrant and fun to talk to and the most amazing thing was that she clicked with my mate. Char instantly grew attached to Bella and I couldn't be happier for her. Then, on Thursday night, I had to open my big mouth and fuck it all up. After Bella blew up at me then publicly broke up with her mate, Jasper nearly ripped my head off. He said that if I didn't get with the program and realize that my views were archaic and outdated, he would make sure that I never got within five hundred yards of his mate again. He also informed me that he would rip me apart and bury my parts in all seven continents if he couldn't get Bella back. With that, Char started bawling thinking that she was going to lose the first friend she ever had and I felt like the biggest turd in the neighborhood.

After Bella chewed me out a second time on Friday, I decided to take everyone's advice and talk to Riley. Char and I went to his office together and it turns out that both of us were suffering from the effects of something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He wanted to speak to each of us separately once a week and together once a week. He assured us that he took his oath seriously and that everything would remain confidential. He also said that we were to keep what we discussed in our individual counseling sessions to ourselves even if it goes against our mating instincts. I agreed because, well, he's the only vampire head shrinker that I knew of and I was hell bent in keeping my mate happy and winning back Bella's friendship.

So here we are now waiting for Stripper Rex to wake up. Jasper, Vicky, Char, and I were surrounding Rex's bed as we had the most experience dealing with newborns from our time in Maria's army. Tanya and Eleazar were standing in the corner of the room while everyone else was doing their own thing in various parts of the house.

Suddenly, the tell tale signs of Rex's awakening had begun. His heart was racing at a mile a minute shedding the last vestiges of his human life. Ninety seconds later, his heart came to a screeching halt and Rex's blood red eyes popped open and his torso involuntarily sprang up into an upright position. With his newborn eyes, Rex took in his surroundings and honed in on Char and Vicky who were both standing in his direct line of sight. The women inhaled his scent deeply, it was as if a never before seen instinct was taking over their bodies. Their arousal instantly permeated the room just as Jasper and Eleazar simultaneously gasped, "Oh Shit!"

"He's definitely an incubus." Eleazar whispered.

Fuck! From what I heard, incubi are genetically programmed to attract women. All he had to do was be present in a room and women would be ripping their panties off waiting to do his bidding. Hmm...I wonder if he'd affect Kenny and Randy in the same way? I should bring them here and test out that theory. Not now, Whitlock, keep your fucking head in the game. I look at the three women and they're all licking their lips getting ready to pounce on Rex the Sex. My mate is fondling her own tits while Vicky is slowly unbuttoning her shirt. Tanya was buck naked, crouched in front of her mate growling at Char and Vicky.

"Bro, on the count of three grab your mate and I'll get Vicky. We need to get the fuck out of this room now." Jasper said. "One...two...three!" We grabbed the girls and high tailed it out of the house with Eleazar hot on our heels. We yelled for Carmen, Irina, Katie, and Garrett and told them to drop whatever they were doing and retreat from the house immediately. Tanya was about to go bat shit crazy, in all her naked glory, at anyone she deemed a threat to her incubus mate.

"What the hell is going on? Garrett asked.

"Not now!" Eleazar said with authority. "The first matter of business is for us to get into our cars and leave. Someone needs to call Riley and have him meet us at his apartment in one hour. No dawdling! We need to move now!"

I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't about to doubt Eleazar. His knowledge on vampire behavior and talents was unsurpassed. We all piled into two vehicles and headed for Bella's apartment. On the way there, Jasper and I had to hold down Char and Vicky who were climbing all over us and trying their damndest to have their way with us.

"Can't you use your gift to restrain them?" I asked Jasper.

"What the fuck do you think I've been trying to do? It ain't working on them." Jasper replied.

By the time we pulled up to the apartment, Char and Vicky were both buck naked. Riley pulled up at the same time we did. He took one look at his wife and yelled, "What the fuck is going on?"

Eleazar came bounding out of his Mercedes and said, "I'll explain everything later, but first you and Peter need to go take care of your mates' needs! Go now!"

"I don't understand." Riley said. "What's wrong with my wife?"

"He means you gotta go fuck your mates senseless to bring them back. Just get the job done, you can ask questions later! Both of you get the hell out of here now!" Jasper yelled.

Okay, so Jasper and Eleazar are both ordering me and Riley to go fuck our mates and we're standing here like idiots twiddling our thumbs. Our mates are both purring and grinding into us while ripping our clothes to shreds in broad daylight. Great, now Char is licking me from head to toe in the middle of the street as if she were basting a Thanksgiving turkey. God, I feel so cheap!

"What part of go fuck your mates do you two not understand? Get that shit done now or someone else is gonna have to take care of it for you!" the Major yelled.

"You know Major, you're making it really hard for me to get it up with all your screaming. Big Yoda doesn't perform well under pressure—he's really sensitive that way." I protested.

"NOW!" The Major roared.

We both ran into the apartment carrying our mates—Riley into his room and Char and I into Bella's.

"What the fuck?" Bella yelled. "Get the hell out of my room!"

"Can't explain. Need to fuck Char now." I panted, then added, "Wanna join us?" She was dressed in a low cut tank top and daisy dukes and looked fuck-hot and tempting.

"Hell no! I'll just excuse myself now. Just wash the sheets when you're done. In fact, buy me new ones!" She slammed the door and left in a pissy mood. Now to take care of my mate...

A few hours later, Riley and I both stumbled out of the rooms with our mates fully sated and back to their normal selves. "Would someone mind telling me why the hell I had to leave work to have sex with my mate?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, what happened to Char and Vicky? It was almost as if they were possessed." I said. "It happened as soon as Rex woke up."

"Ah...that would be Rex's gift making itself known." Eleazar said.

"I think you're going to have to explain his gift to us." Vicky said. "Am I going to react like this every time I see him?"

"Yes and no." Eleazar said. "Rex is an incubus, and like all incubi he has the power to entice women . Incubi, however, have another power—they can manipulate a woman's subconscious to desire sex. The manipulation is so powerful that it quickly turns into a raging physical need. She starts to believe that if she does not obtain her physical release she will die. Her body soon goes into a frenzy. In fact, the only way to stop the subconscious thought is for the woman to have her sexual release, otherwise, the need will eat away at her mind."

"Wait a second! Are you saying that Rex can hypnotize a woman into needing an orgasm in a matter of minutes?" I asked. That's a pretty cool power to have if you ask me. The fun I could have with that power is endless.

"Well, yes, but remember that Rex is a newborn and he did what came instinctually to him without knowledge. When he used his power on Charlotte and Victoria, he didn't know he was an incubus or a vampire. Our saving grace was the fact that Tanya unintentionally marked Rex before his awakening. Her protective instinct as his mate took over and we were able to escape with Char and Vicky before he or your mates acted on their sexual desires. After that, it was up to you and Riley to satisfy their need before they succumbed to it."

"Does Rex have this power over all women? I'm worried about the other women in our family." , Garrett asked Eleazar.

"Yes he does and we will have to keep the female members of our family away from him until he is able to control his power. It shouldn't take long though because he's mated to Tanya. A mated incubus will desire his mate only. In Rex's case, Tanya's a succubus so she has her very own strong sexual pull."

"What are we gonna do about his bloodlust?" Jasper asked.

"Ah, here's the beauty of it. If my past research proves correct, Rex and Tanya's sexual lust as mated incubi and succubi have increased exponentially. I think their sexual lust has, for the most part, cancelled out their bloodlust. It shouldn't be a problem for you and Bella to see them soon."

"I don't think so. What about his subconscious manipulation? I don't need him pulling that mindfuck on my Bella." Jasper said.

"Bella won't be affected. Rex will not be able to penetrate her mental shield." Eleazar then turned to Bella. "You're quite powerful as a human. I'm looking forward to working with you so that you can gain full control of your shield."

"Okay, how are we supposed to know when it's safe for the women to go back?" I asked.

"Well, unfortunately, one of our mates will have to volunteer to go see how they're faring." Eleazar said.

Just as I was about to volunteer Char's and my services, Carmen spoke up.

"Mi amor, I will go. I don't want any of the children to have to go through what Char and Vicky did earlier. You will, of course come with me in case I'm overcome by his power?"

"Of course dear." Eleazar said.

Well that sucks. I was ready for round two of that wild ass sexin' that we just had, but Carmen had to go and be self sacrificing and all. It was probably for the best anyway since my new head shrinker Riley told me, this weekend, that I need to start taking Char's opinions into consideration. Damn—this 21st century male business isn't easy.

"When do you think we'll be able to return to New Hampshire?" Char asked.

"Let's give them until the end of the week and then call. Tanya and Rex should both be calm by then. Carmen and I will go check on them after that. Regardless, our new house should be ready by Saturday, according to the realtor."

"A week? Where are we all staying?" Katie asked.

"We'll have to split up—some of us will have to stay at the Penthouse and others will have to impose on Riley and Vicky's hospitality and stay here." Eleazar said. "We'll need to go shopping because we won't be able to go back for our clothes."

"I don't have a problem with some of you staying here. Vicky, Bella—are you two okay with it?"

"No problem." They both said at the same time. Hmm...so that's what he meant by taking others opinions into consideration.

"Peter and I will stay here...that is, if it's okay with you guys." Charlotte said.

"We'd love to have you." Bella said to my ecstatic mate.

"Would you mind if Garrett and I stayed here as well?" Katie asked. We want to get to know your family and catch up with Irina and Laurent." She said.

"Sure, we'd love to get to know you too." Vicky answered a delighted Katie.

"Well, then, that settles it. Eleazar and I will stay at the Cullens penthouse and you young kids stay here." Carmen said.

"Speaking of Cullens, shouldn't someone call the others in case they go back to New Hampshire and run into Rex and Tanya?" Bella said. We have an apartment full of vampires, four with military experience, and it takes the one human to actually suggest something that should have been done hours ago.

"Good idea. I'll take care of the calls." Eleazar said.

"I'll call Irina and Laurent." Riley said.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do now that we have an entire Monday free?" I said.

"The girls and I have the Stripping for Fitness class tonight, but not until 7pm." Vicky said. "It's overcast outside today so there's tons we could do."

"We need clothes and toiletries." Katie said.

"Peter and Char owe me new sheets." Bella said.

"Actually, Sugar, we owe you a new bed and mattress. We might have taken yours out."

"What?" Bella ran into her bedroom. A minute later she came out of her room horrified and asked us, "How? There are springs coming up through the mattress and the wood on the headboard's all splintered. How is that possible?"

"Well, Bella, it happens pretty often. Human furniture isn't built to withstand vampire sex." Riley said sheepishly. "Vicky and I actually have to replace our bed and mattress today too."

Bella stared at all of us wide eyed with her jaw agape, then ran into her brother's room. "I'm not even gonna ask what you guys did because your room looks worse than mine and on top of that, your dresser is shredded plus there's a Vicky sized dent in your wall."

What the fuck? I gotta check this out. How's it possible that this guy had even kinkier monkey sex than I did. I'm like the ruling king of wild sex. As soon as that thought left my mind, Garrett and Jasper both ran to check out Vicky and Riley's bedroom. I might as well check it out too.

"God damn! What the hell did you guys do?" Garrett asked.

"Uh...you have to get a new closet door." Jasper said scratching his head.

"So, we have to go to Home Depot too." Riley shrugged his shoulders, then he smirked and wagged his eyebrows at me. This is war asshole. You don't get to take down sexual royalty like me that easily. I arched my eyebrow and gave him my best "bring it on" look.

"Here." Bella said handing both me and Riley rulers. We both looked at her totally confused. "They're for measuring your dicks with."

Everyone started rolling. "She's got you there bro." Jasper said.

"You go girl!" Katie cheered.

"Yeah, well, can we get going? You guys might not need a place to sleep, but I actually do." Bella said.

"Sorry, Bells, you're right. Okay, let's get going." Riley said, grabbing his keys. We all turned towards the door.

"Ahem, can I borrow some clothes?" Char asked.

That's when we all noticed that my wife was sitting in the living room stark naked. Vicky was the first to respond. "Oh my goodness, of course, how come you didn't say anything earlier?"

"Oh, I like being naked." Char said matter of factly.

I'm such a bad mate. I didn't even notice that my wife was sitting in the living room naked. I wonder if they have a vampire nudist colony we could live at? She's always running around naked at home in Texas. Hmm...Do I have time to titty fuck her one more time before we go shopping? Probably not, seeing as Vicky's pulling her into the remains of her bedroom to go look for some clothes for Char to wear. I could do both of them. That Vicky has one hot ass. Nah, Riley doesn't look like the sharing type. Selfish bastard.

Carmen and Eleazar decided to take care of their shopping in Boston and head for Carlisle and Esme's penthouse. We were driving to a furniture store outside of Boston. Forty five minutes later, we were all at a monstrous store called Ikea. This place was madness. It was like a furniture funhouse. Everything was set up in cubicles so you could try it out, and they really want you to try it out. Seriously. There are signs all over the place that say "test me" and "try me." As soon as I saw the bedroom furniture I threw Char on the bed and gave it go. We were dry humping on a bed to test it out for Bella when some bozo with a nametag came and interrupted us.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am. Ahem!" Bozo cleared his throat in order to get our attention. "Ikea is a family-friendly environment, therefore lewd acts are not permitted."

"Well Ernie," I said, reading his nametag, "the sign right there says 'test me' on it. That's exactly what the wife and I were doing."

"Yes, well by 'test me' we mean in an upright position." Ernie said, clearly uncomfortable.

"Well, ya shoulda just said that in the first place." I said.

"Thank you for understanding. Please enjoy the rest of your Ikea experience." Ernie said as he walked away.

"Okay, Ernie, will do." I said, as I moved and sat up with my back against the headboard. "Char, baby, I think he means we can only test it out cowgirl style. You're gonna have to move on top."

So, my wife straddled me and we continued bouncing and testing the bed.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Jasper asked. He was holding Bella's hand and I had to admit that they looked good together.

"We're testing the bed out for you and your girl. What did ya think we were doing? The sign says 'test me'-see?"

"Um...okay...hmm...how should I put this, by testing they mean by bouncing on the mattress and stuff—one at a time." Bella said.

"You mean like this?" Katie asked from two beds over. She was jumping up and down on the mattress as if it were a trampoline. Bella's eyes gaped.

Vicky and Riley rushed over and showed them what the store meant by testing. Apparently, they want you to sit on it and bounce gently up and down. They also want you to lay on it and see how the mattress feels underneath your body.

"How the hell can they call that testing? It's not like we lay still on a mattress." Garrett asked, voicing my opinion.

"I know what you mean." Vicky soothed a pouting Garrett. "Humans are funny that way. Irina, Laurent, and I didn't know until Riley and Bella explained it to us too."

I was really starting to like this Ikea store too. Unfortunately, they still have a long way to go as far as customer service is concerned. For one, they really need to post some kind of guideline for testing. I think I'll fill out a customer comment card before I leave. This store has potential, but really sitting and bouncing gently on a bed can't really be considered testing.

After finishing up at Ikea, we decided to split up from the girls in the interest of time. The girls went to pick up clothes and whatnot for everyone while we men decided to go to Home Depot for repair supplies and head back to the apartment so that we could start assembling furniture and work on repairs. Really, I don't see why I should have to help Riley repair his room. I'm not the one that went all savage on my mate and knocked out part of the wall. Eh, maybe he'll have to return the favor someday. Better help him.

By the time the girls got back, we were done with all the wall repairs and only had the furniture left to assemble. The girls quickly got ready and headed out for their class. Laurent and Emmett walked in a few minutes after they left and, with their help and working at vampire speed, we were able to put all the furniture together in thirty minutes.

Riley ran to the store and came back about ten minutes later with three bunches of flowers which he threw in vases. "What the hell are those for?" I asked.

"They're for the bedrooms. Why?" He said as he handed Laurent a vase.

"Why the hell would you need to put flowers in a bedroom?" I totally couldn't figure out why anyone would need flowers in a bedroom.

"It makes the girls happy." Riley said. He then went to the rooms and placed the vases on dressers. "Bella likes pink roses, Irina likes red and white zinnias, and Vicky likes tulips in all different colors."

"How often do you do this?" I asked.

"Between Laurent and I? Maybe once a week. We usually switch off weeks. We vary the flowers every once in a while too."

"Wait a minute. Are you guys telling me that you plan this shit?" Garrett asked. You took the words right out of my mouth man.

"Well, yeah, what if we both showed up with flowers for the girls? It's happened before, you know."

"Okay, I don't get this. What's the point of flowers?" I asked.

"He already told you." Laurent said, "The girls like it—they make them happy. Don't you want your mates to be happy?"

"Yeah, but every week? Isn't that a little excessive?" I questioned.

"Not really, when the girls are happy we're happy. Plus, they look nice." Laurent said.

When Garrett, Jasper, Emmett, and I stood there like blithering idiots not saying anything. Riley spoke up. "Okay, think back to before you were changed? What did you always bring girls before you took them out on dates?" Riley asked.

"I don't know man. We didn't go out on dates in my time. We called it courting then and that was only with at least one chaperone." Garrett said.

"Okay, then, when you courted the girls did you ever bring them anything?"

Garrett looked like he was thinking really hard, then in a moment of clarity he said, "Violets. I remember bringing the girl violets. That was during the Revolutionary War and everything was scarce, but there were plenty of flowers everywhere. So I picked some violets in a field, tied some ribbon around the stem and gave it to her. She really seemed to like them. She even took one of her gloves off and held my hand for a minute. I forgot about that. It was the first time I ever touched a woman's bare skin."

"Okay, now imagine your mates feeling like that all the time." Riley said.

Wow. These guys have women down pat. They're right. I remember the first time I courted a girl. I snipped a yellow rose out of my mama's garden and brought it to her. I caught hell from mama for cutting the flower, but the look on the girls face and the kiss she gave me on my cheek made it all worthwhile. I don't remember the girl's name, but Char...my mate...Char who would walk on burning coals to make sure I was happy...she deserves all the flowers in the world every, single day...she's totally worth it. I'm gonna ask her what her favorite flower is as soon as I see her tonight.

I look up and see Emmett and Jasper deep in thought. They were probably thinking that flowers may not be a bad thing after all like Garrett and me were.

"Now that we're all talking anyway," Emmett turned to both Riley and Laurent. "can I ask you guys something. It's kind of personal?"

"Sure what's up?" Riley asked.

"Is it true that you guys both shave your pubes?" Emmett blurted out. "Rosie's been getting at me all week about how you guys do it and so I should too. I guess Irina and Vicky told them. Plus on Thursday night, the role playing dude told me that I needed to take care of my grooming. Is that a new thing for guys or something?"

"I was wondering about that too. Char's been following me around with a razor all week. I've been kinda scared to take my pants off in front of her." I admitted.

"You can take this Riley." Laurent chuckled.

"Alright, the best way to explain this would be to talk about women. Women do tons to make themselves look nice. They shave their legs, wax their eyebrows, get manicures and pedicures, workout to stay in shape, put makeup on, and get their hair styled and highlighted all in the name of beauty. I'm sure your mates even take care of their female landscaping too. I know in Vicky's case, she gets a Brazilian wax done every six weeks or so."

"What the hell's a Brazilian wax? Can you stop talking in code and just put it out there. Use manspeak for God's sake." Garrett said.

Riley sighed then spoke. "Okay, a Brazilian wax is when a woman gets most of her pubic hairs removed using hot wax. Now, think about your mates. Are their pussies bushy or do they take care of their strays?"

"Katie has no hair down there, don't most women come like that?" Garrett asked.

"No, Garrett. I can almost guarantee that Katie gets her stray hairs taken care of before you notice. You should ask her sometime. I bet she goes through a lot of effort to keep herself looking good for you." Riley said with a smile. "The point is, our mates put themselves through the pain of their beauty rituals for us. So why shouldn't we put in a little effort for them. It's the least we can do. They shouldn't have to remind us to shave or get our haircut."

Shit! Char's constantly nagging me to do both. She really does keep herself looking pretty for me too. I can't even make the effort to walk to the fucking bathroom and shave everyday.

"Okay, but how do we take care of our manscaping?" Emmett asked.

"I just keep it trimmed so it's not as bushy. Some men get it completely waxed, but that's all personal preference." Riley said.

"How do we trim it? Can we see your work man?" Emmett asked.

"Um...you should go to the bookstore. They have guides on male grooming." Riley said a bit uncomfortably. I can't blame the guy, I wouldn't want any one staring at my man parts. I need to go to the bookstore and the florist now.

"Well can you help us find the right book?" Garrett asked.

"Sure, no problem. Any other questions?" Riley asked.

Jasper suddenly raised his hand as if he were in a classroom. "What do you guys think of bringing a rabbit into the bedroom?"

"I think they're great! Char enjoys bringing one to bed with us." I said.

"Yeah, Katie likes hers too. I don't mind, it spices things up." Garrett added.

"There's nothing wrong with a Rabbit as long as you're both comfortable with it. Vicky loves hers." Riley said.

"You guys aren't uncomfortable with it? You don't feel threatened?" Jasper asked with trepidation. Come to think of it. I don't think I've ever seen Jasper look so scared.

"Why would we be threatened by a little Rabbit?" Emmett piped in. "They help to intensify their orgasms."

Jasper's eyes widened in fear and then he gulped. "Can't they have intense orgasms without bringing a rabbit to bed?"

"Yeah, sure, we don't bring it to bed with us all the time, but every once in a while Rabbits add a little kick to the lovemaking." Laurent said.

"I see." Jasper nodded. Well, now I've seen it all. The big bad Major is terrified of a little battery operated vibrator. This is hilarious. He's been in hundreds of battles and taken down thousands of newborns yet he's afraid of an itty-bitty mechanical Rabbit.

"So, what do you say we hit the bookstore and throw the football around a bit? My muscles could use a little workout." Riley suggested.

"Cool, let's go! Maybe we can go to the L Street Bar afterwards for a pick me up. My treat." Emmett said.

We all stood up to go because I think most of us needed to just get out of there. Things were getting way to heavy for us dudes in there. From flowers to manscaping—being a modern man seemed like hard work. I'm determined to make Char happy, though, so I'll do whatever it takes—even if I have to spread em wide at Waxorama to get my foliage cropped.

**Well, what did you think? Was the male vamp bonding, okay? I thought they were a lot more serious than the girls were. Do you think Peter's making an honest effort at improving himself? Are you glad things worked out the way they did for Rex and Tanya? I'd love to hear from you and I will always write back. Let me know what you think of my image of Rex the Sex too.**

**Special Author's Note: With the posting of Chapter 11, Life Happens, So Just Roll With It surpassed 1000 reviews. I didn't realize this until I received messages from Heavyinfinity and Anadybyel informing me of the fact. It even made it to the Jasper/Bella Over 1000 C2 Community. If you're looking for a great Jasper/Bella fic check out that C2, it's always a great place to find a noteworthy Jasper/Bella fic.**

**I'd also like to** **thank some authors who have been very supportive of me in my writing and some of them with just plain ol' real life. I'm going to list them in alphabetical order because they're all wonderful and supportive in their own way. Check out their stories, they're grrreat! I sound a little like Tony the Tiger there, don't I? So, a long overdue thanks to: **

**heavyinfinity: A Moment Changes Everything**

**IzzyBFFAddict92: True Hearts and Truly Home**

**Karen E. Teague: Redemption Comes When Least Expected**

**Moore 8879: There's No Such Thing As Too Much PB&J**

**VSPS: Be Careful What You Wish For**

**Wendy 1969: Three For the Road**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, alerting, and faving. I really enjoy hearing from you and am relishing the back and forth banter that I have going with some of you. Let's see...what can I do for you...oh, I know...Jasper will feed you! wink, wink**

**This chapter contains sex, swearing, violence, and three idiots.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer-especially Alice and Edward. I wonder if she'll take Amanda too...**

**This story is intended for mature readers over the age of 18 only.**

**Alice's POV**

This can't be right. So far, Esme's itinerary has been a grueling hell. It seems as though all we are doing is visiting churches, cathedrals, and areas of religious significance. Amanda, of course, is in her exalted glory, but Edward and I are bored stiff. In Provence, France, we actually had to lodge at the Senanque Abbey and wear monk's habits while we were within the monastery grounds. When I tried to suggest a design change for their hideous, brown robes, the abbot actually made me sit and do penance, in complete silence mind you, for eight hours on our one free day instead of shopping in Provence. I wouldn't have survived if it weren't for Paris and Rome. At least, I was able to find an excuse to get away and do a bit of shopping, but now we were in Ireland. There was a little shopping to do in Dublin, but how much Irish wool and tartan does a girl need? I wonder what Esme has planned for our little sojourn into Ireland?

_**HOLY IRELAND PILGRIMAGE ITINERARY**_

_**Pilgrims: Cullen, Miss A.**_

_**Cullen, Mr. E.**_

_**Cullen, Mrs. A.**_

_**This tour includes 2 nights in Galway, 2 nights in Tralee, and 3 nights in Dublin.**_

_**Day 1 Arrive in Dublin (free day)**_

_**Day 2 Cliffs of Moher & The Burren**_

_**Day 3 The Aran Islands (Inishmore)**_

_**Day 4 Clonfert & Clonmacnoise**_

_**Day 5 The Dingle Peninsula**_

_**Day 6 Rock of Cashel & Dublin**_

_**Day 7 Glendalough & Kildare**_

_**Day 8 Dublin (Saints & Scholars)**_

_**Day 9 Departure from Dublin**_

Oh my God! This can't possibly be correct. I've never heard of these places? Why do we have to learn about Saints & Scholars and what's the Dingle Peninsula. The worst thing about this tour is that with our vampire memory, we retained this information for life. This has to be an error. Surely, Esme has something more exciting planned for our tour of Africa.

On top of the horrific honeymoon, I couldn't get the image of that whore Bella Swan groping my Jasper out of my head. What really bothered me was that about five years ago, I got a glimpse of that filthy nomad bitch Victoria and some other vampire approaching her. I assumed that Victoria drained her since she made the decision to kill Bella immediately after Jasper and Emmett took care of James. So, when we saw Bella at the wedding, I was shocked to say the very least. I think the family finally realized what kind of trash she actually is, though, because I haven't had any visions of her at all. Hopefully, Carlisle paid her off and told her to take a hike. I know that Jasper isn't my mate, but I didn't need some greedy, white trash slut taking what once was mine. I need to call Esme for an update.

**Esme's POV**

I was sitting in my Boston office going over the final plans on redecorating a house in Chestnut Hill. I was feeling on top of the world about this job because the woman, a wife of a newly elected congressman, wanted a complete re-do of her home from top to bottom. She had just left my office and signed the contract giving me full reign to decorate her house the way I saw fit with no limits on spending. I was absolutely ecstatic that this woman, who I met a total of only three times, would have so much faith in my ideas.

Oh, there goes my cell phone again. Ugh. It's Alice. Way to bring a person down. "What is it Alice?" I sighed into the phone.

"Mother, I wanted to discuss a couple of things with you. First of all, I think that the tour company booked us on the wrong trip. All we've seen are churches and religious sites in Europe. There was only one free day in Paris and one in Rome. Now, we're in Ireland and I have no idea where any of these places are."

"Alice, dear," I used a sickly sweet tone of voice, "you most certainly are on the correct tour. I wanted to make sure that my new daughter in law was able to go on the honeymoon of her dreams. I made sure that there were a couple of shopping days interspersed for you. You're not disappointed in me are you?" I then pretended to sob on the phone and went on about what a failure I was, yada, yada, yada. I wanted them to stay on the honeymoon, not come home early.

"No, mother, please don't cry. We love this tour. Edward loves it too. Wait, he wants to talk to you."

Alice said desperately trying to soothe me.

Oh great. Now I have to talk to the little shit himself.

"Mother."

"Yes, my son." I whimpered.

"Mother, please don't cry. You've done such a wonderful job in planning the honeymoon. Amanda loves it and Alice and I can adjust. It's only for another six weeks."

Six weeks? They're coming back in six weeks? So soon? I really have to get my baby girl and her family moved in.

"Oh Edward, you've always been such a good boy."

"Mother, Alice and I wanted to bring something else up. We wanted to know if you and Father were able to handle the Bella Swan situation? Alice hasn't seen her in any visions so we assume that you've taken care of her." Edward said.

So, Alice can't see Bella in her visions still, huh? We can work with this. They wanted to know if we've 'taken care' of her. Oh, I know exactly what I'm going to say and I won't even have to lie. "Of course, Carlisle and I have taken care of Bella. Why wouldn't we?"

Edward let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! I have to say that I was extremely worried about her trespassing into my life again. I wouldn't want the girl near Amanda either—she'd be such a bad influence. I'm so happy that you both handled the situation in a fitting way. Thank you."

I was seething, but I had to maintain my sweet demeanor while speaking to the twit. "Edward, I can assure you that you and Amanda will have absolutely nothing to do with Bella. Let Alice know that she's included on the list too. Carlisle and I will keep our eyes open and continue to take care of Bella. Don't worry."

It's not a big lie is it? We do plan on taking care of our daughter and plan on her having only minimal contact with those three idiots anyway.

"Mother, Amanda wants to say hello."

Oh my God! I'm a busy woman here. I don't need to be talking to the fucking shepherdess herself.

"Mother?" Amanda's shrill voice came from the other end.

"I told you to call me Mrs. Cullen dear."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cullen, thank you so much for financing this lovely honeymoon for us. We've been on top of the world. I really can't wait to return to New Hampshire and start living with your family. I'm looking forward to the benefits that come with being a Cullen. I'm also glad that you've taken care of that Bella creature and hope that it didn't cost you too much. She really was sent straight from the devil."

The benefits that come with being a Cullen? That money whore! Then she goes on to insult my kid! Keep your cool, Esme. Keep your cool. "Amanda, it doesn't become you to say negative things about a person you don't really know. It's very unladylike of you."

"I'm sorry, mo...Mrs. Cullen."

"That's better. Now, enjoy your honeymoon and be sure to keep Alice by your side at all times. Remember what I told you about men and lust."

"Yes, Mrs. Cullen. Thank you for your good advice." Does she realize how grating on the nerves her voice is. I think I have a headache now.

"I have to get back to work now. I have a meeting in five minutes. Goodbye children."

"Goodbye mother." I heard Edward and Alice's voices in the background.

I am outraged! How dare that little greedy bitch call Bella a creature sent from the devil. She's going to pay for that comment and I believe I know exactly how. I need to discuss it with Carlisle though.

What time is it anyway? Hmm...noon. I think I'll give my daughter a call.

"Hello?" Bella's sweet voice was music to my ears after having to talk to the three freaks of nature.

"Hello sweetie. I thought maybe you and I could grab some lunch and do some shopping. What do you think?"

"Mom, you don't eat."

"I'm aware of that, but I just want to spend some time together. Just you and me."

"Well, why didn't you just come out and say that instead of saying we should go have lunch?"

"I thought you might be hungry, dear."

"Well, I am kind of hungry. Where should I meet you?"

"I can pick you up in say fifteen minutes and then maybe we can go to Chestnut Hill Mall or the South Shore Plaza. You decide, I just want to spend the day with you." I said.

"Okay, see you then."

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up in front of Bella's apartment where she was already waiting. She jumped into the passenger side and I asked her where she wanted to go. "South Shore Plaza. They have that yummy smoothie shop in the food court. Plus, I don't get to go there very often because there's no train that goes there and Riley works during the week."

We sat in the food court where Bella worked on a slice of pizza and a smoothie. "Yum. I actually don't get to eat pizza too often anymore. Vicky's all about wholesome homemade meals. I rarely get to eat anything even remotely unhealthy anymore."

"It's nice to see she worries about your nutrition, dear." I said. I was a little jealous of Vicky because it should have been me taking care of Bella all these years, not her.

"Vicky can be really overbearing sometimes. During my senior year, after we moved to Boston, she made lunch for me everyday."

"Now Bella, that doesn't seem so bad." I said. Honestly, the girl should be grateful that someone cared enough to brown bag a lunch for her everyday. I think a lesson in gratitude is in order here.

"Mom, she delivered it to school during lunch everyday and waited until I was finished eating. She even laid out a placemat, dishes, silverware, and a cloth napkin that she embroidered my name on. When I was done eating, she'd hand me a baby wipe to clean my hands with, then pour some hand sanitizer so I could disinfect them." Okay, maybe that was a bit much.

"Why didn't you say anything to her?" I asked.

"Well, I only had about five months of school left and I really didn't want to hurt her feelings because she was really trying. So, I put up with it for the rest of senior year and then we convinced her to apply to Boston University with me. She got in, of course, and that helped tremendously because then she had something to do for herself."

"Bella?"

"Hm?" She acknowledged.

"Have you given much thought to moving in with us? I'd really love to have you live with us. I promise to not be overbearing. Your dad and I both miss you very much as do Emmett and Rose. Please Bella, please consider staying with us?" I know I was begging, but I was desperate. I really wanted, no needed, my daughter with me. Having her with us this weekend was wonderful, even if she spent the entire time caring for Tanya. I got to know Vicky and Riley well too. I considered them both my children and I just wanted my family to be whole again.

"Mom, I have to admit that this weekend was kind of nice, but you have to understand that I've built a life for myself in Boston. I really like it there. I had an idea that I'd like to tell you about. I want to hear what you think of it."

"Okay, I'm open to any suggestion that you might have, dear."

"How about if I lived with you guys on the weekends, but during the week I stayed in the apartment in Boston?"

We can definitely work with this. "I like it so far, but what about Vicky, Riley, Irina, and Laurent? What if they want to live in New Hampshire during the week too?"

"That's okay. I don't mind staying in Boston by myself." Over my dead body. She's out of her mind. She's not staying in that little apartment by herself. It's not a secured building and it's not particularly in the safest neighborhood either.

"What about Jasper, Bella? Have you taken his wants into consideration?" I asked.

"Um...no, I haven't had a chance to discuss it with him yet." She said uncomfortably.

"Bella, you and Jasper won't be able to stay away from each other. How does your chest feel right now, sweetheart?"

"It hurts, mom, a lot." She admitted.

"Bella, that's the pain you get when you're separated from your mate. Are you aware that Jasper is feeling the same pain in his chest right now?"

"Yes."

"Bella, I know that this mating was completely unexpected for you, but it happened. You are now one half of a set that makes a whole. It's the best way that I can think of to explain it to you. You can't just go and make decisions on your own and expect Jasper to agree to it. Personally, I think he's done a lot of adjusting for you and maybe it's time you made some adjustments for him."

"I know you're right, mom, but I'm scared. Truth be told, I'm terrified to move in with your family because of what happened the last time in Forks. I missed you so much and I felt so abandoned then. I'm not so sure I can go through that pain again."

"Oh Bella!" I crouched in front of her and pulled her chin towards me so she was looking in my eyes. "Daughter—I'm never going to abandon you again. Plus, this time things are different. Your dad and I will never listen to that louse of an ex-boyfriend of yours again. What you ever saw in him, I'll never know, but I digress. He and that evil Pixie have pretty much been ostracized from our family. Second, I doubt that Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent will ever leave you alone. They love you so much and they only want you to be happy. Last, and most important, is Jasper. He's your mate Bella. Physically, he couldn't leave you. It would kill him. It would kill you. I'm not willing to lose both of you ever so I'll be damned if I ever let that happen."

She smiled, then, and said four words that I've been waiting my entire life to hear, "I love you, mom."

"Oh, Bella, I love you with all my heart. Now, think about what we talked about, then talk to your family and talk to Jasper. I'll even make a deal with you. There are two penthouses on the floor where our's is located. One, of course belongs to us and the one next door has been up for sale for a few months now. I just put in a bid this morning to purchase it and I'm sure it'll be accepted since the owners are desperate to get it off their hands. I was thinking of designing a room for you and Jasper, as well as, one for Vicky and Riley and one for Irina and Laurent. You can use it as an escape, if you'd like. What do you think?"

"Maybe, I'll have to talk to everyone first."

"Good. I'll start planning the rooms."

"But...I..."

"Shh...child, everything will work out." I said, pulling her in for a hug. "Now, I want to take you shopping and I don't want to hear your protests. If it were any other mom, you know her daughter would be letting her take her shopping. I'm your mother and you will allow me to indulge you just a little."

"Okay, let's do this." Bella grimaced and sighed. "Can I have another smoothie first?"

Nine hours later, we finally left the mall with our arms loaded with shopping bags. Bella even helped me pick out my very first yoga outfit and one for Carlisle too. Apparently, we were all going on Sunday to learn yoga as a family. She also said that we need to try one of Laurent's Zumba classes. This should be an experience.

We arrived at her apartment and I stopped in to say hello to everyone. The apartment was well maintained, but cramped. I was shocked to see, not only Peter, Charlotte, Garrett, and Kate who I knew were staying here, but Rose and Emmett too. Everyone was sitting around the coffee table playing some sort of board game. Jasper came bounding to the door and greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a more passionate one on the lips for Bella.

"Esme, please come in." Vicky said.

"Did you have fun shopping, Bells?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, Esme insisted on paying for everything though." Bella said with a grim expression.

"That really wasn't necessary. How much do I owe you?" Riley insisted.

Well, I wasn't expecting that. Oh dear. Riley is just like Bella. I'm so accustomed to my children expecting me to pay for everything. Even Rose and Emmett asked for cars or extravagant vacations all the time. Jasper was the only one that never asked me or Carlisle to pay for anything outright. He showed up with his own money that he amassed while in that Maria's horrific army. I knew that he kept his money well hidden from Alice. That greedy Pixie would have claimed everything for herself.

"Absolutely nothing. It was my idea to take her shopping and it was me that wouldn't let her pay for anything. Please let me do this. Please, I had so much fun today." I said. A few hundred dollars in clothing was absolutely nothing for me, but for them it would be a great deal.

"Well, thank you Esme." What a sweet, hardworking young man. He takes such pride and responsibility in everything. Oh, I can't wait until my new son moves in with me.

"Esme would you like to stay for a little while? We just got done playing Trivial Pursuit and we were just going to sit and talk for a bit. I'd really love it, if you'd stay." Vicky asked hopefully. Oh, I really do like her.

"I'd love to, let me just text Carlisle and tell him where I am." This is wonderful. I get to spend some quality time with my family. We talked about Laurent's classes and he showed us some of his Zumba moves. It actually looked like a lot of fun.

"So," Bella started, "Esme and I were talking and she suggested that we all move in with her. I wanted to hear your opinions on the matter." Oh no. I didn't realize she'd bring up what we talked about here and now.

"Well, Bella, I'd like to know what you think first?" Riley said.

"Uh, nope, I asked first. You always say that I'm self-sacrificing, but what about you Ry. You're like the king of self-sacrifice." She replied undauntedly. It's so cute, they're both so similar in many ways.

"Okay, since you say we're both self-sacrificing, let's hear what everyone else has to say. Victoria, we'll start with you." Riley looked to his wife.

"I love living here. I really do, but it would be nice to live in a house and have parents for once." Victoria said shyly.

"Okay, that's one yes." Riley said. "Irina?"

"We say yes." Irina then turned to me, "Laurent and I have discussed this over and over and we'd like to live with you. Please don't turn us out and send us back to Denali. I love my family there, but we can't imagine living away from Bella, Vicky, and Riley."

"Irina dear. When I built the new house, I designed a room for each couple in the Denali family. I would never dream of taking your family away from you and I would be honored if you would consider me another mother." She got up and hugged me. I was so shocked. It was the first time that Irina ever showed any affection to me. She's never even hugged Carmen and Eleazar. I could tell that Katie and Rosalie were absolutely floored by her show of affection because they both had their jaws hanging open.

"Okay, that's three yeses." Riley then turned to Jasper. "Jasper?"

"I'll do whatever Bella wants." He said.

"No way. You need to tell Bella what you want to do or she's going to walk all over you. Don't underestimate her, underneath that sweet demeanor lies the most opinionated, stubborn girl in the world. She has a way of getting her own way and she needs to learn that mating is a two way street." Riley said.

"I am not stubborn!" Bella pouted. "Besides, mom already told me that I need to take Jasper's opinions into account. Why do you think I brought this up?"

"Well, good progress then. You're still stubborn, though." Riley said. "Well, Jasper?"

"Okay, it would be nice to move back home to New Hampshire."

"That's four, then." Bella said. "Riley?"

"I've been thinking about this for over a week now Bells and I think it would be nice to get out of this cramped apartment and go live with Esme and Carlisle. This isn't the safest of neighborhoods either Bells and I'd feel more secure if we all lived in a nicer environment. I think this weekend was proof of how supportive of a family they have and we could all use a little bit of that. Your turn, Bells."

"I think I'm going to stay in Boston during the week and live with the Cullens on the weekends. Kelly needs a new roommate so I could just move in with her." She said. I can't believe how fucking stubborn the girl is. I thought, for sure, I had convinced her. I see her angle now. She just got everyone to admit what they really want in front of me and then threw in her plans at the end. She even had it mapped out so that she could get her way. Everyone was glaring daggers at Bella, but she was taking it all in stride. Clearly, this has happened before.

Suddenly, there was an urgent knocking at the front door. Riley immediately got up to answer it. It was Carlisle and he looked feral as his gaze sought out Bella. "I just heard everything! Over my dead body are you going to live alone in Boston unprotected. Like it or not, Bella, you are part of the supernatural world and your shield makes you a walking target for power hungry powers. You are my daughter and you, young lady, will not be going off on your own when you have a family that want to love and protect you. It seems to me that in the last five years, sacrifice after sacrifice has been made for you. It's high time you show some appreciation and do the same for them!"

"Fine!" Bella screamed then stomped off to her room, slamming the door shut. I could hear her sobbing into her pillow, but I wasn't about to comfort her when she was clearly just being stubborn.

"I apologize," Carlisle said, "but she needed to see things from someone else's perspective. Dear God she's stubborn."

"It's okay, Carlisle." Riley said. "Someone needed to set her straight. I admit that I don't do it enough. She could really use some parental guidance, that's why I think it's so important that she live with you."

I heard weeping coming from the corner and looked up to see a devastated Charlotte. "Charlotte dear, what's wrong?" Vicky ran her fingers through Char's silky blonde hair in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's just that for the first time I'm really happy, but if y'all move in with the Cullens we'll have to go back to Texas. I really don't want to be away from my sisters." She sobbed looking towards Bella's room and then at Vicky and Irina.

I didn't realize how lonely Charlotte was. I always assumed she was happy just being with Peter. I feel terrible for my oversight. "Charlotte, you're welcome to stay with us. I already consider you a daughter. You and Peter even have your own room already. Please say that you'll stay."

Charlotte jumped into my lap and gave me a huge hug then started plastering kisses all over my face. Oh my, she's an affectionate one.

"This is so great Char, we don't have to be split up!" Vicky said happily.

It was beautiful seeing everyone's smiling faces. Katie looked a little sad, but resigned. She could never leave Tanya, Carmen, or Eleazar.

"Um...I don't know if you guys noticed this, but I can't hear Bella's heartbeat in the apartment anymore." Rosalie announced.

Jasper sprang up and broke the lock to her room. There was a light breeze fluttering the drapes attached to her open bedroom window.

"Not again." Riley sighed. "She does this whenever she gets upset. She just takes off. It's not really safe around here at night so someone's going to have to follow her. I swear she has no sense of self preservation." Ironically, Edward once said the same thing about her.

"I'll go." Jasper said. "She couldn't have gone very far. I'll text you as soon as I find her." With that, Jasper took off after his mate.

**Jasper's POV**

I'm gonna wring her neck. As soon as I find her, I'm gonna hug her then strangle her. Yeah, that's what I'll do. She doesn't get her way so she throws a hissy fit and runs away from the apartment like a six year old? For God's sake, we're asking for one little thing and she refuses to give in. I'm standing my ground on this, though. Riley and Carlisle are right, Bella needs to make some sacrifices on her part too. I'm glad Carlisle came in when he did and set her straight. She needed that. I'm not saying that she's completely stubborn because that's the furthest thing from the truth, but she has this little part of her that is so stubborn that she refuses to give in even if she knows that it's the right choice.

Running away from the apartment at this time of night wasn't a good idea. This isn't Forks, Washington where you can leave your doors unlocked and your keys in your ignition. This is Boston, Massachusetts and like any big city, it had it's fair share of crime.

I followed Bella's scent for a few blocks until I was sure that I was on her trail. I became a little worried when her scent started heading in the direction of Chinatown. In the daytime, it was fine to walk around there. After dark, though, that particular part of Boston was crime ridden.

All of a sudden, my chest ignited in invisible flames and I was brought to my knees by the intense pain. My mate's in trouble! My mate's in danger! Fuck!

"Hey, man, you okay?" A concerned homeless man asked me.

"Yeah, just a little heartburn." I managed to get out as I stood up and started running.

I was running on pure instinct now. I could tell that she wasn't far because I could feel her fear. The pain in my chest kept pulling me towards her, I didn't even need her scent. It was as if the mating pull was an invisible rope that was lassoing me to my mate providing my body with it's own sense of direction that led me to her and her alone.

I found my mate cowering in fear in a small alley way—tears streaming down her face. I instantly went to her and pulled her into my arms—checking her for injuries and covering her with my scent. I noticed a small hand print on her neck and instantly saw red. Who dared touch my mate? That's when I saw them. Three vampires were pinned to the side of a building by Bella's shield-their eyes wide in confusion and fear. They looked familiar. Before I could approach them, Carlisle, Riley, Emmett, Peter, Garrett, and Laurent showed up and quickly boxed in the three vampires. They were joined immediately by their mates who took their positions behind their husbands—rage evident in everyone's faces.

Carlisle was the first to speak. "Siobhan, Liam, Maggie. May I ask what you're doing here and why we received a distressed phone call from my daughter?"

She called them? She called them first and didn't bother calling me—her mate? I'll be addressing this issue later with her.

"Please Carlisle," Siobhan said, "we didn't know she was your daughter. She fell and scraped her knee and we smelled her blood. Maggie was overcome by her scent and before we knew it, she had grabbed your daughter by the throat. We tried to pull Maggie off of her, but we were all pinned to the wall by her shield. Thank God for that."

Liam then added, "Carlisle, you know that we only hunt the vagrants of society. We would never intentionally hurt your child. In our defense, we truly tried to save her."

Carlisle nodded and then said, "Bella, you can lower your shield now."

Bella acknowledged Carlisle and took her shield off of Siobhan and Liam, but left Maggie encased in it.

"Bella, you can take your shield off of Maggie too." I said.

"Fuck no! The bitch tried to eat me. As far as I'm concerned, she can stay under there forever. I don't have anywhere to go." Okay, Bella's back to normal now. I'm gonna take it as a good sign.

"Bella, language!" Esme chastised. "Take down your shield this instant."

"Yes, mom." She said and lowered her shield.

"Maggie, apologize to Bella now!" Siobhan ordered.

"I'm sorry, Bella. You smelled so mouthwatering and I lost control. Your scent is a mixture of coconut, strawberries, chocolate, and freesias. It's just so tempting."

"Really? Damn—I think I'd eat me if I could. I accept your apology. I'm sorry for not releasing you from my shield right away." Bella said.

"I'd still like to know why you're all here." Carlisle said curiously to the three vamps.

"Alice, Edward, and a smelly human girl came to visit us at our home in Dublin." Siobhan said wrinkling her nose. "They were quite annoying, Carlisle, and they wouldn't leave even when we said we were busy. Alice even had the nerve to say that she saw in a vision that we didn't have anything to do."

"I apologize for that." Carlisle said.

Siobhan then continued. "We listened to them talk about themselves for about four hours. I had just about enough then. Carlisle, are you sure you made the right choice allowing that smelly human in your family? She has the brain the size of a walnut and she kept quoting the Bible and asking us how much our property in Dublin was worth. Anyway, I had had enough so I excused myself and collected our passports and placed them in my purse. I made sure to think about Irish history in Gaelic so that Edward couldn't read my mind. Do you realize that your son had the nerve to ask me to think in English, stating that I was being rude by blocking my mind from him?"

"I don't consider him my son and truly, Siobhan, we're very sorry for the three of them invading your home." Esme said. "Please continue your story."

"I told the three fools that we needed to hunt. Alice said, then, that she saw in her vision that we didn't need to hunt until Thursday. That was when Maggie, with her quick thinking, started pretending to be tempted by Edward's human's foul smelling blood."

"Why didn't you just do us all a favor and snap her neck?" Rosalie asked. Bella, Char, and Peter started chuckling, but with one look from Esme they quickly put on a straight face.

Siobhan kept going with her story. "Alice, Edward, and the human then made a hasty retreat stating that they would return in a few hours after we took Maggie to hunt. As soon as they left, I told Liam and Maggie to start locking up the estate and keep thinking about hunting in County Cork. I told them they were not to ask any questions and follow me. We left quickly and ran to the airport. I purchased three tickets to Boston because the three idiots mentioned you were working here. So, now you know why we're here."

"I'm so sorry that you felt the need to escape your home and country because of Alice, Edward, and Amanda. Never in a million years would we intentionally subject you to their rudeness. We had no idea that they'd visit you while on their honeymoon. Why don't we go to our penthouse in Boston and talk some more?" Carlisle said.

"Bella and I will catch up with you later." I told everyone as I put my arm around my mate and steered her away from the alley way. We walked in silence for a few blocks until we hit the theater district. I saw a sign for the Omni Parker House Hotel and walked inside to check us in. I grabbed the key and zipped us straight up to our rooms. Once inside, Bella rushed to the bathroom to have a human moment and I took a moment to calm myself down. Tonight wasn't over by a long shot. Bella needed to know what she put us all through when she pulled her little stunt. I understood her need to think, but that could have been done elsewhere not alone, walking around Chinatown at 11p.m.

Bella walked out of the bathroom and leaned up against the little desk in the corner. She clutched her stomach and balled up on the carpet as I hit her with all the anxiety, frustration, fear, and pain that I felt tonight. She instantly pulled her shield over herself and looked at me with bewildered eyes. "What the fuck was that, Jasper?" Bella asked.

"That my mate was how I felt when I was looking for you tonight. Not very nice, was it? Now take your shield down, Bella."

"Only if you promise not to make me feel that again." She grimaced.

"I promise." I said as she lowered her shield. "We need to talk Bella."

"I know. I'm sorry about tonight. I shouldn't have gone walking off in a huff. I just needed to think. I especially shouldn't have walked into Chinatown, but after a few minutes my stomach started growling so I thought I'd grab something to eat at one of the restaurants there. Then I tripped and scraped my knee and well, you know the rest."

"Bella, what happened tonight is a prime example of why you can't live alone in Boston."

"Why? My friends all live alone in Boston. Why can't I? Women live in Boston alone all the time. I'm just not ready to move in with the Cullens, Jasper. I suggested staying with them on the weekends, but that was obviously unacceptable to everyone." She started crying in frustration. "All I'm asking for is some space, but it's not gonna happen living with fucking vampires, is it?"

I could see her point and I also understood her need to be alone sometimes. Bella was an only child up until five years ago and used to having her own space. Suddenly, she's being asked to move into a large household of vampires with supersonic hearing and vision and she felt overwhelmed. It wasn't like living with Riley, Victoria, Irina, and Laurent—to her they were family and she trusted them implicitly. The Cullens, however, had yet to earn Bella's trust. They couldn't expect to waltz back into her life and demand that she move in with them. What made things worse was that Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent all wanted to live with them. Hell, I even said that I wanted to move back home. She asked us for the truth, though, and we told her. She'll have to live with those consequences. I had a lot of thinking to do.

"Here's the thing, Bella. You asked us what we wanted to do and we told you. Now it's out there and obviously you're not happy with it. I'm willing to work with you, though. If spending the weekends in New Hampshire and the weekdays in Boston is something you want to do, we can try and work out an alternative. What I will not negotiate on is you living in Boston alone. First of all, I wouldn't be able to handle being away from you and neither would you. Second, like it or not, you're part of our world. You're lucky that it was Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie that you ran into tonight. Imagine if it was some random nomad that was just out for blood. Worse yet, what if it was the Volturi? What if you couldn't activate your shield?"

"My shield did activate, though, and I called Riley for help as soon as I got into trouble." Bella said.

"That's the other thing. Why did you call your brother and not me, Bella? I'm your mate, I should be the first one you call." Bella looked down at her feet as soon as I said that.

"Just force of habit, I guess. I called you the other night when I thought Rex was dead, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but your life wasn't in danger then. First rule of mating, Bella, you call your mate first and then you call in your reinforcements. Don't you know that I can feel when you're in danger? You still don't trust me, do you?"

"I do trust you, Jasper, I really do. It's just that you're...well, you're...forget it."

"No, we're not forgetting this. It's just that I'm what, Bella?" I was getting pissed off because I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

"You're one of them—a Cullen. I don't want to be a Cullen, Jasper, ever! I'm proud of who I became without them. I don't ever want to grow dependent on them like I did before, that's why I want to limit my time with them."

"I'm a Whitlock not a Cullen. I only used the last name Hale as a cover when I was living full time with them. I've always kept my last name though. You should also know that, not once, did I give Alice my family name to use—she has always been a Brandon or a Cullen. When I married her, I used the last name Hale. Bella, I think we need to talk about where we're gonna go from here because, clearly, you're feeling overwhelmed and, frankly speaking, so am I."

I picked her up, sat on the bed, and put her on my lap. Truth be told, I was horny as hell and I wanted to rip her clothes off and have my way with her. Now wasn't the time, though. I settled for running my fingers through her hair and inhaling her scent. Maggie was right, her scent was mouthwatering. What I would do to be able to mark her. Her change was another thing that we had to discuss.

So we talked and talked and talked some more. Bella's big problem was that she didn't fully trust the Cullens yet, but she didn't want to disappoint her brother, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent who all seemed so excited to move in with them. Bella was fine with living with me, though. While she still thought of Carlisle and Esme as parents, she didn't feel as if they had any right to make decisions about her life now that she was twenty-two years old. I agreed with her.

"Bella, I have an idea. Just tell me what you think. I can either rent or buy a place in Boston. We can use it as a getaway of sorts. We won't tell anyone about it—not even your brother. That way it'll be a true hideaway. We can even start looking tomorrow. You will, however, have to live in New Hampshire for more than just the weekends. I promise you that I won't let them overwhelm you. I have a feeling that Riley won't let them either." I was actually liking this idea more and more. Bella felt uncomfortable having sex with all the vamps staying in the apartment. On top of that, since Tanya was literally attached to Bella this past weekend, I'd been sporting blue balls for the last five days.

"This may actually work, but only if you're totally comfortable with the idea. Since I'm starting at Harvard—maybe we should look in Cambridge." She said.

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I weren't okay with it. Honestly speaking, I like the idea of you and me having our own place. You never did tell me what you're getting your master's degree in, Bella?"

She smiled the biggest smile that she's given me yet. Clearly she was excited about her master's degree. "American History specializing in the Civil and Revolutionary Wars."

I think I almost came in my pants. They'll be calling me Jizzsper soon if she keeps talking like that. "I know all about the Civil War, you know." I said, unable to resist kissing her.

"I know. I'm expecting you to help." She said, kissing me back.

"Garrett can probably help you with the Revolutionary War. He was serving as a soldier in Washington's army when he was changed." I said, kissing her again. This time I snuck a hand into her shirt and caressed her breast over her bra.

"Thank you, Jasper."

"For what, babe?"

"For everything. For coming to save me. For bringing me here. For hearing me out. For working with me. I love you. I've never been so in love before in my life." Bella said. I could feel her honesty. She loved me. She really loved me.

"I love you too, Bella." No longer able to stay in control, I rolled on top of Bella and kissed her. I gently pulled her top off and, then, unhooked her bra with one hand.

"Gorgeous." I said, as I took in the sight of her breasts. Bella looped her arms around my neck and pulled me to her and kissed me.

I unbuttoned her shorts then slowly pulled the zipper down. I took her shorts and panties off at the same time, never removing my lips from hers. I stopped kissing her and drank in the sight of my mate in the nude. "Stunning." I whispered.

"Hey, no fair. I'm completely naked and you're still fully dressed." Bella pouted.

"I know." I grinned then I threw all the lust I could muster, which really wasn't a hard thing for me to do, considering that I had about five days worth of pent up sexual frustration and my mate laying naked next to me with the scent of her arousal permeating the air. In a matter of moments, Bella was moaning my name and reaching down to rub her clit. Hell no. That ain't happening. I grabbed her arms so they were pinned over her head. Bella was writhing on the bed in a desperate attempt to cum. Her breathing was becoming labored and she was now panting out my name. She was about to reach her peak so, being the asshole that I am, I decided to abruptly pull back the lust. At the same time, I quickly shed my clothes and plunged straight into her soaking wet pussy.

"Yes..." We both hissed in pleasure at the same time.

"God, I missed you this week." Bella said.

"Who the hell is this God dude and what the hell do you have going on with him?" I joked.

"Jasper, this is supposed to be a passionate moment for fucks sake. Quit fucking it up with your jokes." She said chuckling. "Holy shit, I can't concentrate."

"I'll help you concentrate, baby." I said as I attacked her mouth with a vengeance and started playing with her clit. I traced the outline of her lips with my tongue and then worked my way down to her nipples.

"Mmm...that's better..." She said with a shiver.

I continued to pump my cock in and out of Bella as her moans became louder and louder.

"Jas...Jas...per...don't...stop." Bella panted.

I moved my thumb to her clit and started rubbing small circles on it.

"Oh...oh...Jasper...yes...feels so good...Jasper...J...J..."

Damn—this feels so good. Every thrust moved me closer to home. I moved my hand under her ass and gave it a good squeeze. Bella responded by grasping my hair through her hands and running her fingers through my scalp. She then lifted her legs up and spread them into a wide V so that I could penetrate her deeper.

"Fuck Bella. Oh yeah, baby. Keep your legs just like that. I'm almost there babe. Bellaaaaaa..." I shot my load deep into her pussy just as she clenched down and started violently pulsating on my cock shuddering to a mind blowing orgasm.

I pulled my girl close into my chest and kissed her. "I love you Bella."

"I love you too, Jasper, but right now you need to take me to Chinatown and get me something to eat. I haven't had dinner yet, you know." Her stomach let out a cute little growl.

"Come on baby, let's get you fed. Then we'll come back and try out the shower." I winked at her and tossed her clothes to her so she could get dressed.

"Mmm...sounds good. Now feed me Jasper." Oh yes, my mate, I plan on doing just that later...

**Hmm...Bella sure is stubborn. She and her family both made some valid points though. What do you think? I wonder what kind of payback Esme has planned for Amanda? What were your thoughts on Siobhan's story about her coven's encounter with the three honeymooners?**

**I can't wait to hear from all of you. I'll write back, I promise. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for all your super reviews, faves, and alerts! I'm delighted to hear from each and every one of you. I'll send Vicky to beat up whomever you desire or you can have a spanking from your choice of vampire. **

_**On a side note, my son asked me for help in selecting a username for his YouTube account today. Hmm...I'm not so sure if I'm the appropriate person to ask, do you?**_

**This chapter contains lots of swearing, violence, lewd behavior, heavy drinking, and extreme idiocy.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

**Rose's POV**

I was at the shop working on a simple oil change, but I just couldn't bring myself to concentrate. Usually, I could do these things blindfolded, but today my mind was elsewhere. I needed to see Bella. Two—no, now three things were bothering me, one was that I still hadn't gotten around to just sitting and talking and her since the wedding. The second was I had to apologize for my behavior in the past and three was that I was getting jealous and pissed off at the same time.

I could understand Bella's relationship with Irina and Vicky. They were there for her when we weren't and I would never be able to make up for those five years. Now, though, Bella was becoming closer and closer to Charlotte and Tanya, I was insanely jealous that those two somehow managed to worm their way into her life and I just couldn't understand how or why. Unlike Charlotte, I found it difficult to open up to people. Tanya, however, has always been a little bitchy and closed off like me. She was actually happy when we first abandoned Bella because she thought it would give her a better chance with Edward, but now they were all buddy-buddy. Yesterday, Eleazar mentioned that Bella was the only person she was talking to right now and it looked like Jasper and Bella were gonna drive up to New Hampshire with Carmen and Eleazar tomorrow to see how they were faring.

I finished up the oil change and decided to close up shop early. There was only an hour and a half left until closing and after I cashed this customer out, there was only one more person left to pick up his car and he had already called to say that he was on his way. Part of the reason why my business was so successful was that I worked at vampire speed so I was fast and kept the prices reasonable.

I decided to give Bella a call because I really needed to get this off of my chest.

"Hello?" Bella answered.

"It's Rose. I'm coming to get you in an hour so we could some dinner for you and talk."

"Gee Rosalie, nice of you to ask if I had time tonight. Maybe I have plans." Jesus Christ, when the hell did she get a backbone. Not many people had the guts to stand up to me.

"Well, do you have plans?" I asked. Maybe I was a little abrupt initially.

"No, but you still could have asked. I'll see you in an hour." Click.

I pulled up to Bella's apartment and she hopped into my BMW.

"You kept your car." She stated. "This is the same one that you were driving in Forks, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is, I can't bring myself to trade it in. I love it so much."

"So, then don't. It's still decades newer than that jallopy I used to drive. Plus, it's in great shape."

"What happened to your truck, Bella?" I asked.

"Oh, it finally kicked the bucket. The transmission died and the undercarriage rusted out. We ended up selling the shell to a collector who wanted to restore it. So, where are we going?"

"I thought we'd just park the car in the Prudential Center and walk around Newbury Street a bit. There are lots of restaurants and what not there that you could eat at."

"Um...why don't I just eat at the food court in the Prudential? I can't really afford to eat at the restaurants on Newbury Street. Well, maybe I could afford a piece of lettuce or something."

"Bella, it's on me." I said.

"You guys have to stop that. I don't need you treating me all the time. I have some money and I'm perfectly fine grabbing something at the food court. I could go for a burger anyway."

"Okay, Bella, we'll do it your way." I didn't want to argue about something so insignificant as money.

We sat in silence as Bella ate her burger. She finished quickly and cleaned up the remains of her dinner quickly. I wasn't sure what to say to her and it seemed as if she was at a loss for words too.

"Bella, do you really feel like walking around Newbury Street?" I asked.

"Not really, I've never been much of a shopper." She admitted.

"How about we hop in my car and just drive around and talk. I have some things that I need to say to you."

She nodded yes to me and we headed back to my car. I jumped on the highway with no real destination in mind and decided to start the conversation.

"Bella, did Edward ever tell you the story about how I was changed?"

"No Rose, Edward never told me anything, but Irina did. I'm so sorry that you had such a tragic end to your human life and I'm glad that you took out those bastards who raped you. I would have done the same thing, they deserved every bit of torture that you inflicted upon them."

I was shocked. Shocked that Irina would overstep her boundaries and tell Bella my last and worst human memory, but relieved that she told her at the same time. I was just about to say something when Bella spoke, "You can't get mad at Irina for telling me your story, Rose, I forced her to tell me. I needed to know about everyone's past in order to get through my own abandonment issues. I justified it by telling her that I'd probably never see any of you again. She thought I was probably right so she told me."

"Why would you think that you'd never see us again, Bella? You're so close to Irina that it was probably inevitable that you'd run into us again."

"Rose, you need to know that we were doing all we could to keep the Cullens out of our lives. I had forgiven all of you for abandoning me and I shouldered much of the blame myself for allowing myself to become so attached to your family. Keeping you away from me was just a healthier choice, emotionally. It was just chance that I ran into the guys at Climax. I'm not regretting it, but it wasn't my choice."

"Bella, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was such a bitch to you in Forks. I just couldn't understand why you'd throw yourself at a control freak like Edward when you had your whole life ahead of you. I was also jealous of your humanity, I wished like hell that I was still human and here you were willing to throw your life away to become immortal."

"Rose, I don't blame you for being a bitch to me. If I had met Bella Swan back in Forks, I would have been a complete bitch to her. She was too wimpy and dependent on everyone and she had yet to learn to become her own person. Let's just end this apologizing for past behaviors now, shall we?"

She then did something completely unexpected. She climbed into my lap, while I was driving mind you, and gave me a big hug. "Sorry. I needed to do that." She said as she made her way back into the passenger seat. We both started laughing like hyenas then.

"You know, if I weren't a vampire we would have been in a major car accident. I would have come out unscathed, but you could have had life threatening injuries."

"So, then you would have changed me." She said matter of factly.

I thought about it and said, "Yeah, I would have." I couldn't imagine Bella not a vampire anymore. "Bella, when are you planning on being changed?"

"Here's the thing, I was supposed to be changed in two years after I finish my master's degree, but now that I'm with Jasper, I'm not so sure that I can wait so long. I just don't want to rush into such a huge, life-altering decision and later regret it. One things for sure, though, if I ever am put into a life or death situation, Rose, you make sure that I'm changed, okay?"

"Deal." I said, then prayed to God that her end wouldn't come in a tragic way.

"Rose, I think we're already in Provincetown. Look!" She pointed at the sign on the highway and I looked up. I must have been going at a 120 miles per hour for us to already be this far down on Cape Cod.

"Let's get out and walk around. I've never been here before, but I've heard a lot about it." I suggested.

"Me too, Rose. Hey, we can share a new experience together...just you and me." Bella said. I liked that, I felt like we had a little secret bonding us together.

We got out and walked around a bit. Provincetown was a cute, little beach town on the extreme tip of Cape Cod loaded with eclectic little shops, restaurants, and bars all cramped together vying for tourist dollars.

"Look at this place, Rose. It's Thursday night and it's jammed." Bella said. "Hey, you're okay with your hunting, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just went last night. Besides, I have to keep up with it because I work with humans everyday. Can you imagine if someone brought their car in to be fixed and I ate them instead." I said.

"Hey, I always ask just in case."

We walked hand in hand down the main street because we didn't want to lose each other. I noticed that a lot of people were doing the same thing. We went into a tacky store that sold touristy souvenirs. On a whim, I picked up two white tank tops that had "I (heart) Provincetown" printed on them in hot pink. "Let's put these on so we look completely like tourists, Bella."

"Okay, Rose, and thank you."

We dove into a bathroom and changed into our new shirts. We walked around for a bit more and then we stopped in front of a hopping bar called, "The Lonely Barmaid."

"Let's go in. It seems pretty popular." I suggested.

We managed to find an empty table and both ordered Jack Daniels. I noticed that the majority of the patrons were female as were the employees and I pointed this out to Bella.

"That's a bit odd isn't it. Maybe it's like a safe haven for women." Bella said.

"Yeah, it's kind of nice, isn't it."

Suddenly a woman approached our table. "Hi Baby, I'm Tish. You wanna dance?" Both Bella and my jaws dropped.

Bella then whispered so only I could hear, "Holy fuck, Rose. I think we're in a lesbian bar."

Shit. That makes sense. "Well?" Tish asked again, looking for an answer. Might as well make the best of it.

"No, thanks, I have my bitch right here next to me." I said then pulled Bella over my knee and gave her a spanking.

"Ouch!" Bella muttered.

"She's obedient, your girl, care to share?" Tish asked eyeing Bella's ass.

"What's mine is mine, bitch. I don't share." I said. Bella played her role by nuzzling into my neck. "Yeah, you know you belong to me, don't you kitten?"

Tish finally gave up and walked away.

"Oh my God, Rose. That was so fucked up. How can we both be so dense and not notice that this was a lesbian bar?"

"Hell if I know." I said.

One of the barmaid's then walked up to us. "Hey, you two entering the wet t-shirt contest?"

"Um..." I stumbled because I didn't know what to say.

"You girls are dressed for it. Nice tits, by the way. I bet you could win this. The prize is a hundred bucks, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and a Lonely Barmaid t-shirt. Second and third place both get a Lonely Barmaid t-shirt." The woman continued.

"Sure we'll enter." Bella said with a smile. "My girl has the best tits in New England."

My eyes gaped at Bella in shock. She winked and flashed a brilliant smile my way.

"Alright, what are your names?" The barmaid asked.

Bella was about to open her mouth so I spoke first. "I'm Alice Cullen and this is Amanda Cullen." I said pointing to Bella.

"You two married?" The barmaid asked.

"Yes, yes we are." I said, putting my arm around Bella after remembering that Massachusetts had legalized gay marriage.

"I just got married myself. My wife is tending the bar right now." We both looked at the bar and saw a muscle bound woman that looked like she could be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine. "Isn't she something?" The barmaid asked us.

"Aren't anabolic steroids illegal Rose?" Bella whispered in my ear.

"Oh, yeah, very fit." I said to the barmaid.

Satisfied, the woman, then turned and walked away to approach another couple.

"Why the fuck did you sign us up for a wet t-shirt contest Bella?"

"Do you see any overprotective vampires hovering over us Rose?"

"Nope, I sure don't, Sis." I smiled knowing what we were doing. We were going to let our hair down and do something crazy for once. There weren't any mates, parents, or siblings here to stop us.

We ordered a bottle of Jack Daniels and kept downing glasses of liquid courage. Bella was spent after about three glasses. I downed the rest of the bottle and somehow coerced barmaid into letting me buy another bottle. After, I finished the second bottle I was finally drunk. It takes so much more to get a vampire sloshed.

The music started pumping and the participants were all called up to the stage. Bella and I both took our bras off and stashed them into our purses. "Okay, ladies, on the count of three let's see what you've got." The dj announced. "One...two...three!"

We were all doused with water and soon we were dripping wet. The dj called our names up to show our wares. When my name was called, a loud roar filled the establishment and I noticed the woman named Tish licking her lips. Ew!

"I think we have a winner here!" The dj announced. Third place—Brenda McInnis. Second place—Amanda Cullen and first place—Alice Cullen! Congratulations ladies! Go to the bar to collect your prizes.

We grabbed our winnings and then headed out of The Lonely Barmaid. "Rose, I don't think either of us are in any shape to drive home." Bella said.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Let's check into a hotel." I suggested. We stumbled arm in arm down the road in an attempt to hold each other up. We finally ran into a sign, literally, that read "Surfside Fantasy Suites."

"Give me your best room!" I ordered the woman at the front desk slamming my credit card on the counter.

"Yes, ma'am. Right away." She said seeing the black credit card. "Our best room is a two bedroom suite called The Jungle. The entire room is designed to look like an upscale jungle hut and features two bedrooms with a remote wilderness setting each with a round king size bed and it's own bathroom. The bathrooms each contain two person showers and a rain dome. The living room has a four person tiki bar, a 52 inch flat screen t.v., and a 7 person hot tub made to simulate hot springs—it's nestled between faux rock ledges, a faux waterfall, and a vibrant starry sky. The whole room is accented with wildlife and jungle greenery."

Bella and I both scratched our heads at the description of the room. "Fuck it, we'll take it." I said and the clerk ran my credit card handed me the key.

We opened the door to the room and we both started giggling. "Rose, there's a giant tree in the middle of the living room." Bella said. Sure enough, in the middle of the living room was a gigantic tree.

"I think we're meant to climb it." I said. "We should get out of these wet clothes. You could get really sick."

"Yeah, maybe we can hang our clothes on the tree branches to dry." Bella suggested.

"Good idea." Just then, my cell phone rang. It was Emmett.

"Rose, it's almost eleven p.m., where the hell are you and Sissy."

"We're in Provincetown. We might have had a wee bit to drink." Bella was swinging from a tree branch and squealing, "Weeeeeeeee! Rose, we can swim in the hot springs. It's huge!"

"Where the fuck are you Rose? Why the hell is Bella talking about swimming in the hot springs?"

"Where the fuck are they, Em?" I heard Jasper growling in the background.

"Gotta go, Grizz! See ya'!" I powered down my cell phone. Fuck him, if he thinks he's gonna ruin my night. "Bellaaaaa! I still have that bottle of Jack that I won."

"Break it open, Sis. We're partying jungle style tonight." Bella called.

An hour and a half later, we were both running around the room naked, occasionally stopping to take a dip in the hot tub or swing from a tree branch. Suddenly, there was an urgent pounding on the door.

"Who is it?" We both hollered.

"Your mates." The angry voices of Emmett and Jasper resounded from the other side of the door.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Would you open the door please, Rosie?" Emmett pleaded.

"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin." I shouted back, quoting the Three Little Pigs.

"Bella open the door now!" Jasper ordered.

"Volare, oh-oh. Cantare, oh-oh-oh-oh..." Bella crooned at the top of her lungs.

"Babe, now's not the time for Dean Martin songs. Can you just open the door please?"

"Okay, Jasper, but only if you swim with me in the hot springs." She yelled.

"Yeah, you too, Grizz! I want you to play with me in the hot springs too." I called out.

"Fine!" Came their exasperated voices.

I opened the door and the guys walked in. Both their jaws dropped as they took in our drunken, naked forms. "Wh...How...Wha...Why are you both naked?" Emmett roared.

"Oh, our clothes got wet." Bella said swinging from a tree branch.

"How? It's been clear all night." Jasper thought hard trying to find a reason for our nudity.

"We were hosed down." I said.

"Where?" Emmett asked. I could tell he was close to losing his temper.

"Oh, in the wet t-shirt contest." I admitted.

"What wet t-shirt contest?" Growled Emmett and Jasper at the same time. They both looked feral and jealous and I knew that Emmett was about a minute away from scenting me and possibly marking me in front of everyone. It wouldn't be the first time. There was this one time in Denali when Tanya and I went barhopping for 24 hours straight. Emmett got so pissed off that he ripped my clothes off in the middle of the Denali's living room and started licking me from head to toe. I was actually pretty turned on by it, but I'd never tell him.

"Woohoo!" Cheered Bella as she jumped into the hot tub. "Come in Rose, it's nice and toasty in here."

"Oops! Time for a dip in the hot springs—I'm comin' sis!" I plunged into the soothing hot water and joined Bella.

Emmett and Jasper stood wide-eyed besides the tub. I don't think either of them knew what to make of our behavior.

"Oh..Jasperrrrr...you promised to go swimming with me in the hot springs."

"Uh, these aren't hot springs, babe. It's a hot tub...aw...fuck it." Jasper said and took his clothes off and hopped into the hot tub. He promptly went to Bella and placed her on his lap, kissing the top of her head. I loved the sight of the two of them together. They looked so content.

"Aren't you coming in, Em?" I asked.

"Might as well." Emmett sighed, pulled his clothes off, and jumped in next to me.

"Whoa! Brother Bear, you need to take a weed wacker to your hedges!" Bella gasped.

"See, I told you! You really need a good bush trimming honey." I admonished.

Emmett looked mortified. "What about Jasper? How come you didn't say anything to him?"

"I took care of it for him." Bella said. "He's nice and groomed down there now."

"That's why you didn't say anything the other night! Show me what your trimmed manbush looks like." Emmett said. "How come you didn't give me the heads up, bro?"

"That's something every man's gotta figure out on his own."

"You didn't figure it out until Bella told you."

"Touche." Jasper replied.

"Bella, will you trim my manbush for me?" Emmett then asked.

"No, Emmett, why don't you ask Rose?" She chuckled.

"Aw...please, Bella. Can you give Emmett a nice trim?" I begged.

"Rose, I'm really not comfortable trimming Emmett's bush." She said. "Why doesn't he go to Waxorama where Laurent goes?"

"That's it, Grizz. Tomorrow, we're making an appointment at Waxorama."

"Fine." Emmett huffed. "Now tell us about the wet t-shirt contest."

So we did. We told our mates about how we somehow ended up at The Lonely Barmaid and how we just let our hair down and entered a wet t-shirt contest and how we took first and second place. At first, they were totally upset until we told them that it was a lesbian bar and there were only women in the audience. Then, they were actually intrigued. We told them about how we were both too drunk to drive so we decided to stay in the first hotel we ran into. The guys were actually impressed by the room and took their time exploring it. A half hour later, Bella started nodding off in Jasper's lap so he ran her into one of the bedrooms and put her to bed.

"So, Grizz, you ready to test out the round bed with me?" I asked as I climbed onto my mate's hardened length.

"You know it, woman." Emmett said as he climbed out of the tub with his cock still inside of me and ran to the bed.

Oh yes my mate. I'm gonna show you the night of your life. I heard Jasper and Bella getting it on in the other room. Ah, there it is...Jasper's projecting again. We're gonna be fucking like rabbits all night!

_**Six Weeks Later...**_

**Jasper's POV**

The last six weeks have been like paradise. Things were going smoothly between Bella and me. Our talk at the hotel seemed to solidify our relationship and Bella was now accepting the mating without any reservations at all.

The night Bella and I spent in Provincetown with Rose and Emmett also helped to push our relationship to a new level. Emmett and I nearly had a conniption when we didn't hear from the girls until we finally got in touch with them at 11 p.m. We were both ready to show them who was boss until Peter, of all people, told us both to approach them calmly and hear them out. It turned out that he was right. The girls were just blowing off some steam together and having a good time bonding. So, they were a little drunk—or, in Rose's case, a lot drunk—but they didn't do anything to endanger themselves really. In fact, they were pretty responsible by checking into the hotel instead of attempting to drive home. Emmett and I both learned to give our mates a little more breathing space that night. It was also the beginning of Bella learning to trust the Cullens again. It was the first time that Rose and Emmett were both truly relaxed in front of Bella and she, in turn, let her guard down in front of them for once.

Later, I learned while talking to Rose, that they had touched upon the subject of her change. Apparently, Bella told Rose that if she were ever in mortal danger, she wanted to be changed immediately. I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. For some reason, we both kept avoiding the topic of her change. At least now I knew that, if I needed to, I could change her.

Our living arrangements had changed considerably. About a month ago, everyone had moved into Esme's New Hampshire home. I moved into Bella's room while Riley and Victoria moved into my old room which Esme redesigned for them. She installed a steel bed in their room after they broke three beds in as many weeks. Peter and Char kept trying to compete against them, but somehow they managed to get outdone each time.

Bella finally had a long overdue talk with the whole family. She pointed out that she still had trust issues with the Cullens and she really didn't want to rush into moving in with them. Everyone, of course, ganged up on her and said she was being immature and stubborn. Surprisingly, it was actually Eleazar that stood behind her. He pointed out that the Cullens couldn't expect Bella to instantly trust her after they abandoned her five years ago. He also said that she may have forgiven them, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's forgotten what happened. He also told Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent that he understood that they wanted to protect Bella, but that she was, in fact, over the age of 21 and a college graduate and fully capable of making decisions on her own. He said that, as long as I was with her for the most part, he didn't see a problem with us staying in the Boston penthouse on most days.

To Bella, Eleazar said that she needed to learn to trust the Cullens again and make a conscious effort to do just that. He also said that she needed to be completely honest with everyone and learn to take everyone else's needs into consideration. Eleazar also mentioned that if Bella wished to be treated like an adult, she'd have to conduct herself accordingly, meaning no more running off into the dead of night. He, then, told her that she was free to stay with them anytime she felt a need to escape or think. Apparently, Carmen had designed a room for her new niece. At hearing that information, Esme let out a ferocious jealous growl and refused to speak to Carmen and Eleazar for a week. It was only after Bella told her that she would always think of Esme as her mother that she finally decided to speak to the Denali heads again.

Unbeknownst to anybody, Bella and I purchased a small house within walking distance to Harvard University. We usually spent most of our nights there because we enjoyed the peace and privacy and it was a sanctuary that we actually designed ourselves. Everyone else thought we were living in the Boston penthouse. I ended up purchasing a round bed like the one in the hotel room in Provincetown, as well as, a hot tub and a two person walk-in rain shower. Bella wanted a tree in the middle of the living room, but I drew the line there. I had fun while she was trying to convince me though. She kept giving me impromptu blow jobs all around the house in an attempt to change my mind. Maybe one day, when we buy a bigger house I can put a tree in for her. Not in the living room though.

The Denalis were settling in nicely to their new home in Amherst. Rex acclimated himself to become a vampire quickly and he was able to spend time with both families without possessing any of the women. The women still cooed and cawed over him, though. When I ordered Rex's new documents, I gave him my last name. The guy was ecstatic and said he felt honored to be given the name of the youngest Major in the history of the United States armed forces. I got along really well with him. Rex, Garrett, and I were always drawing up mock battle plans. The plans became so elaborate that Esme ended up designing a room for just that purpose after she became fed up with all the space we were taking up in the living room.

Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie stayed with us for three weeks. They wanted to ensure that Edward, Alice, and Amanda were out of Ireland before they returned home. The three of them got along well with everyone and Maggie and Bella hit it off big time after their initial rocky start. The girls took Siobhan and Maggie to Climax one night for a girls night out. This time they told us where they were going and we couldn't really complain because we were planning on hitting a new sports bar in Manchester, New Hampshire that featured bikini clad waitresses. Siobhan came home that night thoroughly sloshed with a flogger in one hand and loincloths for each male in the other. She started chasing all of us guys and whipping us with the flogger demanding that we put the loincloths on and dance for her. We finally had to have Rex use his power and put her into a frenzy so Liam could fuck her into submission. Before the Irish Coven finally left, Maggie secured a promise out of me that I would bring Bella to visit her soon.

Today was a big day, Alice, Amanda, and Edward were due to return from their honeymoon. They had no idea of the change in family dynamics and were in for a huge surprise. Carlisle's ground rules were that under no circumstance should the assholes be informed of Bella's shield. Furthermore, none of the three were allowed to be alone at anytime with Bella. Also, discussion of any important family matters were to be done away from the three assholes, preferably when they were away at their Hanover home or when we were at the Boston penthouse.

We were all gathered in the living room waiting for the three fuckers to walk in the house. Speak of the devil. "Hello everyone, we're back!" Alice's fake cheery voice resounded through the house. She pranced into the living room followed by Edward and Amanda then stopped abruptly. Her eyes trained on Bella. "What is SHE doing here?" Alice asked.

"Well, fuck you too bitch." Bella greeted the pixie with a huge smile and her middle finger pointing straight up.

Edward then turned to Esme. "Mother, I thought you told me that you took care of HER."

"Well, of course I took care of Bella. Why wouldn't I take care of my daughter." Esme answered.

Edward and Alice, then, both noticed Victoria sitting in the living room. Alice spoke, "What the hell are you doing in our house? Carlisle are we suddenly taking in the bottom rung of society?"

Bella tried to barrel off of the sofa, but Rose and I held her down. I pulled Bella onto my lap and held her tight against me. "You fucking whore! Get off of my husband. Didn't Carlisle and Esme offer you enough money?"

That did it. Rose, Tanya, and Irina were at Alice's throat in an instant. The three of them were ripping Alice into shreds and they weren't letting up despite her screams. No one could seem to find it in their hearts to help the Pixie.

"Edward, you have to help Alice!" Amanda cried in desperation.

"Yes, my tulip, right away." Edward replied.

Out of the blue, Vicky suddenly announced, "Riley, tulips are no longer my favorite flower." Okay, I'll remember that too sis. All the men were taking turns picking up flowers for the women.

So, what does the Boy Pussy do? Instead of physically helping Alice he comes to me and says, "Jasper, they're going to kill your wife. You really need to put a stop to their outrageous behavior. I'll sit and comfort Bella on my lap while you physically restrain the women from beating Alice."

Did the fucker actually offer to comfort my mate on his lap? Aw...hell no! I was just about to get up and beat the fuck out of Edward when Riley tackled him from the right. Edward was completely taken off guard. He got up to attack Riley, but he was grabbed from behind by Victoria who spun him eight times and ripped his right arm and left leg off in one fell swoop then held him in a body lock from behind—ready to take his head off at any moment. Hey, that's one of my signature moves!

Victoria smirked at me and winked. "They called it the Major's Spinning Cobra Clutch." Huh—they're naming things after me now. Cool. Well, shit, we know where she learned that move.

Charlotte, who was suddenly directly in front of Edward, spoke, "I'm gonna take this opportunity to remind you and your bitches that my sister Bella is mated to Major Jasper Whitlock. You might want to take this time to remember what the word mate means and who the Major is in our world."

Amanda suddenly let out a shrill scream. "Edward, darling! Are you okay? What have these savages done to you?" She then turned to Bella. "You! How dare you! You're nothing, but a greedy whore and devil worshipper. Edward and Alice told me about you! They said that you're a prostitute out for the family's money. Well, you can't have it! I won't permit it. It'll be a cold day in hell before I allow the likes of you to steal everything this family has got!"

Bella then stood up and walked straight up to Amanda. "You're human."

"That's right. Edward is slated to turn me into a vampire at the end of the summer." Amanda said proudly.

"That may be so, but you're human now."

"Yes, I already said I'm human. Why?"

"This is why." Bella nailed Amanda in the jaw with a left hook.

Amanda started screaming. "Help me! Please! Somebody help! The devil is coming after me!"

"I'll show you the devil bitch!" Bella said as she grabbed Amanda by the neck and shoulder and effortlessly tossed her across the living room. Amanda landed in a thump by Carlisle who reluctantly checked her for injuries. "You'll be sore for a couple of days. Just take some ibuprofen for the pain. Oh, and refrain from insulting my daughter. She may not be able to stop herself next time."

"Bella, that's like a patented Major move designed to take out newborns. Where did you learn that?" Peter asked her. Bella turned her head towards Vicky.

Victoria, still holding Edward in a body lock suddenly had a keen interest in the ceiling. "You taught her how to fight newborns?" Peter and I both yelled out simultaneously looking appalled.

"I thought it'd be best if she were prepared for any eventuality. Besides, it was summer and Irina and I were really bored." Vicky said nonchalantly.

"I agree sis." Charlotte said. "Look at how her skill came in handy just now.

"Char, sugar, the pilgrim's not a newborn." Peter stated.

"Uh...duh...I know that Pete, but she will be soon. In any case, she was a good crash test dummy for my sister."

"Well, maybe it's time we explained a few things to our three visitors." Esme said.

The three fuckers grimaced at being called visitors by Esme. Amanda kept bawling out loud.

"Let's start this meeting, shall we?" Carlisle said. "Um...maybe you can place Alice's torso on one of the dining room chairs. Vicky, kitten, you can let go of Edward now."

Edward landed face down on the floor as soon as Vicky released him. With his wife's help, he hopped over to a chair on his one good leg and sat down. Amanda tried to bring his fallen limbs to him, but Esme ordered her to put them down if she knew what was good for her.

"Well, first of all, I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon." Esme started. "As you can see we have added new members to our family. Our daughter Bella, of course, you know already. Riley is Bella's brother by blood, he and Victoria are mates and are now living here as my children. Charlotte, our other new daughter, has also agreed to live here with her mate Peter. Irina and Laurent, our niece and nephew are also now living here full time. Oh, and the gorgeous young man with the sculpted body is Tanya's mate, Rex. Any questions?"

"How could you do this without consulting us first?" Alice asked Esme.

"Easy, Alice. I don't need to consult with you because you are not the head of this family. Carlisle and I are."

"Esme, has it ever occurred to you that these people are probably only after your money." Edward said.

"Impossible, Edward. Unlike you and Alice, everyone here either works or has their own money."

"Are you trying to tell me that Victoria works?" Alice scoffed. "As what, a hooker?"

Bella got up and ran to the garage. She came back with a metal baseball bat and promptly whacked Alice across the face with it. We all started laughing at that one until Carlisle, Esme, Carmen, and Eleazar shushed us all.

"Victoria is going to be a high school math teacher starting in September, Alice." Esme proudly announced. "When have you ever worked?"

Alice opened, then shut her mouth. Clearly, at a loss for words.

"What about Bella and Riley? What do they do?" Edward asked smirking.

"Bella will be going to graduate school at Harvard in the fall. Riley is currently a Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychologist at Children's Hospital." Carlisle, the proud father, announced.

"How did Bella get into Harvard and how is she paying for it?" Amanda asked. "I applied from Dartmouth College and even I couldn't get in. Edward said that you can pay them a fee and get me in if I wanted to go though."

"Not that it's any of your business, but I applied for and got into Harvard on my own. I'm paying for it by way of a full academic scholarship that I earned through hard work." Bella effectively put Amanda in her place because she promptly closed her mouth and no further words came out of it.

"Excuse me, where are we supposed to live?" Alice asked Esme.

"Well, Alice, you three still have your rooms on the other wing of the house and you also have your grand mansion in Hanover that you can still live at." Esme said.

"What about poor Amanda? She doesn't have a room here. Is it true that you gave the room meant for Amanda away to HER?" Alice asked pointing towards Bella with her chin because her arms were currently laying in the middle of the living room floor."

"Now, why would I need to design a room for Amanda? Isn't she Edward's wife?"

"You design a room for all of your daughters, Esme." Alice said with a sickly sweet smile.

Esme returned Alice's smile with an equally sickly sweet smile. "You're absolutely correct Alice. That's why I designed one for my youngest daughter Bella. That room has been ready for her since we first moved to Amherst four years ago."

Alice looked appalled at Esme's revelation. "But what about Amanda, Esme?"

Esme shrugged her shoulders. "I put a bed for her in Edward's room."

"But Esme, what if Edward becomes tempted to have her way with her before it's time for her change? You're the one that's worried about it, remember?" Alice smirked, thinking that she finally had the upper hand.

"Of course I do, Alice. That's why I placed a portable bed with wheels in his room. That way it can easily be rolled into your room so you can chaperone Edward's wife if necessary."

Amanda then looked at Carlisle. "Um...Father...with all the new additions to the family. How are we handling the division of assets?"

"Call me, Dr. Cullen, Amanda. You have your own father—the minister, remember? The division of assets and how we handle our finances is absolutely none of your business. Since you asked, though, I will tell you that since you are Edward's wife, you are not under Cullen jurisdiction as far as money is concerned."

Amanda looked shocked, "But, Edward and Alice told me that every new member of the family receives a lump sum of money and a black credit card."

"Yes, every new member of my family does Amanda. Again, you are Edward's wife, his family. How he chooses to handle his finances is his business."

"How much did you settle on Bella?"

"Amanda, it's rude of you to keep asking about money. Bella is my daughter so how I raise her is none of your concern. Why do you harbor such animosity towards my child, Amanda? This may be a good time to bring something else up. Due to your recent change in marital status, I took the liberty of ordering new identification cards for all of you. If you could please surrender your old id's please."

I knew what was going to happen, of course. Esme had asked me to contact Jenks for their new identities. I looked up to see an excited glee in my mother's face.

Amanda excitedly ran to the bags and grabbed everyone's wallets. She handed over her, Alice, and Edward's wallets and passports. Carlisle quickly removed the old id's and credit cards and promptly disintegrated them using his fingers. He then replaced them with the new id's and passports. Amanda grabbed her wallet to take a look at her new cards. She got a distressed look on her face and with tear-filled eyes she said, "These all say Amanda Masen." She then, grabbed Alice and Edward's wallets and took a look inside. "These say Alice Brandon and Edward Masen. I thought we were Cullens?"

"Actually, Amanda, my wife and I are the only Cullens here. Emmett is a McCarthy and Rosalie is a Hale. Jasper, of course, is a Whitlock. Victoria, Riley, and Bella are Swan-Biers. Do you have a problem with taking the name Edward was born with?"

"N...No...Dr. Cullen, I do not. I was just looking forward to the benefits that come with being a Cullen."

I suddenly felt a surge of rage coupled with extreme protectiveness coming from Bella. "The benefits that come with being a Cullen? Why you fucking gold-digging bitch!" Bella stood up and started yelling at Amanda. "How dare you try and worm your way into the family because Carlisle and Esme have money. Did you think you could join this family and coast in the lap of luxury while everyone else is hard at work forging careers for themselves."

"You should talk, Bella, you're going to be attending school while everyone else works."

That's it, I can't take anymore of this shit! "Listen, bitch, my mate will be working hard to earn her master's degree. That's enough work for her. Tell me, what the fuck are you and that punk ass husband of yours gonna be doing?"

"To be honest. We were taking a year off because I'm going to be changed soon."

"Uh-huh, and after that?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest and bore into her with my pitch black eyes.

"After that, we were going to start high school again. What are you doing in the fall, Jasper?" She said smugly.

"My son and Garrett will be attending Harvard University with Bella." Carlisle said proudly. It was true. We were both going to school with Bella. Carlisle and Eleazar spoke to us both and told us that we needed to stop dicking around and either go to school or get a job. Carlisle was the one who actually suggested that we go to Harvard with Bella. I was getting my master's degree with Bella and Garrett was getting his bachelor's degree in American History. Apparently it was going to be the first time he's been in school since 1775. Eleazar said that he was actually depending on us to keep him in line with his school work. I had a feeling that they both had an ulterior motive and were sending us to Harvard so that we could keep an eye on Bella.

"Well, now that everything's been clarified..." Carlisle started before he was rudely interrupted by Edward.

"Father, nothing's been clarified. You still haven't addressed the reason why we've taken these strays into our family. Also, I'm not comfortable with being around my ex-girlfriend. Surely, you can understand that."

"First of all, my children are not strays. They are important members of my family. Second, you've brought up an important point in stating your discomfort at being around Bella. Also, after witnessing first hand, the animosity you hold towards my daughter, I think it best if you, Alice, and Amanda live in your home in Hanover. There are a lot more amenities at your disposal there anyway."

"What about when Amanda is changed at the end of the summer. I'll need assistance handling her in her newborn state."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Edward. Let's just put you and Alice back together again so you can go home to Hanover."

End of conversation. Carlisle put the two mindfuckers back together and Alice started vigorously rubbing her temples in an attempt to get a vision.

"I didn't see this. I didn't see this at all. She was supposed to be dead. She was supposed to be drained." Alice mumbled. Everyone gasped as soon as they heard her inadvertent slip of the lip.

What the fuck? "Who was supposed to be drained and dead, Alice?" I demanded. "You tell me now!" She was cowering in fear at the realization that she slipped and the Major was demanding answers. "Answer me Alice Brandon, who was supposed to be dead and drained?"

Alice looked at me, shivered, and shook her head. "Vicky!" I called. She was at my side in an instant.

"Yes, Major?"

"I take it you know how we handle subversive vampires?"

"Yes, Major." With a maniacal glint in her eye, Victoria grabbed Alice, and sank her teeth into the area next to her collarbone where her neck and shoulder met—effectively making Alice her bitch. Alice howled in pain as Vicky's venom hit her system. God damn! I only meant for her to rip Alice's fingers off. Oh well, too late now. This may actually work better anyway.

"Now, Alice, be a good little pet and tell the Major who was supposed to be drained and dead." Vicky's pitch black eyes penetrated Alice's fearful gaze. I hate to admit this, but my new sister was one scary bitch. No wonder she survived for so long in Maria's army.

Alice, unable to resist her new sire's command finally relented. "It was Bella. I saw it in a vision right after James was killed. You had made a decision to kill her. Why is she still alive? You were supposed to drain her."

"Are you telling me that you knew that Bella was going to be killed and you had us abandon her in Forks, leaving her unprotected?" I asked.

"Tell me it's not true Alice. Tell me you didn't have me abandon my Bella knowing that it would put her in danger. Alice?" Edward begged. Uh, Mr. Delusional, that's my Bella—not yours asshole.

"I'm sorry, but I did. My visions told me that you wouldn't have met your true mate Amanda and I wouldn't meet my mate in the future, if things didn't happen the way they did in Forks. That's why I planned her birthday party. I knew she would cut her finger and that Jasper would try to attack her. I was hoping that he would drain her, then, but I didn't take into account the fact that the others would actually stop him. After that, I knew that Victoria would be in the area so I urged you to break up with her before you crossed paths. Bella is just your singer, Edward. She was never your mate." Alice admitted before turning to face Vicky. "I still don't understand why you didn't drain her like my vision said you would."

Vicky slapped Alice across the face after hearing that last statement.

There it was. The truth. The whole truth and nothing, but the truth. Everyone was manipulated by Alice and her visions. Edward, the poor fool, was just as hoodwinked as the rest of us were. He still thought himself in love with Bella, in a way.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I never meant to leave you in Forks. I was in love with you. I tried to hunt Victoria in South America, but she kept getting away."

"Christ almighty, you can't track for shit, Edward. You're worse than Irina and Laurent. Vicky was in Forks the whole time Edward, she heard everything you said when you broke up with me." Bella then paused. "Edward, I'm not sorry that things went down the way they did. If you didn't break up with me, I would never have become the woman that I am today. I would never have met Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent. They mean more to me more than you'll ever understand. Things worked out for you too, you're with Amanda. Clearly, she's your mate and you have more in common with her than I ever did with you. I'm happy with Jasper, Edward. He's my mate and I love him."

Schwing. Instant hard-on. Damn it, every time she says that she loves me, I want to rip her clothes off and fuck her on the spot. Frankly, that's the reason why we spent so much time at our house in Cambridge. I couldn't get enough of my mate and I wanted to make love to her over and over again.

"You're right, Bella. I do love Amanda. Nevertheless, I apologize. I shouldn't have listened to Alice and broken up with you the way that I did. She said it was for the best. In hindsight, it was cruel and ruthless." Edward said remorsefully.

I have to admit that Edward's emotions told me he was truly sorry. He still harbored a lot of lust for my mate, but he was being honest in his remorse. Amanda's emotions, on the other hand, showed she was confused, angry, and jealous. She didn't like Bella, that much was clear. Edward's new show of remorse was eating away at her and she was about to blow her top.

"How could you, Edward? How could you apologize to her and say that you love me at the same time?" Amanda screamed. She then walked up to Bella and slapped her across the cheek. "I'm supposed to be the new daughter, not you. I'm the one that should be enjoying my life as a Cullen. What have you ever done for them other than bring trouble?"

Instead of hitting Amanda back, Bella smirked and hit her where it hurt her the most. She turned to Esme and Carlisle and asked sweetly, "Mommy, Daddy—Mrs. Masen was really mean to me. Can we ask her to leave the house?" Bella was obviously hamming it up and laying it on thick knowing that it would piss Amanda off.

Amanda's jaw dropped when Bella referred to Carlisle and Esme as Mommy and Daddy. "They like to be referred to as Dr. and Mrs. Cullen."

"Oh, that's only for outsiders." Bella told Amanda who started stomping her feet and screaming in rage.

"Of course princess." Carlisle said. "Edward, would you mind taking Amanda and Alice home. We'll phone you when they are welcome in this house again. We need to figure out how to handle this situation, Alice crossed the line the moment she endangered Bella and your wife is too unstable to be around any of my children right now."

Edward got a resigned look on his face. "For what it's worth, I'd like to apologize to everyone. Rest assured, I will deal with my mate when we get home. I'll be waiting in the car for you, Alice." He then grabbed Amanda's hand and yanked his still screaming wife to the car with him. I actually felt sorry for the fucker. Just a little.

Vicky suddenly grabbed the Pixie by the collar causing her to shake. "Alice Brandon, you will stay away from Bella and you will no longer use your visions to manipulate this family. If you do, I'll have to give you a reminder of just who you belong to now. Understand?"

Alice started nodding her head frantically.

"Answer me now!" Victoria roared. "Yes or no will suffice."

Motherfucker, my new sister can make me cower in fear. I'm the Major too. Peter and Charlotte were staring slack jawed in amazement at her. The rest of the family had a mixture of fear and excitement in their eyes. Bella was the only one smiling and taking it in stride. She was clearly enjoying herself. Come to think of it, something's wrong with that picture too. My mate has a sadistic side to her. Maybe she'll blindfold me, tie me to the bed, and ride me.

"Yes Victoria." Alice finally answered her. If she were human, she would have pissed her pants in fear. If anything, Vicky was thorough, she grabbed Alice's arms and put them behind her back and pushed her along towards Edward's Volvo. Charlotte flanked her side while Emmett and Peter grabbed their bags and placed them in the trunk.

"Where do you want this?" Victoria asked Edward referring to Alice.

"Um...the backseat will be fine. Thank you." He gulped completely intimidated by Vicky.

Vicky shoved Alice in the backseat. "Remember what I told you." She said, scraping her fingernail across the fresh mark she gave the Pixie. Alice cowered and whimpered in pain at the reminder. "Yes Victoria."

Satisfied, Vicky shut the door to the Volvo with a thud and Edward peeled out of the driveway burning rubber as he drove away. My new sister then turned to me for approval. "Did I do a good job, Major?"

"Yeah, Sis, you did a great job. Better than I would have done." I gave her a hug then because, well hell, I was proud of her. She gave me a shy smile and followed Charlotte, Peter, and Emmett into the house.

Well that was some fuckery and a half that went down. I sat down on the front step to think about what went down tonight. I was shocked by Edward's apology, Alice's manipulation obviously knows no bounds, and Amanda's true personality came to surface—gone was the puritanical church girl and out came the shallow greedy, jealous bitch.

I need my mate. Where is she? "Bellaaaa!" I called.

"What is it Jasper?" She plopped down on the step in front of me so that she was between my legs—her back leaning against me. I leaned down to kiss her lips and put my arms around her. "I need you Bella."

"Let's get out of here, then." She said.

"We're going to Boston." I yelled. "See ya guys tomorrow."

Carlisle came outside to talk to us. "Just come home tomorrow evening. We have some things to discuss regarding what came to surface tonight. Maybe you two should consider spending the night here tomorrow. It would make your mother happy." He suggested. "Bella?" He held his arms open for a hug.

Bella ran into his arms and gave him a quick hug as Carlisle kissed the top of her head.

"Love ya, dad." She said.

"I love you too, Bella." Carlisle said.

He then gave me a hug and told us both to be careful then walked back into the house.

With that we climbed into my Corvette and drove off to our house away from all the fuckery.

**I know that tons happened in this chapter and I'd love to hear your thoughts on everything. As always, I promise to write back to all of you.**


	15. Chapter 15

**You guys are the absolute best! I can't thank you enough for all your review, alerts, faves, and messages. I have so much fun reading them. A quickie with Jasper for each of you.**

**This chapter contains sex, sex toys, swearing, spermal expulsions, and the need for a box of tissues.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**This story is rated M for readers 18+ only.**

**Bella's POV**

"Please, baby, please..." I was on my knees in the kitchen with Jasper's cock in my mouth for the last fifteen minutes, begging him to install a tree in the living room. I took his length all the way into my mouth and he moaned. I, then, took my tongue and licked all the way up from his shaft to his tip before taking him fully into my mouth again.

"Bellaaaa..." He groaned as he shuddered to an orgasm and came straight into my mouth. I swallowed every bit of his delicious seed.

"Well?" I asked him, licking my lips.

"Well what?" Jasper zipped his jeans back up.

"Well, can we get a tree in the living room or not?"

"Bella, we don't have room for a tree. How about I have a real one planted in the backyard?"

"No, I want to swing naked from it. I had so much fun doing it the last time."

"What if I install a stripper pole in the bedroom instead?"

"You're no fun Jasper. A stripper pole would be more for your benefit. I'm just asking for a little, itty-bitty tree in the living room."

"I'll tell you what, Bella. We can go back to Provincetown this weekend and you can swing naked from the tree all you want. How does that sound?"

"Quit trying to appease me Jasper."

"Babe, for the last time. If we put a tree in this living room we'd have to get rid of everything else in here. You know, like the sofa, the chairs, and the coffee table. Now quit pouting, Bella, and get over here."

I smiled and ran into his arms where he gave me one of his panty dropping sex god kisses. I knew that asking for a tree was unreasonable, I just liked teasing him plus it gave me an excuse to suck on his cock.

It's been a week since Edward, Alice, and Amanda returned from their honeymoon and, except for two phone calls from Edward to Carlisle, we haven't heard a peep from them. Alice supposedly left for a "restorative" shopping spree in Paris and she wasn't due to return for at least another two weeks. According to Edward, he sent Amanda back to her parents for moral guidance. Pfft! Like that's gonna help. She was brought up to be the scheming bitch that she is by her parents. Edward is so fucking clueless.

I suddenly felt Jasper's hand crawl up my skirt and my panties being ripped off. "Jasper, what are you doing, we don't have time for this. We're meeting Tanya and Rex in a twenty minutes."

"Really quick, I swear." He said as he leaned me over the chair and thrust into my pussy from behind.

"Aaaah..." I moaned as he pushed in and out of me at vampire speed. The friction caused by the speed was like no other and all my nerve endings were on fire. True to his word, we both came in five minutes flat.

Jasper threw his jeans back on and from the door called, "Well, come on babe, we're gonna be late."

Oh my God! He's the one that ripped my panties off and begged for a quickie. Fine, I'll go commando.

We met up with Tanya and Rex in front of an upscale sex shop called Exotic Erotics.

"I still can't believe you girls convinced me and Rex to take this class." Jasper muttered.

"Keep an open mind, Jasper, these classes can be fun and informative. You like what I did in the kitchen earlier, didn't you?" My mate smiled and nuzzled my neck.

"I'm so excited." Tanya squealed and jumped up and down.

We sat down in the "classroom" which was actually a large, carpeted room with a whole bunch of cushions strewn out around the walls and some lit candles on the built in shelves. There was a table with a box underneath in the front along with a comfortable armchair. There were three other couples taking the class with us.

"Hello! Welcome to Bedtime is Playtime. My name is Rhonda. Let's start by introducing ourselves." Rhonda was a busty blonde Marilyn Monroe lookalike in her forties with an upbeat personality.

"My name is Lois and this is my boyfriend Brian."

"My name is Gina and this is my partner Patty."

"Awesome—lesbians." Whispered Rex. Tanya smacked him on the back of the head.

"I'm Antonio and this is my wife Liz." The fuckhot Latin guy introduced himself smoothly.

"He's kind of hot, isn't he?" I whispered in Tanya's ear.

"Oh my God, yes." Tanya agreed just as both our mates growled to the shock of the other students.

"Of course, he's not nearly as hot as you are babe." I quickly added.

"My name is Bella and this is my ma...boyfriend Jasper." I announced.

"And I'm Tanya and this is my m...b...b...boyfriend Rex." Tanya and I both nearly slipped and called our men, our mates, in front of the humans.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all. As I said before, I'm Rhonda and this is Bedtime is Playtime. In the next two hours, we're going to be learning how to break up some of the monotony and routine in the bedroom and bring some adventure back into your sex lives."

My mate raised his hand. "Yes, Jasper."

"Howdy ma'am." Great—he's laying his Texas drawl on thick. "I think we're in the wrong class. My girl and I don't have any problems with adventure."

"Did you sign yourselves up for the class or did she?" Rhonda asked.

"No, she did, ma'am." Jasper replied.

"Well, then, you're in the right place. Your girlfriend seems to think so." Jasper dropped his jaw and looked at my smirking face.

"Just give it a try, babe." I said.

"Before we were interrupted," Rhonda glared at Jasper, "I mentioned that we were going to be breaking up the routine in the bedroom. I'll be showing you how just a little kink can go a long way and how toys can make a huge difference in the power of an orgasm."

Rhonda continued. "Let's start with something simple. Ladies—a little lingerie can go a long way. Let's ditch those cotton panties and go for silk and lace. Gentlemen and lady, don't you get turned on when your girlfriends make that extra effort and wear a lacy thong for you."

Tanya stood up and proudly announced. "I only wear silk and lace lingerie. I can prove it to you, if you'd like."

"Well, then you got that part down pat. I believe you so there's really no need to...um...you can put your skirt back on Tanya...those are very nice crotchless panties. Unfortunately, most women stick to their tried and true cotton undies." The human men and Gina and Patty were all drooling at the sight of Tanya doing her best Playboy model pose. The women were glaring daggers at the resident succubus.

"We're going shopping right after class, babe." Jasper whispered in my ear.

Um...I happen to like my cotton undies, my mate. I save the lacy stuff for special occasions only. I don't say anything about your Scooby Doo boxers, do I?

"Ahem...Gentlemen, this may also be a good time for me to bring up that Star Wars boxers and the like are not exactly a turn on for women." Jasper, Tanya, Rex, and I all started snorting, clearly thinking about Peter—the self appointed sex master.

Rhonda moved on to explain how flavored lubes and edible undies can make oral sex much more pleasurable. Um...no thank you, Jasper tastes fine the way he is.

"Now, let's move on to adding a little more kink to our love making. Gentlemen and Gina, would you all bend your partners over your lap and give them a little swat on their bottoms. Over her skirt will be fine Rex." Rhonda said.

The men all did as they were told. I noticed that Jasper gave me five swats while everyone else gave their women only one. "How was that ladies?" Rhonda asked. "Did it turn you on a little?" Um, yeah, until my personal vampire sex god decided to go crazy and spank me five times plus I don't have any underwear on. Now, my ass is sore!

"Ouch! Why did you spank me so many times?" I whispered in my mate's ear.

"Couldn't help myself. You're not wearing any panties underneath that short skirt." He smirked.

"That was kind of exciting." Lois said. Yeah, well you didn't get your ass swatted five times by a vampire, did you now?

"Yeah, I liked it too. It was sexy." Patty added. I'll bet you did. Gina probably doesn't spank as hard as Jasper.

"Sensual spanking is a mild easy way to add a little kink, but I'd like you to think outside the box and bring it a little further." Rhonda then reached into the box under the table. "These are vibrators. Vibrators are a wonderful way to broaden your horizons in bed. We are so lucky to have many types of vibrators available to us. There are two basic varieties—external and internal. The first type is meant for clitoral stimulation and meant to be placed on top of the clitoris and vulva to bring the woman to an orgasm. The second variety is an internal vibrator. It's meant to be placed within the vagina for g-spot stimulation. Rhonda started passing around the vibrators. Hmm...I like this one, it feels kind of nice on my hand.

"Tanya, feel this one." I passed the tiny bullet shaped vibrator to her.

"Holy shit! This one packs a punch!" She announced. "Rhonda, what's this one called?"

"It's called The Pocket Rocket. It's very powerful, I have one myself. They're very handy and they fit right in your purse."

Hmm...I'll have to pick one of these up after class.

"Now, the most popular type of vibrator stimulates you internally and externally and gives you the most intense orgasms. This, as most of probably already know, is the Rabbit. Many women already own one and use it for masturbation, but bringing one into the bedroom with your partner and having him or her control it can be extremely satisfying."

Jasper suddenly sprang up with a big grin on his face. "Wait a minute! That's a Rabbit?"

"Yes, well, this one is called The Rabbit Pearl. There are a few different varieties including our most popular Aqua Rabbit which can be used in the shower."

"Well, that's a relief. I feel so much better now." Jasper ran up to Rhonda, hugged her, kissed her square on the lips, then sat back down with his back against the wall and his hands clasped behind his head. "You can go on now, Rhonda."

I wonder what that was all about. Hmm...

After Rhonda went through the various different sex toys including anal beads, plugs, floggers, and gags, she dismissed the class and gave each of us a 10% off coupon for the sex shop. Tanya and I wanted to buy a gag for Amanda, but the guys wouldn't let us. I saw her slip one in at the last moment anyway. Tanya went overboard purchasing everything from anal plugs to nipple clamps.

Jasper, for some reason, bought all seven varieties of the Rabbit plus my Pocket Rocket. I thought he was going a bit overboard and I told him so as soon as we left the store.

"Babe, why do we need seven rabbits? I already have one at home. Don't you think it's a bit much."

"Keep an open mind, darlin'. A little adventure never hurt anyone. Besides, I've always wanted a rabbit for a pet."

"You're telling me to keep an open mind? You're the one that was terrified of these things up until the other day."

"Yeah, well a lot has changed since then."

Rex, in a moment of clarity, suddenly exclaimed. "Dude, you thought it was the real thing! You didn't know what a Rabbit was until Rhonda showed you in class. That's why you were asking me all those questions the other night about whether or not they were wiry and whether the ears got in the way. Bella, your man thought you were getting off with a real rabbit!"

Rex, Tanya, and I all started laughing. Jasper was mortified at being discovered, but he took it in stride and said. "Yeah, well they didn't have those things when I was human. I'm a lot older than you guys are, you know."

"Jasper, I'm eight hundred years older than you and even I know what a Rabbit is. Stop trying to justify your being clueless." Tanya said.

"Anyways, guys, it was fun. Tanya and I are going to head home and try some of these toys out. I can't wait to throw one of those nipple clamps on her."

Okay, way too much info there. "See ya guys. Have fun." We waved goodbye as they climbed into their car.

"Alright, Darlin', let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Lingerie shopping. I thought maybe you could model everything for me in the dressing room." He winked.

Ooh! This is definitely gonna be a lot of fun.

_**One Week Later...**_

**Riley's POV**

Living with the Cullens for the last six weeks has been a breath of fresh air for me. I no longer felt as if I was responsible for everyone's well-being and, as a result, I was a lot more relaxed. Victoria was bonding with Esme and enjoyed being doted upon. She needed that kind of attention more than anybody, especially considering the hell she went through in the past. Irina and Laurent were enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the Cullens. Apparently, the Denalis were a little more subdued and not as vibrant as the Cullens were. Carlisle and I were getting along great. He and I had a lot in common and we would spend a lot of time together discussing everything from politics to women. The only problem was Bella. I missed my baby sister like crazy, but she and Jasper were rarely here.

At first, they agreed to spend the weekends with us—come home on Friday and leave on Monday, but soon that turned into two nights, then one night, and now it was at the point where Carlisle or I had to ask them to spend a night hanging out with us. I did still meet Bella in Boston for dinner one night a week for our alone time, but I really missed living with her and watching her grow. Vicky, Irina, and Laurent missed her too. Vicky and Irina ran to the Penthouse one night to see her one night, but apparently Bella and Jasper weren't there. This has happened a few times to all of us, actually. I have a feeling that they have a secret hideaway of their own somewhere that they're keeping to themselves. I won't say anything to anyone, though. If Jasper and Bella feel they need privacy then they deserve it. They don't need everyone intruding on their lives. I just wish they'd spend a little more time with us.

Meeting Edward, Alice, and Amanda for the first time last week was fucked up. I've never met three more selfish people in my life. When Alice and Amanda called Bella a greedy whore, I had a hard time keeping myself in check. I almost broke the cardinal rule and hit a woman for the first time in my life—if you could even call them women. I finally lost it when that prick Edward offered to "comfort Bella" on his lap. After what he did, he wanted to actually put my sister on his lap and fondle her? I didn't like how he was looking at her like she was something to eat and he had a boner in his pants. Fuck no! I used a tackle from my football days and sent the fucker flying. I was about to kick the shit out of him when my wife did some kind of fancy maneuver and ripped half of his limbs off. She threw me for an even bigger loop when her personality did a complete 180 and she pulled some kind of vampire control tactic on that bitch Alice. When I asked her about it later, she explained that the bite she gave Alice was called a "master's bite" and replaced her sire's bite and put the evil bitch fully under Vicky's control. Apparently, it's all a matter of placement, amount of venom, and intimidation that makes the mark effective. I got a little worried there because I thought any old vampire could walk up and bite over a sire's mark and control that vampire. She told me not to worry—that it was actually not that simple. Besides, only a handful of vampires knew how to correctly administer the bite. Phew!

Today, Edward and Amanda were coming over to stay for the weekend so they could supposedly apologize and get to know the family more. Irina and Laurent, as well as Char and Peter, took off for the Denalis. We called Jasper and Bella, but they said they couldn't be here until tomorrow because they were off in Provincetown playing tourist. Since Bella wasn't going to be here, we all had to keep sex at the forefront of our minds so that Edward wouldn't be able to get anything off of us. Oh, here they come. This should be interesting.

"Father, Mother. We're home." Edward's brooding voice sounded through the entryway.

"Hello Edward, Amanda." Carlisle greeted. The rest of us merely nodded from our seats in the living room.

Edward and Amanda sat down next to each other on an open loveseat. "Ahem, we'd like to start by apologizing for our past behavior. Um...where are Bella and Jasper?"

"They're sightseeing in Provincetown." Carlisle stated. "They'll be here tomorrow."

Emmett and Rosalie both snorted after hearing where they were.

Edward's jaw dropped and gulped. "Why would Bella be swinging from a tree in the nude?"

We all looked at Emmett then. Rosalie smacked Emmett on the back of the head. "Dunno." He said.

"I don't think so Emmett. I saw an image of Bella and Rosalie swinging naked from a tree branch in your mind. Where would you get such a foul image?"

Smack! Rosalie suddenly slapped Edward across the face. "How dare you look at my body!"

"Rose, I didn't mean to, the image was in your husband's mind." Edward said.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Edward, you were apologizing..."

"Uh, yes, well we'd like to apologize for the way we acted when we came home. You have to understand that Alice manipulated us."

"I'm sorry, Edward. That doesn't sound like an apology to me." I said. "It sounds like you're justifying your behavior. You and your wife called my sister derogatory names. No one told you to call her those things. When you were in Forks, did she ever give you any reason for you to think that she was after your money or sexually promiscuous in any way?"

"No, she didn't." Edward admitted.

"Darling. You told me yourself that she was a prostitute after your money and she was always trying to have her way with you. Did you lie to me?" Amanda said.

"Yes and no. Bella was never a prostitute, but she was always trying to go further than what's respectable for an unmarried couple." Edward admitted.

"Edward, Bella was a horny red-blooded seventeen year old when you knew her. She was attracted to you and she wanted more than a quick peck on the lips. It's not her fault that you're stuck in a different century." Rose defended her sister.

"Well that proves it then. She may not be a prostitute, but the girl is lascivious. She obviously needs the Lord in her life." Amanda said.

"Um, excuse me, from this moment on I don't want you speaking, breathing, or even thinking about Bella. I don't have any problems snapping your fucking neck. I've done it before and I sure as hell am willing to do it again." Rose said to a petrified Amanda.

"Bu...bu...but can't you see? The girl needs saving. The Lord can bring her salvation." Amanda said bravely.

"The only one that needs saving is you, Amanda. Let's talk about how you married Edward so you could get at the family's money!" Rose said, clearly in protective mode.

"That was just a misunderstanding. Besides, Edward explained to me that Carlisle and Esme were overreacting about not setting me up financially."

"No, Amanda, we were not." Esme said. "Like my husband said to you before, you are Edwards wife and therefore not our responsibility. Now may be a good time to bring up some new guidelines that we've set for our children, Edward. Amanda, of course is your wife, so she will not be subject to any of our rules. What you do with her is your problem."

"New guidelines, mother?" Edward asked.

"Edward, we understand that you will be changing Amanda at the end of the summer?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, we've planned it for the first of September."

"Yes, well, understandably, you'll need at least one year for Amanda to become accustomed to being a newborn. We'd like to discuss what happens after this year. Since Riley has joined the family, I've been doing some hard thinking and I've realized that I've been too indulgent with you children. Everyone in Riley's family has either worked or gone to school or in Irina's case volunteered. They've all set goals for themselves and worked hard to try and accomplish them." Carlisle paused then continued. "You're already aware what some members of this family will be doing in the fall. I'd like to add that Charlotte will be attending college at the University of New Hampshire together with the other Denali girls. Peter will be working alongside Rose in her shop and Emmett will still be at MIT. We will be expecting Alice to work this fall since she just graduated again this spring and we'll be expecting the same from you next year."

"Work, father? Surely, you must be mistaken." He scoffed.

"Edward, you have at least eight degrees that I know of plus two medical degrees. There must be some kind of work that you can do to earn an honest day's paycheck. If not, Edward, I can settle a lump sum of a half a million dollars on you in addition to what you already have in the bank so you can find your own way separate from the family. In that case, all credit cards will be cancelled."

I've never thought a vampire could become green, but I think I saw a tint of it in Edward's face. The fucker was actually panicking because he has to work. "Father, a half a million dollars doesn't go very far these days."

I can't believe the twerp just said that. A half a million dollars doesn't go very far? That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard. "Are you shitting me? I make sixty-two thousand dollars a year as a psychologist at Children's Hospital. Laurent makes half that amount. Those amounts, Edwards are before taxes and benefits are taken out so really we managed to support our family with less than seventy-five thousand dollars per year with both our salaries combined—and that's with Bella and Vicky in college. You need to man up and get with reality. Money doesn't grow on trees and it's time you earned your keep."

I might have stunned Edward into silence because he was in some kind of a stupor. "Edward, darling. Edward, are you okay? Talk to me please." Amanda tried desperately to get him to speak. "Dr. Cullen, is Edward okay?'

"He's just had a hard dose of reality today. He should be fine in a few hours. Maybe one of you boys can carry Edward to his room."

I volunteered since I'm the one that managed to stun him. I felt like Obi Wan Kenobi doing some sort of a jedi mind trick—pretty awesome if you ask me. I took Edward to his room at human speed because Amanda was following me. I put him on his sofa and turned to leave. Geez—that girl sure stinks. She smells like kitty litter and some kind of hospital cleaning spray. Ugh. "Thank you so much for carrying my husband in his time of need." She said to me as she eyed my muscles. Oh yuck! Is that her fucking arousal. I think I'm gonna puke! Gross, lets add moth balls to her already putrid cocktail. How does Edward stand it? Get me the fuck out of this room and away from the stink bomb!

"Gotta go!" I said, holding my breath, and rushed out of the house for some fresh air.

_**The Next Day...**_

Bella's coming home, finally. I haven't seen her in over a week and I really miss her. Vicky has been running to the window every five minutes for the last two hours in hopes that Jasper's car will pull up in the driveway. She and Esme have been cooking up a storm all day making everything from brownies to beef stew. If I were still human, I would have devoured the brownies in one go. Damn, they look good. Whenever Sis comes up, they both make enough food so that Bella doesn't have to cook for an entire week.

"Char, what the fuck are you doing?" Vicky asked.

"Language, Vicky." Esme said.

"Sorry, mom." Curtailing our swearing has been one of the harder things to do in this house. We were all used to swearing up a storm at our apartment in Boston—even Bella. In fact, she has the biggest potty mouth in the entire family. Ironically, I noticed that in this family it's Esme that swears the most. She never does it in front of us kids, but when she and Carlisle are in their room talking, I hear more

F-bombs fly out of that woman's mouth than even Peter.

Esme hugged Vicky in acknowledgment and said, "I'll be right back, I have to run to the grocery store for more eggs and Carlisle needs help...um...at the hospital." My mother ran upstairs to change. She came back down wearing stilletos and she had a trench coat closed firmly over her outfit. A little formal for helping Dad out in the hospital if you ask me.

"Um...Mom, the humans are going to wonder why you're wearing a trench coat in the middle of summer." I told her.

"Riley, I'm a vampire. I'm cold. Now, I'm late for my...uh...appointment with Carlisle. Hold down the fort." She gave me a peck on the cheek and was off.

As soon as she was gone, my wife spoke again. "Char, what the fuck are those and why have they taken up the entire freezer?"

"Oh, they're frozen cock pops. They're a surprise for Bella. I asked the bartender at Climax for the recipe. He refused to give it to me at first, but after I blew three cock pops in a row in front of him—he finally relented and gave me the recipe. He tried to get me to go home with him after that, so I told him my jaw was tired. I had to order the molds online, but I got enough of them so we could all have cock pops. Here, try one—tell me if I did a good job?" Char tossed a cock pop to Vicky.

They each put a cock pop in their mouths. Holy shit are they going to...

"What the..." I was about to ask them what they were doing when Peter came up from behind me and clamped his hand over my mouth. He looked at me, shook his head, and shushed me.

Char and Vicky looked at the two of us and got a mischievous glint in their eyes. They, then turned back to each other and took the cock pops all the way into their mouths. "Mmm...they moaned. They slid the cock pops out, then in, then out again. This time they worked their tongues all the way up the length, then down, then up again. They continued doing this over and over again and the tent in my shorts was growing to epic proportions. The women then took their cock pops all the way in their mouths, this time when they slid the cock pops out from the corner of their mouths and trailed it from their jaws down their neck line and finally into their cleavage. They...

**Edward's POV**

...trailed the frozen phalluses all the way back into their mouths and ingested the items all the way down their throats again. They slowly removed the penises and worked their tongues up the length and stopped at the tip. I imagined it was my beautiful Bella servicing me in the nude. I couldn't get the image of her magnificent unclothed body out of my mind ever since Emmett thought about it last night. Bella took my penis and slowly drew circles on the tip with her tongue. She wrapped her full lips back around me, slid me all the way into her mouth until I was touching her throat, looked up into my eyes begging me with her innocent, brown doe eyes and... "Bellaaaaaa!"

"Another spermal expulsion, Edward?" Peter asked me. I looked up to see Charlotte and Vicky with their hands clasped over their mouths, Peter was chuckling, and Riley looked enraged. The worst thing was that, beyond them, in the doorway, stood a feral looking Jasper with his arms wrapped around my Bella who was laughing just as hard as Peter was.

"Really, Edward, you need to learn some control or at least learn to scream your mate's name." Bella said. I was stunned into silence. How could she be so nonchalant about what she just made me do?

"Nah, Bella, screaming Amanda in the throes of passion just doesn't it cut it. You have one of those names that just roll off of your tongue—Bellaaaaaa! Here's what happens, when you say Amanda's name—Aman-duhhhhhh! See it just doesn't have that flow. Plus I can't even imagine her naked, now you on the other hand..."

"Shut the fuck up Peter and quit eye fucking my mate!" Jasper yelled at the offensive joker.

"I'm insulted that you could say those wretched things about my wife's name Peter." I said.

"I'm sorry fucker, but next time you blow your load, think about someone other than Bella. You utter her name like that again and I'm gonna rip your dick off and bury it somewhere in Iceland. Besides, even you know that saying Amanda's name when you cum isn't as effective as screaming Bella's, don't ya?" Peter threatened while chuckling.

"It's not my fault that she did those vile things to me." I said.

"Did what things to you? She and her mate were standing in the doorway while you were ogling my wife and Vicky. Go clean your delusional shit up right now you fucking pervert!" Peter ordered. "We don't need to be smelling your jizz all day!"

I ran to my room at vampire speed. I quickly took a shower to cleanse myself, changed into new clothes, then sat on my sofa and reflected on what Peter had said. Unfortunately, he was correct. I was delusional and not in my right frame of mind. What was I doing imagining my Bella orally pleasuring me? No, she's no longer my Bella. She's Jasper's Bella. She was never as content as she is with Jasper when she was with me.

We did make some fond memories together, though. My favorite memory of Bella was of me reading to Bella as she fell asleep in my arms. Her favorite book was Wuthering Heights. She had a tattered old copy that I wanted to replace, but she refused to let me saying that the book was something that her mother purchased for her, on a whim, at a yard sale and it was her most treasured item. I could respect that. Her sentimentality was one of the most beautiful things about her. Her intelligence was another. Earning a full academic scholarship for a master's degree at Harvard was no easy feat. I could see her achieving her goals though. Bella was always driven when it came to academics.

I made my way back into the living room where everyone was gathered. I was determined to make amends with my family and hopefully find some acceptance for Amanda as well. Bella and Jasper were reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban together. She was sitting on his lap and he was holding the book with his arms wrapped around her, while she turned the pages. I wish it was me holding her like that. Never again will that happen, though. I have my Amanda. Unfortunately, the only thing that she ever wants to read is the Bible. To be honest, I wasn't surprised when she applied to Harvard University for a master's degree in theology and they turned her down. My mate was not well rounded in her views. She had been told the same thing, countless times by many professors while at Dartmouth, as well. I tended to agree with them.

Just then, Rose and Emmett walked into the house. "Sissy! You're here—how was Provincetown?" My big hulking brother asked Bella as he drew her into his arms for a hug.

"It was fun." Bella shrugged.

"Just fun, Bells, what did you see?" Riley asked.

She looked up at Jasper and they both responded, "Trees."

Rose and Emmett clutched their stomachs and started laughing. Clearly, they knew something that the rest of us didn't know.

"I didn't realize that you were such a nature girl, Bella." I said.

This time Bella and Jasper joined in with Rose and Emmett in their raucous laughter.

"Um...yeah, I like climbing trees and stuff." Bella said.

"What are you four hiding?" Vicky asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, why would we be hiding anything?" Jasper said defensively.

"My gift tells me otherwise. Spill." Riley said.

Gift, what gift? Riley has a gift?

Jasper looked at Bella who nodded to him. "We were at the Surfside Fantasy Suites in Provincetown. Rose and Bella found the place that night they took off."

"More like ran into it." Rose chuckled.

"The Surfside Fantasy Suites? What kind of name for a hotel is that. You four better dish now." Charlotte demanded, her interest peaking. Frankly, I was a little curious myself.

"It's a hotel with themed suites. We stayed in The Jungle, but while we were there we were able to take a look at some of the other rooms. The ones we saw were called Biker Heaven, the Dragon's Lair, the Wild West, Arabian Nights, the Cave, and the Dungeon. They have more rooms too. Those are just the ones we saw.

"You fucking assholes!" Peter raged. "You four were gonna keep that little piece of heaven to yourselves, weren't ya. Didn't want to let the rest of us in on your fun, did ya?"

"You know something. I knew something was up the moment those two," Char pointed at Bella and Jasper, "said they were gonna go play tourist in Provincetown. When has Jasper ever been into sightseeing. There had to be something more drawing them there. Yep. They were getting their kink on at a wild love hotel and kept it from us. I'm hurt."

"Aw...Char, we just wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while. Don't be hurt. We can all go back there next weekend if you like." Jasper said.

"You know how kinky I am, how could you keep a place like that from me?" I thought she was kidding at first, but I think Charlotte was actually hurt. She had actual venom tears in her eyes. Bella went to Char and drew her into her arms.

"Hey, how about we all go next weekend and stay in Biker Heaven. It sleeps five couples and there's a twelve person hot tub and a motorcycle in each bedroom. They also have funky heart shaped beds in each of the rooms." Bella looked into Charlotte's eyes pleadingly with her doe eyes. Oh no! I have to control myself. I become so aroused with that one look. Why in the world would they need to place a motorcycle in each bedroom? "Come on Char...please? They have a pool table in the middle of the living room..."

"Okay. Next weekend we're all going to Provincetown and getting our inner biker chicks on! Peter and I get first dibs on the pool table." Charlotte announced brightly. "Who else is in?"

I didn't realize that Peter and Charlotte were interested in billiards. I'm quite proficient myself. Maybe that'll be a good way to break the ice with them since, apparently, they're now part of our family.

"We're in, but I want to try the Dungeon." Victoria said. Somehow, that didn't surprise me at all. I know she's Bella's sister in law, but that woman terrifies me.

"Let's tell the others, I bet Tanya and Rex are in." Bella said then turned to me. "Um...would you like to join us, Edward?"

"Erm...no thank you, Bella, themed suites may be a little too advanced for my wife and me still, but thank you for the invitation." I said. Bella nodded in acknowledgment. It was very gracious of her to extend an invitation to us on their weekend of debauchery.

Everyone soon went back to whatever they had been doing. Bella and Jasper once again assumed their positions reading. Riley was hard at work reading a book on behavioral health, occasionally stopping to highlight a passage. Victoria was busy piecing together some jewelry with Charlotte, and Peter was actually reading a newspaper. Rose and Emmett went to their rooms and started vigorously copulating in their room. I wonder where Amanda is? I haven't seen nor heard from her in two hours. I should probably go look for.

"Done." Jasper shut the book they were reading closed. "Goblet of Fire?"

"Okay, I'll go grab it." Bella said as she walked up the stairs to her room to collect the book.

Suddenly, Jasper clutched his chest. "Bella? Are you okay up there?"

She came bounding down the stairs two at a time. "They're gone, Jasper. They're gone. My books are all missing. Even the copy of Wuthering Heights that my mom gave me. Someone's been through our room."

"Maybe, Esme's dusting them. Let's go check the room again, babe." Jasper said as he took my Bella's hand, no his Bella's hand, and walked back upstairs.

"Edward!" I heard Jasper yell after a few moments. Everyone looked up in concern. He came back down into the living room with Bella in tow. "Why the fuck was your mate in our room?"

"I have no idea. I haven't seen her in a couple of hours. I swear I don't know where she is or why she would be in your room. Regardless, I apologize that she trespassed upon your privacy." I said.

"He's telling the truth." Riley confirmed.

"Your mate's scent is all over our room. She went through everything from our closets to our dresser drawers to our bookshelves. I even smelled her on our bed. I'm not happy about this Edward. All of Bella's books and CDs are missing, as well as, her iPod."

"I'll find her and return the items to you immediately. I apologize for her behavior." I said and went to seek out my wife. This turn of events was quite embarrassing. Amanda was not conducting herself in a ladylike manner. The family would not take too kindly to her blatant invasion of privacy.

I walked through the hallway of Esme's 30,000 square foot house and searched through every room and corridor to try and find her. Suddenly, I smelled something burning outside. Fire! I have to inform everyone and call 911. I ran back into the living room where everyone was already commenting on the burning smell. "I smell something burning. I think it may be a brush fire, it's been dry out and this is a woodsy area." I said.

"Alright, let's go check this out. We need to see how close the fire is to the house. If it's small, we might be able to contain it." Riley said.

Riley and I ran outside and we were soon greeted by the source of the fire. It wasn't a brush fire. It was my wife. "Why?" I asked her just as the others, including Carlisle and Esme, joined us.

"The girl needs saving from the Devil, Edward. These," she pointed to Bella's books, CDs, and iPod, "are one of many factors contributing to her downward spiral into the world of sin and devil worship."

I looked over at Bella who was sobbing uncontrollably. Her books, CDs, and iPod were all burning to cinders and there was no way any of us could reach in and grab them for her without it being fatal to us. My wife, then did the unthinkable, she tossed the final book into the pyre. It was Wuthering Heights. Bella's treasure. "Nooooooo!" Bella and I screamed at the same time. "Whyyyyyyyy?"

Amanda answered by quoting from the Bible. "Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." (Acts 19:19-20, King James Version)

Everyone, including myself, was standing around looking shocked—clearly, unsure what to make of Amanda's act of destruction. Bella was shaking and sobbing. My wife then had the nerve to speak to Bella, "Walk with me and I will be your salvation. Together we will speak to Jesus and he will save you from yourself."

No longer able to control herself, Bella ran to Amanda and punched her in the nose. Amanda fell immediately on her bottom and Bella jumped on top of her and started hitting her with everything she had.

"Edward! Edward! Help me please!" Amanda screamed.

I couldn't get my body to respond to her. I was ashamed and furious at Amanda and felt that Bella's rage was justified. Carlisle finally pulled Bella off of Amanda. He tenderly held her and tried to calm her whispering words of comfort to her before gingerly passing her to Jasper. Carlisle was about to speak, but I could no longer hold my anger in.

"What gives you the right to play judge and jury over anyone Amanda? Who gave you the right to walk into someone's private chambers, go through their belongings, and destroy them?"

"Edward, darling, I was doing this for our family. I was trying to save them from HER." Amanda pointed at Bella.

"I don't want to hear anymore of your bullshit on salvation! Those books...those books never hurt anyone. Those books were important to Bella. Each one held a special memory for her. The last book that you tossed so carelessly in the fire, that was Wuthering Heights, her greatest treasure. It can never be replaced! Do you realize it was a gift from her mother? It was the book we used to read together in Forks. Those books were what gave Bella her brilliant mind. They were what made her beautiful..." I lost it, then. I broke down and started sobbing. I was angry. Angry at Amanda. Angry at Alice. Angry at myself. My greatest transgression was leaving Bella and I would pay. Pay for the rest of my life. I was stuck in a marriage to a woman that I realized I have nothing in common with. Instinctually, I knew that she was my mate and since I was raised to believe that marriage was forever—I was stuck with her. I would be forced to watch my brother with the one woman that I love for the rest of my existence. My life sucked!

Bella was still sobbing and Jasper had her cradled in his arms, trying desperately to calm her. "Shh...baby girl...Shh...I'll make it better...I promise...Shh..." I could hear him cooing. It seemed as if nothing could console Bella. Riley was standing with Jasper trying to talk to Bella. Victoria was running her fingers through Bella's hair. Rose looked deadly. She was standing over my wife with Emmett and Esme both holding her back. Charlotte had a similar murderous expression in her eyes and Peter was sitting on her to keep her restrained.

Carlisle was checking Amanda for injuries. She's suffered a broken nose and a broken rib, Edward." My father said. Carlisle, then, set her nose and taped her ribs immediately. "Edward." my wife called. "I've suffered extensive injuries at the hands of that beast. I think we need to sue her."

I saw red. "You'll do no such thing, Amanda. You brought this onto yourself Amanda. If you take it upon yourself to take legal action against a member of my family, I will divorce you—in which case I would have to kill you for your knowledge of our world." I paused to see my wife staring at me wide-eyed in fear. "We are going home now where you will sit and think about your actions today. I will not have you behaving in such a reprehensible manner. Clearly, I was mistaken in thinking that your father would talk some sense into you. Now, stand up and get in the car."

"Edward, why are you acting this way? Edward, you're not really thinking of divorcing me are you. Edward, I don't..."

"Shut up and get in the fucking car now, Amanda!" I roared. I shocked even myself with my swearing. I then turned to my family. "I apologize. Truly, I do. Bella, I know that those books, especially your treasure, can never be replaced. Please, please tell me how I can make it up to you. I will replace what I can, but I'm fully aware that the sentimental value of some items can never be replaced. I take full responsibility for my wife's behavior and I am sorry. I'll be taking her away from here now. Again, I'm sorry." I then got in my Volvo and drove away before anyone could say anything.

I couldn't even bring myself to look at Amanda. I was beyond furious. She kept trying to talk to me and she was wailing like a banshee in the passenger seat. Finally, I had had enough. I used a quote from her beloved Bible to shut her up. "Wife, I'm going to ask you to listen to this passage from 1 Timothy 2:12. 'I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.' This shall be your mantra if you want our marriage to succeed."

She was about to open her mouth, then looked at the steely expression in my eyes and promptly closed it. Good. I had absolutely nothing to say to her and I certainly did not want to hear her incessant chatter.

I had no idea how I was going to make it up to my family. With this incident, Amanda, at the very least, would be unwelcome in the Cullen household. I didn't blame them at all. I only hoped that they would allow me entrance into their family again.

Bella was another matter all together. I was upset that I allowed Alice to initially taint my mind with negative thoughts about her, however I only had myself to blame for continuing to paint her into something she wasn't. The fact is that I was still in love with her. I know that I can no longer be with her in that way—we are both mated to different people, after all. I just hoped that she would allow me to be a part of her life—as a friend. Things will never be the same, but we could still meet occasionally to discuss a book or talk about current events. I'll do whatever it takes to earn her friendship again and I'll work hard to control my lustful thoughts about her. She is absolutely stunning. That image of Bella in the nude, swinging from a tree will forever be imprinted in my brain. Oh no! Here I go again. My wife is sitting right next to me too. Oh God! "Ahhhh...Bellaaaa!"

**So, are you all ready to take a hatchet to Amanda? What did you think of the lesson in economics Riley gave to Edward? What about the dose of reality Edward got from Peter? Most important, are you all glad that Jasper has finally been put out of his misery regarding the Rabbit? I'd love to hear from you. Let me know what you think and I promise to get back to you.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Wow! Thank you very much for your super reviews, alerts, and faves. I so enjoy hearing from each and every one of you. I understand you all want to rip apart Amanda, please form a line to the left and take a number. Now-for your reward this time-Jasper will lick you.**

**This chapter contains swearing, sex, faking, licking, violence, police action, and the opinion of a certified dolt. I apologize for that. FYI, what happens in Provincetown, stays in Provincetown-I hope. **

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**This story is intended for mature readers 18+ only.**

_**HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! EAT TURKEY, WATCH FOOTBALL, DREAM ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE VAMPIRE!**_

**Amanda's POV**

I have been sitting in silence for the past week reflecting on my husband's words. As his wife, I am bound by the sanctity of our marriage vows, that I made in front of the Lord our God, to obey my husband's command from 1 Timothy 2:12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." My husband has forbidden me to speak unless I am spoken to, further he has prohibited all contact with my family or with Alice. I do not understand why I am the one being chastised since I'm the only one that can see that Bella creature for what she is—a whore sent straight from the devil.

Edward went off the deep end after I burned the immoral girl's licentious books and music in the name of God. He actually started crying for her, saying that I burned a book that was an irreplaceable gift from her mother. As far as I'm concerned, her wanton parents are who made the girl the whore she is today. I tried to tell him this, but he ordered me into the car while taking the Lord's name in vain. He then laid down the law in the name of God, by quoting a Bible verse. Later, whilst still driving home, my husband screamed Bella's name in agony. I will listen to him, though, because I will not be a disgrace to my family or in the eyes of my Savior by disobeying my husband, or worse—by becoming a divorced woman.

There is one issue that is truly bothering me, though. It's the fact that Bella seems to have found a way to control the Cullen's and their finances. I was shocked when we were presented with our new identities. I was looking forward to becoming Mrs. Edward Cullen—daughter by marriage to the illustrious Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Instead, we were forced to take Edward's real last name—Masen. I was further shocked when I realized that Carlisle and Esme acknowledged that whore as a daughter, but not me. They went so far as to say that I was not under Cullen jurisdiction and refused to allow me to call them anything, but Dr. and Mrs. Cullen while that harlot refers to them as Daddy and Mommy. Ooh! She makes me so angry. How can they be so blind and not see her for the hussy that she really is.

My not being set up financially by the Cullens immediately has put a real damper on my plans with my father. We had plans to build the biggest Baptist ministry in New England. We even had negotiations in the works to televise my father's riveting sermons across the United States so that he could bring salvation to the millions of sinners in our country. I made my father so proud when I found and married Edward Cullen. My father told me that Edward was a man of great worth in the eyes of our Lord. When Edward told me that he was a vampire, I was initially shocked, however, I realized that God would never send anyone without true value to me as I have been his loyal servant since birth. As soon as my husband concludes my penance of silence, I will ask Edward to write a check for the five million dollars in start-up funds my father needs to start his new ministry. I will also demand that he ask the Cullens for a black credit card in my name so that I may freely contribute to my father's ministry. Until then, I will silently reflect on my actions as he has requested.

**Bella's POV**

It's been a week since Edward's psychotic wife destroyed my books and music. I've been going over it in my mind over and over and I just can't seem to find any justification for her actions. Why did she have to target me and my books? She even took my cherished copy of Wuthering Heights and just flung it into the fire as if it were nothing. Well, I suppose to her it was nothing, but to me it meant a great deal. It was the start of my love for reading, it was a book that my mother and I both loved, it was even the book that I happened to be reading when I first met the Cullens. Edward and I had many deep discussions about the book, it was probably one of the few good memories that I had of him.

Edward surprised me that day. He was furious with his wife and he even broke down when she destroyed my copy of Wuthering Heights. I'm not surprised, though, Edward's always had a deep love of literature and music and for his wife to destroy all that he cherished must have been a huge punch in the gut. Jasper and Riley both told me that he's truly remorseful. Riley thinks I should give him a chance to redeem himself. He's been counseling Edward this week at his Hanover home. Apparently, Carlisle suggested it and Edward's request Riley to come. Jasper, of course, is totally against me having any kind of contact with Edward, stating that he felt an enormous amount of lust coming from him and that he doesn't trust him further than he can throw.

I haven't replaced any of the destroyed books yet. Jasper keeps wanting to take me to the bookstore, but I haven't felt like it. I've actually been cooped up in our house in Cambridge, refusing to speak to anyone, but Jasper or Riley. Things were gonna change tomorrow, though. We were going to Provincetown to the Surfside Fantasy Suites. Plans fell through for all of us to stay in Biker Heaven because a group of Hell's Angels had already booked the room for the weekend. Jasper and I were secretly jumping for joy because we wanted a little more privacy and Jasper wanted to try out the king sized bed encased in the oversized wagon that was in the bedroom. It worked out that we would be staying in the Wild West, Peter and Char and Rex and Tanya were staying in the Cave, Riley and Vicky were doing the Dungeon, Irina and Laurent and Kate and Garrett were staying in the Jungle, and Rose and Emmett were trying out Arabian Nights.

Ding dong. Someone's at our door. "Babe, are you expecting something in the mail?" Jasper asked me.

"No, I haven't ordered anything. It's probably a politician going door to door, groveling for votes." I said. "It is an election year."

"You're probably right. I'll send him away." My mate said as he went to answer the door.

"Hi guys." It wasn't a politician, it was my brother.

"How did you find us?" I sighed disappointedly. I wanted to keep this place private for as long as possible. Guess it's all over now.

"I followed you home the other day. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I promise. You have a nice place." Riley commented.

"Thanks." Jasper and I both said.

"Listen, I'm not here to cause any trouble or to beg you to come home. I just wanted to make sure you're okay and drop this off." Riley handed me a gift bag. "It's from Edward."

"Well, why don't you have a seat and visit for a while since you're here anyway." Jasper said inviting Riley in and closing the door behind him.

"Aren't you gonna open it, Bells?" Riley asked.

"Sure." I said, my curiosity getting the better of me. I reached into the bag and pulled out an envelope first. I opened it and decided to read it silently to myself.

_My Dearest Isabella,_

_Words cannot express how sorry I am for my wife's behavior the other day. I had no idea that she was capable of behaving in such an injurious manner. I take full responsibility for her actions and please be assured that I have taken measures to ensure that she will never harm you or your belongings again._

_I would also like to apologize for my behavior in the past and more recently. Please, please know that I only broke up with you that day in the woods so that you would remain safe and away from our world. Alice, as you well know, manipulated me into thinking that this would be the best choice for you. That being said, I take full responsibility for my inability to think for myself and for my cruel way of ending our relationship. I also want to say sorry for my recent behavior towards you. The derogatory terms I used towards you were my muddled way of justifying why I left you. I couldn't admit to myself that I still loved you. I love you, Isabella Swan. I've always loved you. I know that we are now mated with others now and that this admission comes too late, however I needed you to know how much you really mean to me._

_I'd also like to take this opportunity, to express my deepest sympathy to you. I've learned from your brother, Riley, that your parents were taken from you almost immediately after we left Forks. I know how much they meant to you and I'm sorry that you had to suffer through so much tragedy. Please know that I had no knowledge of such tragic events occurring. I would have saved your parents if I did know. I'm happy that you had your brother, Victoria, Irina, and Laurent to care for you and make sure that you grew into the beautiful young woman that you are today._

_Bella, I am aware that simply replacing your lost items cannot make up for the priceless value of those items that you held dear to your heart. That being said, I hope you will at least allow me to replace some of the items you lost. I have enclosed in this gift bag, a $5000 gift card to Border's Bookstore, a Kindle, an iPod touch, and $1000 worth of iTunes cards for you to use at your leisure. I've also enclosed a copy of __Wuthering Heights__. It is an original, first edition copy, published in 1843 by Emily Bronte under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. I am replacing the book, not only for you, but selfishly for myself. I had fond memories of your old copy that my wife so carelessly flung into the fire and I was devastated by it's loss. I remember reading it together in your room and having heated discussions about that book and many others. My only hope is that one day, you and I can become friends enough to have those discussions, once again._

_I've taken up enough of your time, Bella. Once again please let me apologize on behalf of my wife and especially myself. Enjoy your time this weekend with Jasper. He's a good man and he deserves a wonderful woman such as yourself._

_Yours Truly,_

_Edward Masen_

I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I wasn't expecting this letter or the gifts at all. Jasper and Riley were looking at me, concern etched on their faces.

"Bells, you okay?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting any of this." I said.

"He didn't write anything hurtful in his letter, did he?" Jasper asked curiously. I know that he wanted me to read the letter out loud, but that wasn't going to happen. This was between me and Edward.

"No, Jasper. The letter was quite nice, actually."

"Well, then why the hell are you crying?"

"I wasn't expecting it, that's all. I'm going to put everything away now." I made my way into our bedroom and started finding places for my new items and for the letter.

"I want to see the letter." Jasper demanded.

"No, it's personal." I said simply.

"You're my mate Bella. Your ex shouldn't be writing letters to you that make you cry. I want to see what the fucker wrote!"

"Jasper, just because you're my mate doesn't mean that I can't have any secrets from you. This letter is between me and Edward. I'll tell you this much—he wasn't a fucker at all when he wrote it."

"Oh, so now you're defending him. Is Edward who you want Bella?"

"Stop flying off the handle Jasper! You're acting like a fucking neanderthal."

"Bella, you're my mate. You shouldn't be keeping any secrets from me. You should be upfront and honest with me at all times."

"Oh, so we're gonna play that game? Okay, then let's do this my mate. What about the fact that before you were with me you were cheating on your wife and fucking every female vampire you knew. Some of whom, I know very well." Jasper had a shocked expression on his face. "Yes, you told me about how Char would help you with your little problem, but what about Kate, Irina, and Tanya. Did you not think I'd find out? What about the girl in Mexico named Gabriela or the one in Philadelphia named Amber? Are you still in touch with them Jasper? How the fuck can I trust you when you couldn't even stay faithful to your own wife?"

"Bella, that was all in the past before I met you. This is different. You're keeping something from me that's relevant now."

"Fine Jasper. Read the letter, if it'll make you happy." I threw the letter at him and slammed our door shut. I saw my brother and ran into his arms for a hug. "Take me somewhere to think, Riley." I said to him. He nodded and we both left.

An hour later we were in Amherst at the Denali's home. I ran upstairs to my room without speaking to anyone and locked the door. I had been holding my tears in for the whole ride up and now was the time for me to release them. I heard Riley downstairs explaining to everyone that I needed to be left alone. True to their word, the Denalis respected my privacy and allowed me time to think.

The letter from Edward was a surprise. It was, perhaps, the greatest gift he ever gave me. It was the gift of closure. Edward had apologized for everything he had ever done and in essence given me his blessing to love Jasper. Of course, I didn't need his blessing, but it was nice to know that I had it anyway. Edward had also said that he still loved me, but that he understood that it was never meant to be because he and I were both mated to others. The only thing that he was hoping for at this point was my friendship. I intended to give it to him too. We'd start slowly, of course, but perhaps at one point we could become good friends again.

A few hours later, I heard a knock on my window. It was Jasper and he was completely naked and looked feral.

I shut the drapes to the window and he continued to knock on the glass. "Open the fucking window now, my mate!"

"No way. I refuse to talk to you until you're calm."

"I am calm!" He growled.

"Jasper, you're balanced on my window sill, naked, and growling at me. How can you call that calm? Why are you naked anyway?"

"I got into a fight with a black bear."

"And what, the bear ripped your clothes off?"

"Something like that. I needed to work through my aggression so I provoked him. He turned out to be a tough fucker and actually gave me a pretty good run for my money. By the time I was able to subdue him he had clawed at most of my clothes. They were kind of just hanging on me so I chucked them and ran here naked."

I couldn't help, but chuckle.

"Do you love him Bella?" Jasper sounded like he was about to cry.

"Who?"

"Edward."

I opened the drapes back up to see my mate's desperate face. "No Jasper, I love you—only you—always you." I opened up the window and let him in. He immediately grabbed me and started removing my clothes. He was licking my body from head to toe in an attempt to scent me. Jasper's vampire instincts had taken hold over him and there was nothing I could do to stop him so I just let him go.

He carried me bridal style to the bed and began rubbing his cold body all over me. He turned me over onto my stomach and continued licking me. Inch by inch, he covered me with his scent. His tongue bathed every curve and crevice of my body. He licked from behind my ear, down my jawline, finally pausing at my jugular. He began inhaling my scent deeply and sucking on my neck as if he were giving me a hickey. "Jasper. Jasper! You need to stay away from my neck, baby. I'm not ready to be changed."

He growled at me and flipped me over so that I was flat on my back. Jasper continued with his scenting—pausing this time at the apex of my thighs and inhaling deeply. "Open your legs for me, my mate."

I immediately did as I was told. Who was I to argue with him? This time he carefully licked every fold of my pussy—causing me to shudder and moan. He was relentless in his ministrations. He slid his tongue over my clit and started licking—slowly at first, then faster and faster causing me to pant in desperation. He moved his tongue back over my slit and started sucking and licking while circling his thumb on my clit. "Jasper...oh my God...ah...Jas..."

"Cum Bella. Cum on my tongue!"

"Jasperrrrrr!" I screamed as I shuddered to my climax with my mate latched on to my pussy. Jasper moved back up to face me—kissing me tenderly on the lips.

"I got scared." He admitted. "I thought you wanted him back. I felt your emotions when you were reading his letter and you were sending out waves of joy, gratitude, and hope. The hope is what frightened me—I thought you were hoping to get back together with him."

"Stop Jasper." I said. "Did you read the letter?"

"No, I wanted to, but I couldn't. It's his letter to you." He handed Edward's letter back to me.

"Jasper, I really think that you need to read it. This time I'm giving you permission so it's okay. I want you to read it." I handed the letter back to him and Jasper quickly read it.

"He still loves you Bella."

"Yeah, I know." I looked up at Jasper's beautiful golden eyes. "He also understands that I'm mated to you and that I'm yours forever. All he wants is my friendship Jasper. That's not a bad thing is it?"

"No, baby, it isn't." Jasper said. "I'm sorry for acting like a caveman today. I should have trusted you more."

"It's okay, Jasper. I'm sorry too—for bringing up those women. What you did in the past should have no bearing on our relationship now. I was just..."

"Jealous?" He finished the sentence for me. Yes, I nodded. "You're right, you know. I shouldn't have cheated on Alice—no matter how much of a crotchety, old bitch she was. I should have just divorced her instead of stringing both of us along for all those years. I knew six months into our marriage that she wasn't the one for me. I'm a fucking asshole and you're right in not trusting me. Just know this Bella. Those women meant nothing to me, they were just a release for me. I know it doesn't make it any better, but you need to know that it was consensual, agreed upon, and there were absolutely no emotional attachments."

I took a deep breath and sighed. Time to open up. "You know that I wasn't a virgin when we met, right?"

"Yeah." He said with a grimace.

"I had two boyfriends after Edward. Blake and Tommy. Blake was a pretentious little shit. Captain of the Debate Team, president of the Future Lawyers of America Club, you know the type. Well, I dated him during my first year of college—kind of reminded me of Edward in a way. He's the one I lost my virginity to. Quit growling Jasper. What's done is done. After a few months, I started realizing how snobby the guy was. He talked down to everyone—my friends, my family, me—it got to the point where Victoria was begging me to let her drain him. I broke up with him at the end of my freshman year and I never looked back. Last I heard, he was attending law school in New York somewhere."

"Can I kill him, Bella?" Jasper asked hopefully. "What's his last name?"

"No Jasper, you may not kill him and I'm not going to tell you his last name. Seriously, it's not like he ever stalked me or anything. We broke up and that was the end. It was actually pretty clean as far as break ups are concerned."

"Okay, but you mentioned a guy named Tommy. Who's he?"

I took a deep breath. This was going to be a lot harder because, technically, Tommy and I never really broke up, per se. "Tommy was a different story, Jasper. I met him in the middle of my sophomore year and we hit it off instantly. He was a frat boy and a party animal. He was on the lacrosse team and he was a lot of fun. We had the same group of friends and we all hung out together. We dated until the end of junior year, then we became friends."

"Why did you guys break up?" Jasper asked.

"We realized that we were better off as friends." I said. I figured I won't tell him about the fringe benefits that went on all of last year.

"You're hiding something from me. I can feel it." Fuck. Empath. Holy shit. I just realized that my shield doesn't work against Jasper too. Between him and Riley, I'll never be able to tell even the smallest white lie.

"Okay, you have to promise to stay calm." Jasper nodded at me encouragingly. I inhaled another deep breath before blurting out. "Tommy and I were friends with benefits during our senior year of college."

Jasper had a ferocious scowl on his face. "What do you mean by friends with benefits?" He asked through his clenched teeth.

"I mean that we had sex, no strings attached." I said.

"Just when the fuck did this arrangement end, Bella?"

This was gonna be fucked up. I really didn't want to tell him. I was actually supposed to meet Tommy that night I first met Jasper at Climax. "Why does it matter, Jasper? I'm with you now. It's not like we're ever going to get together again."

"I need to know, Bella. When did this arrangement end?"

I looked down at my toes because I couldn't really look in Jasper's eyes. "Um...it kind of just ended on it's own when I met you."

"Bella, there was a guy named Tommy who was one of the groomsmen at your friend's wedding. Was that him?"

"Yes." I admitted. Jasper turned his back to me and started inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. It was almost as if he was trying to center himself so that he would remain calm. Meanwhile, I was left staring at his perfectly firm ass and getting more and more aroused as each second passed. Stop it Bella! Stop it! This is a serious moment.

Jasper turned back around, took my hands, and gently stood me up so that I was face to face with him. "Bella, I'm glad you told me now rather than later. I'm not gonna flip out on you darlin' cause I don't have any right to. All of this happened in your past and who am I to judge you? Like you said to me, what you did in the past has no bearing on our relationship today." He then reached over to the bookshelf and turned on the radio that was propped atop it. A slow song started streaming out of the speakers.

"Dance with me, Bella." He said.

So we danced. The room was lit only by the moonlight gleaming through the window. We swayed to the beat of the music, occasionally stopping for a kiss, all the while holding each other close. After a few minutes, Jasper carried me to the bed and we made love for the first time. There was no rough sex—only tenderness. There was no kinkiness at all, just slow, steady, beautiful lovemaking—solidifying our relationship and proving our love for each other.

_**The next day...**_

We were all sitting in a divebar called Wet Willy's in Provincetown. Both sets of parents opted to stay home and enjoy some privacy in their own homes. This weekend was a time for all of us to just relax, play a little tourist, then get down and dirty with our mates in our funky hotel rooms. Earlier, the girls decided to do a little shopping while our mates went bar hopping. By the time, we got back—the men were already a little tipsy. Being the only human, I had to eat though, and that's how we ended up at Wet Willy's. Supposedly they have the best burgers in Provincetown.

It was the strangest phenomenon, I had thirteen vampires watching me while I ate. "Damn that burger looks good." Rex said. Being the newest vampire, he truly missed human food and had yet to try it since his change.

"Want a bite?" I asked, casually.

"Yeah." He said excitedly and took a chomp out of my burger and grabbed a couple of fries while he was at it. Everyone else was chuckling. "Ugh! What the fuck? This tastes like shit! I feel like throwing up."

"Go bring it back up now. Trust me, it gets harder the longer it sits." Riley said. My brother and Vicky ate human food at least once a day while they were living with Charlie and me. They were sort of experts at bringing up human food.

"Bella, why did you offer me a bite?" Rex asked looking sick to his stomach.

"Well, shit, you had to find out sometime, didn't you? You'll have to live vicariously through me like everyone else does, Rex. This burger is really good though and the fries are nice and crispy with just the right amount of salt, too."

"I'm jealous." Rex said as he took off for the bathroom.

"You know, in my day, we didn't have hamburgers. They only became popular in the late 1940's. We used to eat a lot of soups and stews made with beans and bacon. On special occasions, we'd have a roast or sometimes ham with gravy. Food wasn't readily available in supermarkets like they are today so we'd have to hunt for our game. During the war, it was mostly hardtack. We'd go for weeks without any meat at all." Jasper explained.

"I remember hardtack. We called them teeth dullers or reserve ammo. A lot of soldiers would actually break their teeth trying to bite into them." Garrett reminisced. "I remember having to hunt for game too. I was lucky, though, because being from Massachusetts, turkey used to run wild. Plus, we could always go fishing if we couldn't find anything. The Atlantic Ocean was abundant with fish back then."

"You're from Massachusetts?" I asked Garrett.

"Yeah, I'm from Weymouth—back then it wasn't so developed, of course. I remember having to walk from Weymouth to Boston to run errands for my mother."

"Walk?" Riley and I both burst out.

"Didn't you have a horse you could ride or something? That's like 20 miles one way!" Riley had a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Sure, we walked everywhere back then. Most families only had one horse and that was usually meant for the father. 20 miles was nothing. I remember having to walk all the way to the North End to Mr. Revere's shop to get the handle on my mother's silver tea pot repaired. I walked home and turned around the next morning to go pick it up."

"Fuck me!" Riley exclaimed. "I don't think I would have survived back then. I'm so lazy, I used to drive the three miles to work when I lived in Boston."

"Holy crap!" I cried out. "Did you say Mr. Revere as in the Paul Revere?"

"Sure, he was the best silversmith in New England. His house is still standing on North Street—it's a museum now. We can go see it if you like."

"Really? You'll come with me?" I asked Garrett excitedly.

"I'd be honored." He replied.

"This place is pretty hoppin'..." Katie commented. I looked around and there was a decent crowd building. There was an eclectic mix of people in the bar from singles to couples, college students to bikers. I looked over towards the bar and there were two assholes harassing women as they left the bathroom. Twerps.

I finally finished my burger and when the waitress came to take my plate away, we ordered more drinks. Rex, for some reason, ordered a Chocolate Lava Cake. When the waitress brought it back, he had her place it in front of me.

"Eat." He ordered.

"Okay." I said because who was I to refuse chocolate. "Oh yum!"

Rex looked forlorn as he stared at me. "That was my favorite dessert." He sighed. "You're having a Snickers bar later, just to let you know."

"Rex, I'm gonna turn into a ginormous blimp if I eat all this junk food."

"Don't worry, we'll go to the gym and work it out." Laurent said.

"Gee thanks."

An hour later, we were all chatting away about everything and nothing and having the time of our lives. The vampires were all getting nice and toasted and I was a little tipsy myself. "I need to go to the ladies room." I said as I stood up. Oh thank God, there's no line. I did what I needed to do, washed my hands, and just as I was coming around the corner, I was stopped by the drunk assholes that have been harassing women all night.

"Hey, pretty girl, wanna come and hang with us?" Asked a blond guy who looked like he had one too many drinks.

"No, thank you." I said, but his friend blocked my way. "Excuse me, I need to get back to my friends."

"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart." The blond guy said, then reached out and grabbed my arm.

Um...where the fuck are the thirteen vampires that I came in with? Jesus Christ—what's the sense of hanging out with them if they can't even come and rescue you. Oh well, I'm gonna have to take this into my own hands. "Don't touch me you creep!" I shouted and slammed my foot straight into his balls sending the asshole straight to his knees.

"Brad, Brad! Oh my God! Are you okay?" A woman came running up to him from out of nowhere. "You bitch!" She said and clocked me with a left hook across the jaw.

Oh, fuck no. I don't play that game. I matched her punch and nailed her directly in the jaw. She started hollering like a banshee and jumped straight on me. Fuck me. This bitch can fight. I heard someone yell "chick fight" and the entire bar was suddenly in an uproar. Holy crap!

"Bella, roundhouse kick." I heard Laurent yell. Oh yeah, better listen to our resident karate black belt. I knocked the girl down with a roundhouse kick, but her friend helped her up and they both decided to attack me this time. The entire bar was in a frenzy, people were fighting left and right. The vampires couldn't do a thing because they'd end up causing serious injury to people. I was landing punches left and right on both girls and they were doing the same to me too. I heard Laurent calling out instructions, "Low block, Bella! Now, high block! Elbow strike! Back fist the girl on your right!"

Suddenly, Rosalie appeared besides me and whispered, "Bella, we gotta get out of here—the cops are on their way." She gently shoved the two girls, but with her vampire strength it must have felt like a ton of bricks because they were on their asses in an instant. We found a back door, but it was locked so we kicked it open and ran hand in hand through the streets of Provincetown. Rose and I dove into a familiar place—The Lonely Barmaid. Ironically, we were both wearing our "I (heart) Provincetown tank tops that Rose got for us during our first trip here.

"Alice, Amanda—we missed you girls!" Brenda, the woman who took third place in the wet t-shirt contest greeted us. We walked up to the bar and the bartender got out a bottle of Jack Daniels and handed it to Rose. She pointed to her brain and winked, "I remember." She said. Forty-five minutes later, the Lonely Barmaid was rockin'. Rose was dancing on the bar with Brenda. Everyone was hooting and hollering at them. "Amanda, get me another bottle of Jack bitch." My blonde beauty queen sister slurred at me. Best not argue.

The woman behind the bar with the muscles, Grace, handed me another bottle. "Your woman can sure handle her drinks."

"Uh, yeah." I said as I handed Rose the bottle.

Suddenly, Charlotte, Irina, Katie, Tanya, and Vicky walked inside. "Ooh! We're in business tonight!" Grace nudged me. "Check out those hot tickets. Nice round ass on the redhead" She said, pointing to Vicky.

Her partner, Trix, the one who signed Rose and me up for the wet t-shirt contest came up to us and agreed. "I'd like to put a plug in that ass and spank her." She said.

Okay, that was just—I mean it was just—so wrong. I started giggling for some reason and she said, "You like that, don't you Amanda. Does Alice do that to you?"

Rose was suddenly next to me. "Yeah, but my bitch prefers a vibrating plug and a riding crop. Don't you, baby." She said as she kissed my neck.

The five vampires that just walked inside were all staring at us wide eyed. Suddenly, Char got a twinkle in her eye. "How've you been Amanda? Do you remember me from the wedding? I had you screaming my name that night over and over again."

"You two had another woman in bed at your wedding?" Tish, the woman, who initially approached us the first time we were at The Lonely Barmaid asked amazed then narrowed her eyes. "I thought you said you didn't share."

"Special occasion." I said. "It was our wedding, after all. Maggie here can do wonders with her tongue."

"Show her Maggie." Rose smirked. We both chuckled.

Undaunted, Char planted a big, wet tongue kiss on Tish and grabbed her ample tits while she was at it. She ended the kiss by tweaking her nipples.

"Wow." Tish sat down with a dazed expression on her face and stared at Char with stars in her eyes.

"I wanna play. I wanna play too!" An excited Tanya squealed then grabbed Brenda, kissed her right on the mouth, and started fondling her ass.

Rose and I were staring at each other with "what the fuck" expressions on our faces.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Brenda asked Tanya. I heard Rose mumbling something to her at vampire speed—probably telling her to use an alias. "Uh...Jane Volturi." She said brightly.

Rose, Char, Vicky, and Irina all slapped their foreheads after hearing that. I wonder why?

We all continued having a good time after that. We grabbed a table and we were all doing body shots off of each other. Grace had to go to the front to take care of a bunch of men demanding to get in so they could find their women. "They were neanderthals, the whole lot of them. A couple of the guys actually growled at me and one of the assholes asked if he could film me and Trix making out on his iPhone."

"What a creep!" We all said out loud.

Ten minutes later, a couple of police officers walked into the bar and straight up to me and Rose. "Ladies, we've had reports of two women fitting your description causing a disturbance at Wet Willy's tonight."

"Why the hell would Alice and Amanda be at that dive?" Grace asked. "Besides, they've been here all night. You've got about fifty witnesses in here to prove it."

"Nonetheless, I'd like to take down your names. May I see some identification please?" The officer asked. Oh shit. Everyone here thinks we're Alice and Amanda Cullen.

"No problem, officer." Rose said as she pressed a piece of plastic into my hand. I looked and it was a fake license that read Amanda Cullen with my picture on it. I smiled and handed it over to the cop at the same time as Rose.

The cop took our names down and told us to stay out of trouble. He turned to leave when Char smacked him right in the ass.

"Couldn't resist. You have such a cute ass." Char winked at the cop who rushed out of the bar with his partner.

By the time the bar closed, we were all thoroughly sloshed. We stumbled towards the hotel and ran into our equally drunk mates just as they came out of a bar called Knockers.

"Garrett, man, I think you left a hand print on that waitresses ass when you spanked her." Riley stumbled.

"I can't believe you got those two girls to make out in front of us, Rex." Peter said. "I got it all on the iPhone. How'd you do that?"

"I told them that they could have their way with me and Riley if they did that. We better get out of here before they come looking for us." Rex said.

"Yeah, that brunette was scary." Riley stated nervously. "She reminds me of this psycho stalker I once dated in college. After we broke up she'd conveniently run into me after my classes and leave notes on my car and shit ."

"Oh, hey baby, did ya girls have a good time?" Jasper asked as he planted a wet, sloppy kiss right on my face."

"Yeah, we did." I said and climbed on to his back and let him piggy back me to the hotel. We all said goodbye in the lobby and went to our respective rooms. Jasper made made a beeline straight for the wagon bed and ripped my clothes off, then his own. He attacked my lips in a frenzy and plunged his cock straight into me. "What? No foreplay?" I asked.

"Can't wait—I need you. You were gone all night from me. Plus, you fighting those girls turned me on. He's been waiting to get inside you all night, baby." Jasper said as he drove his cock in and out of me, making me scream.

Jasper continued to pound into me at vampire speed. The friction caused by the speed was like no other. My bundle of nerves was aching for a release and I reached down and started playing with myself. "Jasper, please!" I screamed.

"Ah...fuck Bella, you're so tight...ahh...almost there..."

I was on fire. The intensity of Jasper's persistent pounding sent my body into a hysterical frenzy. I was screaming, moaning, panting while he continued attacking my pussy with his brand of passion. Jasper was licking, touching, exploring my body. Our limbs were intertwined in a frantic mess desperately hanging on to each other as we reached our peak together.

"Bellaaaaa!"

Jasperrrrrr!"

I knocked out and fell asleep in what must have been thirty seconds flat. The last words I heard out of my mate's mouth were, "Sleep well, Bella. I love you."

_**The next afternoon...**_

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. What's that pounding sound? I got up and put a sheet around me to look for my mate. My head was doing funny things to me and so was my stomach. Oh Bella, Bella, Bella you overdid it again. I need some Advil and some Alka Seltzer pronto.

"Jasper, what are you doing sitting in the hot tub?" Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. "I think someone's knocking on the door."

"I know." He said. "I think I drank too much last night. I didn't think it was possible for vampires to get hangovers, but clearly I was mistaken. Ugh!" Jasper groaned as he leaned his head back up against the tub. "What the hell are you smiling about?"

"Now you know how I feel. No drinks tonight." I said as I joined my mate in the tub.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. "Come on guys! Open the door. It's almost three in the afternoon."

"Fuck off Captain." Jasper yelled.

"Aww...you guys are no fun. Just let me and Char in so we can try out that hitching post in your room. You can even watch us if you want. Hey, Bella, I can tie you to it and spank that pretty little ass of yours while I fuck you if you like."

That did it. Peter just overstepped his boundaries and Jasper was out of the tub in a flash. Damn, he looks good naked. He opened the door and grabbed Peter by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. "What the fuck did I tell you about talking about my mate like that?"

Peter instantly took a submissive pose. "Major, I was just joking. You know that I would never take advantage of your mate."

"Hi Bella."

"Hey Char, how was the Cave?" I asked. Hey, when the hell did she jump into the tub?

"Oh, it was good. I think Peter was in his glory. Tanya and I swapped partners. Let me tell you, you have no idea how good sex can be until you fuck an incubus. You should ask Rex sometime."

"Um...no thanks, I'm happy with Jasper. I think we do pretty well for ourselves." I winked at my mate.

"Oh, trust me. I've been with Jasper. He's nothing compared to Rex the Sex."

Jasper growled at Char just as the couple in question walked into our room. "Hey, what are you girls doing talking about my man?" Tanya asked smiling.

Again, when did she have time to strip down and hop into the tub? Her mate too? What the hell is this? Community bath time? He does look yummy though. Those abs are to die for. Damn!

Jasper hopped back into the tub and plopped me onto his lap. "Alright, what are our plans for tonight?"

"We thought we could go dancing." Tanya said. "We passed a club called Oasis when we were looking for Rose and Bella last night. It looked pretty good."

"I'm up for anything." I said as I yawned and snuggled into Jasper. By this time, Peter had joined us in the tub.

"Keep doing that to my pussy, Petey" Charlotte moaned.

That's it! Time to get out. Jasper, and I were out of the hot tub in a flash. He rushed me into the bedroom where we both got dressed. When we got out the four vampires were going at it like rabbits in the hot tub. "Just call maid service when you guys are done." Jasper yelled. "Make sure you leave them a big tip...and have them disinfect that tub!"

"Promise me that we'll never stay in one of these rooms with them Jasper." I pleaded.

"That's one promise I know I'll be able to keep." Jasper said. "Fucking horndogs!"

_**Later that evening...**_

Oasis was a pretty hip club in the middle of Provincetown. It was packed with people our age—some couples, some singles, everyone searching for a good time. Jasper and I immediately hit the dance floor as soon as we walked in. The others soon joined us.

"This place is pretty cool." Vicky commented. "Riley and I haven't been dancing in forever. How are you holding up there honey?"

"I'm fine." Riley groaned. Ever since his stay in the Dungeon with Vicky, my brother's been walking with a slight limp and refuses to sit down. I asked him what happened and he told me that he got into an accident. Must have been a bad one, I figured. Anyway, he and Vicky are trading rooms with Emmett and Rose tonight—Riley's request. Apparently, Arabian Nights is the ultimate romantic escape. Jasper said we could come back next month to try that room out. I kind of want to do the Jungle again though, I really miss my tree.

"Hey, sis, aren't those the bitches from Wet Willy's yesterday?" Rose asked.

"Yeah and they're with those assholes who were harassing me." I said.

The group stared right at me and Rose, but we ignored them and kept on dancing. About an hour later, the same officers from last night walked in—this time the four shitheads from last night were with them. "Alice Cullen and Amanda Cullen? You are both under arrest for disorderly conduct and for assault and battery. This incident occurred at approximately 8pm last night at Wet Willy's."

"Wait a minute. This guy Brad and his friend were the ones that were sexually harassing her in the first place." Rose said.

"Take them into custody too." The officer said as their girlfriends begged them to let their boyfriends go.

The Cop read us our Miranda rights, handcuffed us, and placed us into squad cars. Jasper and Emmett had worried expressions on their faces while the rest of the vampires gave menacing glares to the two bitches that had called the cops. I think one of them just peed her pants because I could smell the foul stench of urine in the air. They have no idea how lucky they are that my family are animal drinkers.

Rose and I were sitting in the back of the squad car. "Oh my God, Bella. This is so exciting." She whispered and giggled. "We're like hardened criminals now." I could only imagine Charlie's face now. He must be flipping out in heaven watching his daughter being handcuffed and led to jail.

Rose and I were booked, processed, and thrown into a cell together. "This is so much fun, Bella. I wish they had those orange jumpsuits for us to wear. It would make it seem more realistic."

"Rose, this is for real. We're in jail. We're gonna have criminal records and have to go to court and stuff." I said.

"No, we won't. Emmett will hack into the computer system and erase all evidence that we were ever arrested. It's pretty easy. We do it all the time. Jasper and Emmett are thrown into jail at least once every five years. Sometimes, they do it just for fun." Rose said. "Besides, Alice and Amanda Cullen were arrested. Worse comes to worse, we just have to photoshop our mugshots and superimpose pictures of Alice and Amanda over ours." Rose wagged her eyebrows at me.

Oh, yeah, payback's a bitch. I suddenly found myself smiling and by the time our mates bailed us out fifteen minutes later, I was on top of the world.

"Where did everyone else go?" Rose asked the guys.

"They're back at the hotel. They decided to call it an early night." Emmett replied.

"Well, the night's still young. What are we going to do?" Rose asked excitedly.

"We, my mate, are going back to the hotel and testing out every piece of equipment in the Dungeon. I want to strap you to that St. Andrew's Cross and play with you." Emmett said.

Rose smiled brilliantly and took Emmett's hand as they both started running back to the hotel.

"I don't mind calling it a night too, Jasper, but I need to grab a bite to eat. I haven't had dinner yet." I said. I needed energy for what I had planned tonight.

"Humans." Jasper chuckled. "Come on let's get you fed."

Forty-five minutes later, Jasper and I were back in our Wild West hotel room. "Jasper?" He looked up to acknowledge me. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. Why?" He asked. Time to work my courage up.

"I'll be right back." I said and ran into the bathroom and changed. I walked out in the nude except for a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Jasper was in front of me in a second and started purring.

"Take your clothes off." I ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." My mate was stripped down to nothing in less than thirty seconds. I reached into my overnight bag and grabbed a bandana and blindfolded him with it. I led my mate to the hitching post and tied his arms to it with the ropes that were dangling from it. "Uh...Bella?"

"Quiet. I didn't give you permission to open your mouth." I snapped the riding crop that I borrowed from Tanya on his thigh.

"Yeah, listen to your mate dude!" I heard Garrett yell from the room next door.

"Go Bella!" Katie yelled. "Remember to stay in control."

"Uh...Bella, are you sure you don't need me to come down and make sure his restraints are tied tight enough?" Char called out.

"Bella—don't be too hard on Jasper with that riding crop. It can be really painful!" Riley yelled.

"Hey Bella, you might want to swat him five times in a row—it'll increase his arousal more." An unknown voice chimed in.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jasper and I both yelled simultaneously.

"I'm Josie. I'm next door in Biker Heaven. Uh...I thought Bella told you to stay quiet? Do you need me to come over and flog you?" Josie yelled.

"Um, no ma'am, I'll be listening to my girlfriend from this point on." Jasper answered back.

"Hey, Josie! My name's Char. Why don't you bring that little flogger of yours and come on over to The Cave—my Peter's sprawled out on a rock waitin' for ya." Sweet Jesus. Does Char have any boundaries whatsoever.

"I'm coming now. Do you need me to bring a collar and a plug for him too?" Josie asked. Huh! I believe Char just met her match in Josie.

"Sure why not. Bring whatever you want." Char said. "We're open for anything."

Great. I'm not so sure I want to have sex anymore. It pisses me off when I get interrupted. The vamps and Josie just about killed my drive. Time to focus.

Jasper was laid out flat on his back with his eyes tied to the hitching post above his head. His cock was standing at attention beckoning me to come and give it some love. Stay in control, Bella. Not yet.

I straddled Jasper making sure that his cock wasn't touching me and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips. "Bella..." He moaned.

"I told you not to speak!" Whack! I snapped the riding crop on his thigh. God, I feel so guilty doing that.

I kissed Jasper one more time and slid the riding crop from his neck, down his chest, all the way to his feet. I then ran my tongue down his body stopping at the point where his abs came to a V. I lingered there a bit, kissing his cold, marble skin, then worked my tongue back up his chest kissing him once again on the lips.

"Bella please?" Jasper begged. Damn it. I really don't see the point in spanking him with the riding crop. I don't care what the rest of the women say. I feel so weird doing this.

"Please what, Jasper?" I asked, dropping the riding crop.

"Babe, I need my cock inside ya."

Fuck it. I'm a terrible dominatrix. Come to think of it, I'd make an awful submissive too. I'm really not into pain and I don't take orders well. Oh well.

"Bella?"

"What Jasper?" I asked as I positioned myself astride and sank down on Jasper's cock. I bounced up and down while thinking. Wonderful, I'm not really into it anymore. All this contemplation about mild bondage plus the knowledge that everyone else is listening in has made all of my previous horniness go poof! Should I tell Jasper that I don't want to do it anymore? No, I can't do that. I put on a big show and even tied him up and blindfolded him. The least I could do is give him a courtesy fuck. I could always fake an orgasm. I used to do it all the time with Blake and Tommy. The question is, can I fake an orgasm with an empath? Hmm...now that's a challenge. Time to put those acting skills to work.

"Oh Jasper. You feel like heaven inside of me. Yes...oh...oh..."

"Bella, baby. Right there. Keep doing what you're doing. Fuck, baby. Just like that baby."

It's working. Good. I really need him to hurry because I think my hangover's back.

"Jasper, you're so big! You feel so good. Oh god...oh god...oh...Jasper."

Come on, hurry up Jasper. My thighs are beginning to hurt.

"Bella...Bella...almost there...Bella!"

"Oh Jasper, I think I'm gonna cum, baby. Oh...ahhhh...Jasper...please!" Reverse psychology, now I'm begging him—maybe this will make him finish faster. Men like to feel as if they're in control even when they're not. "Jasper please!" Maybe humming the theme song to Jeopardy will help. It is 33 seconds long.

"Bella, baby, just a little faster. Oh fuck. Holy shit. I'm there baby. I'm cu...ahhhhh...Bellaaaaaa!"

Now for the icing on the cake. "Jasperrrrrr!" I screamed as I did Kegel exercises in rapid successions on his cock mimicking an orgasm. Thank goodness for yoga.

"Oh, Jasper you make me feel so good." I panted as I removed his blindfold and untied him.

"Bella, that was fucking intense. I felt you cumming hard, baby."

"It was all you, baby." I said, stroking his ego a little more.

So, it's true then. All males, once aroused enough are on a zero to sixty drive towards their own orgasm. All their brain cells suddenly go straight to their penises and they can't do anything, but work towards cumming. This theory even includes empathic vampire mates that are supposedly tuned in to everyone.

"Yeah, I do make you feel good, don't I, baby?"

"Yes, you do, Jasper. All the time." I giggled.

**So, was this chapter to your liking? I'd love to hear what you think. I promise to write back to you. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello All! Thank you very much for your terrific reviews, alerts, and faves! You guys are so much fun to chat with! A night out on the town with The Cowboy for each of you.**

**This chapter contains kilts, tutus, Brazilian waxes, spinning class, and The Cowboy-pretty harmless stuff, if you ask me.**

**This story is AU/OOC. I've messed with everyone and everything.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Readers 18+ only please.**

**Carlisle's POV**

It's been ten days since the kids returned from their weekend in Provincetown. They all returned completely relaxed and it seemed as if they all shared a new closeness with each other. The only thing bothering me was that I've only seen Bella and Jasper once since their return. I've spoken to both of them, of course, but I'm concerned that the two of them may actually take off on their own and live a life away from us. I can't let that happen. My wife and I absolutely would not survive it—not to mention all their siblings. My new daughter, Vicky, has been on edge because for the first time in five years, she feels as if Bella doesn't need her anymore. Apparently, she and Irina went to the Boston penthouse to visit Jasper and Bella and they were nowhere to be found. Vicky and Irina both returned frantic with worry until we pointed out that if she were in any kind of trouble, Jasper would have called us.

I have my suspicions that Jasper has purchased property of his own somewhere. His assets, after all, are equal to mine or possibly more in value. Purchasing a house or even a hundred wouldn't make the slightest dent in his coffers. Jasper was able to amass a great deal of money during his time with Maria. Whenever he and Maria would take over another vampire's territory, they'd also take control of his assets too. Jasper told me that he would always save the money and assets rather than spend it and by the time he arrived at our house with Alice, he was already a wealthy man. Alice, of course, built up the Cullen family fortune with her foresight into stock futures. Jasper, who asked me long ago to keep his finances private—particularly from Alice, invested in the same stocks as me and was able to build up his wealth even more. As far as Alice was concerned, Jasper came to the family with next to nothing. If she had known about his assets, the viper would have taken him for everything he had.

Alice was someone that I no longer considered a daughter. I was floored when she admitted that she had us leave Forks with the knowledge that Bella was going to die. I couldn't understand how anyone could be capable of so casually dismissing a human life. She was a coward, as well. As soon as Vicky inflicted the "master's bite" upon her, she caved. Upon being sent home to Hanover, she escaped to go on a shopping spree. I will let her have her "one last hurrah" before I set hard limits on her spending. Alice has no idea what's in store for her. On top of that, the "master's bite" would give my daughter Victoria full control of Alice. It wouldn't matter if she received a mating mark later, the "master's bite" would still trump it unless she received a bite from another vampire that had control over Vicky, but even that must be done with a great deal of precision and timing. Alice has no clue of the significance of the "master's bite" and what it entails for her future.

Edward was a different story all together. The boy was genuinely remorseful and making a real effort to improve himself. Riley went to his home almost daily for counseling sessions and apparently it was making a great impact on his self improvement. According to Riley, Edward was much less uptight and he's even opened up communication with Bella. Apparently, Edward and Bella text each other daily, much to Jasper's chagrin. Riley also said that he hasn't seen nor heard from Amanda. As stated by, Edward, she is sitting in penance in her room. We were all extremely upset when Amanda burned Bella's books and music. Never in my life had I seen such a look of devastation cross my daughter's face. What surprised me was that Edward had an equally devastated look on his face, particularly when Amanda threw in Bella's prized copy of Wuthering Heights, each of them let out screams of agony that wrenched at my dead heart.

Today, Edward will be changing Amanda. He gave her the opportunity to stay with her family for one final week so she could say her goodbyes to her parents before she was changed. Rather than bite her, Edward will be injecting her with his venom using syringes that we prepared especially for this occasion. It shouldn't be a problem and with his medical training, he would be able to monitor her condition. I'm not sure how the "bonded mates" thing will come about with Edward injecting Amanda, though, because the bond comes with a bite placed on the left jugular and, for a stronger one, directly on the heart.

Speaking of medical training, my son Riley expressed an interest in attending medical school. I offered to enroll him in either Tufts or Harvard Medical School, but he declined saying that he wanted to be accepted through his own merit. I was never prouder of him than at that moment. It made me take a look back at how I've been raising my children and I realized that I had completely coddled each and every one of them. The new additions to my family expected absolutely nothing from me. I had trouble getting them to accept the standard black credit card and the initial one million dollars in start-up funds. Peter and Charlotte, of course, were very well off already. Jasper, in his generosity, had set them up long ago. Irina already had her own money from the Denalis. I wanted to set up Bella, Laurent, Riley, and Vicky though. I had the hardest time ever convincing the four of them to accept my gift. It wasn't until Esme somehow used her magic blend of guilt combined with love and fear that the four of them finally relented. Bella, who is by far the most stubborn of my children keeps conveniently forgetting the credit card and banking information in my office. What am I going to do with that girl?

Today, the boys and I are meeting in Boston for some father-son bonding time. It'll just be me, Emmett, Jasper, Laurent, Peter, and Riley. We're first going to meet Laurent at his job, then take his spinning class at the YMCA. Afterwards, we're going to the Black Rose for drinks before finally heading to a park in South Boston to play a little football. At the same time, the girls are having a spa and shopping day in Boston with their mom. Ah...there's Peter—time to go. We are meeting the other boys at the YMCA. What on earth is that boy wearing?

"Dad, why the hell do we have to take this class?" My new son, Peter, the most precocious of the bunch asked me. "I feel like a pansy."

"I've told you before, Laurent wanted us to give it a try and we're doing it for him." I said.

"Yeah, but what's the point of spinning around like a ballerina for an hour? This is ridiculous. Where's your tutu? Riley said that I had to wear one—mandatory or something." Oh dear, it seems as though Riley has taken a page out of Emmett's book and has taken to pranking people.

"Oh really, I had no idea. Maybe they'll have one for purchase at the gym." I responded.

We got to the class with not a moment to spare. Laurent had saved three spinning bikes—one for me and Peter and helped us set them up. There was a third unoccupied bike next to mine. It must be for Jasper. Riley and Emmett had huge grins on their faces at the sight of Peter.

"We're just waiting for one more student before we get started." Laurent announced.

"Excuse me, teacher?" Peter raised his hand.

"Yes?" Laurent asked.

"How come no one else is wearing their tutus and are we just warming up on these bikes?" Peter asked to the guffaws of Riley and Emmett.

"They're not required for this class and you'll be on these bikes for the entire class." Laurent answered. Peter glared at Riley and Emmett who now feigned innocence.

"I thought this class was a spin on ballet with extra twirls and shi...stuff." Peter corrected himself from swearing in public.

"I believe you were misinformed." Laurent said.

Jasper, suddenly, burst into the room. "Sorry I'm late. I didn't know how to get these damn kilts on. Do you wear boxers under these things or what?"

The entire class burst out laughing just as Emmett and Riley high-fived each other. "You two better watch your backs." Jasper growled through his teeth.

"Yeah, payback's a bitch." Peter joined in.

"Okay, welcome to Spinning. My name is Laurent. I'll be your instructor today. Throughout the class, we'll be taking breaks to monitor our heart rate. It's important we do this so that we can be sure that we're not pushing ourselves too hard. Many of you regulars are wearing a heart rate monitor like I am, but for those of you who aren't let's begin by taking our pulse. If you would please place your index and middle fingers over your radial artery which is located on the inside of your wrist or your carotid artery on the side of your neck, you should be able to find a pulse there." I couldn't help, but see the humor in this. Laurent was wearing a heart rate monitor and asking a bunch of vampires to take their pulses.

"Stop talking about arteries and pulses and shit. You're making me thirsty." Jasper whispered to Laurent.

"Um...Laurent, what if we don't have a pulse?" Peter grinned.

"Everyone has a pulse." Laurent answered quickly.

"I don't have a pulse." Peter said mischievously. "Does that mean I'm dying?"

"You're already dead, just play the fuck along." Laurent growled at Peter too low for anyone to hear—or so he thought. Apparently, he forgot that he had a microphone on because the humans were all looking at him with appalled expressions on their faces.

Laurent cleared his throat and spoke again. "Okay, now we're going to count how many beats we get for 15 seconds—starting now." After 15 seconds, Laurent stopped the class. "Stop. Multiply the number you got by four. The result is your resting heart beat. For normal, healthy adults that number should be somewhere between 60 and 100. My resting heart beat is 54, but that's because I exercise much more than the rest of you do. Okay, I think we can begin class now." We all snickered at hearing Laurent's supposed resting heart beat. 54. Pfft! More like zero.

He started the music and we all followed along to his commands. For the rest of the class, the boys all behaved and we all hit the showers to get cleaned up and change. Of course, none of us were sweating, but we did it for show anyway. We were changing into our new outfits when a familiar voice came running up to us from the other side of the lockers. "Oh my God. You're all here. Kenny! Santa, Yoda, Dr. DILF, and Major Junior are all here. How have you guys been?"

We all stood dumbfounded. "Oh, I see you brought your personal trainer and the straight guy too. Oh, too bad. You are so mouthwatering." Randy told Riley.

"Yeah, I get that a lot—from my wife." Riley said.

"Look Kenny! Santa finally trimmed his topiary. Didn't I tell you that it would look bigger afterwards? Was it Lorraine at Waxorama? Isn't she a miracle worker? You look enormous!"

"Dad, can't I just drain them both now? There's no one else in the locker room, but us. I can be really quick." Jasper whispered so only I could hear. I was seriously considering letting him, but really these two were just harmless men.

"Well, we all have dinner plans so we need to take our leave. It was nice running into you both." I said out loud and motioned for the boys to follow me.

"Bye sweeties. We'll see you soon!" Kenny and Randy both blew kisses at us.

The boys and I left the gym quickly before our admirers could follow us. The Black Rose was a popular pub on State Street in Boston. We quickly settled into our seats and ordered drinks.

"Damn! That kilt was uncomfortable. The skirt kept flipping up while I was peddling." Jasper said.

"Try, peddling in a pink tutu man. The crotch part kept strangling my balls."

Riley and Emmett both chuckled. "Yeah, yeah...laugh at our expense." Jasper growled.

"Well, that was a good class, Laurent." I said. "How many of those did you say you teach a week?"

"Thanks, I teach three per week of spinning and zumba. On the other two days, I teach karate. Bella comes to those. I wanted to make sure that she could defend herself if she had to."

"Does she have to defend herself often?" I asked.

"No, not really, but she and her friends Kelly and Megan once got into a bar fight with some girls from Tufts University. Riley and I had to go bail her out." Laurent said.

"Wait a minute! You're saying that last weekend in Provincetown wasn't the first time that Bella was thrown into the slammer?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean by Bella was thrown into the slammer?" I asked angrily.

The boys all looked at me fearfully. "Oh shit." Emmett said.

"You couldn't keep your fucking mouth shut!" Jasper yelled at Peter.

"I want to know what happened now!" I ordered.

Riley took a deep breath. "Bella and Rose got into it with a couple of women at a bar in Provincetown. Their boyfriends were harassing Bella so she nailed him in the balls. That's when their girlfriends went nuts and attacked Bella. Rose stepped in when she heard the cop cars. Anyway, to make a long story short. They were both thrown in jail for a bit." He paused, then added. "Jasper and Emmett bailed them out right away."

"I cleared the records too." Emmett said.

I ran my palms over my face. "Why was Bella in a situation where two men were harassing her?"

"Um...they got her when she was coming out of the bathroom." Jasper said.

"Why didn't any of you intercede as soon as you saw it happening?" I asked.

"Frankly, we thought she could handle it by herself. She did too. We just weren't expecting their girlfriends to attack and, by then, if any of us had stepped in we would have killed them." Laurent said.

"Rose said jail was fun though, Dad. She's really enjoying these new experiences she's having with Bella. That's a good thing right?"

Dear Lord, help me. "Emmett, my daughters were in jail. How do you expect me to respond to that?"

"Dunno." He said sheepishly. I decided to change the subject then. It seemed as if Emmett was able to expunge their records so I saw no point in dwelling on the situation.

"Jasper, your mother and I—actually all of us—feel that you and Bella should spend a little more time with us. We don't see you guys at all anymore. I know that you two like being together, but would it be possible for you to spare just a few more hours for us?" I stated.

"Yeah, man, quit hogging Sissy to yourself." Emmett said.

"Um...sure, we'll make a bigger effort. Sorry." Jasper apologized.

I looked up to see Peter with a frown on his face. "Peter, what's the matter son?" I asked.

"I don't know. My Yoda senses have been tingling all day. I just feel like something bad's gonna happen, but I can't pinpoint anything yet." Peter said.

"Well, just try to relax. I think you may still be on edge from having to wear a tutu to class." I said.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He grimaced.

"So, Edward's changing Amanda today. How do you all feel about that?" I asked.

"I still don't like the prick, but I feel kind of bad for him." Emmett admitted. "Amanda's worse than we first thought. Is he really mated to her, Dad?"

"It would appear so. All the signs are there. Edward said that they both feel the mating pull whenever they're away from each other. Apparently, it was particularly painful when she spent this week away from her parents." I said.

"Dad, I don't like the idea of that sheepdog being near Bella." Peter said. "Once she's changed, she's going to be stronger than sis and there's no telling what she'll do."

"That's why Edward's changing her at the house in Maine. He said that he couldn't live with himself if something happened to Bella." Riley said. "The poor kid is still in love with my sister."

Jasper growled at hearing that. "Come on Jasper, we've talked about this. Edward knows that he can never have Bella and he feels the pull towards Amanda more anyway." Riley tried to calm Jasper down.

"That still doesn't make me feel any better. The guy seems to cum whenever he sees her." Jasper had a good point there.

"Maybe that'll get better once he actually fucks Amanda." Emmett said.

"Ugh! I can't even picture fucking that." Laurent had a look of disgust on his face.

"Makes me sick to the stomach." Peter said.

"Come on then, boys, let's finish up here and go for a quick hunt and then we'll throw the football around a bit." I encouraged. Personally, thinking about Amanda doing anything remotely sexual was making me ill.

**Edward's POV**

I'm changing Amanda today. We're at Carlisle and Esme's secluded home in Maine where she will undergo the change peacefully. The other day, we got into a big argument when she came home from her father's house and asked me to write a check for five million dollars to her father so that he can start his own ministry. She also had the nerve to ask me to demand Carlisle to give her a black credit card in her name. I informed her that under no circumstances will I be doing either of those things. I told her that I could never lend my support to something that I had absolutely no faith in. I asked her if she married me for money, she had the decency to say no. I'm not sure if I believe her at all, but after her change she'll have not contact with her sorry excuse for a father. Alice seems to be the only one that likes him—I'm not surprised at all considering the greed that runs through both of their veins. It was unfortunate how Amanda has been virtually brainwashed since birth to become her father's puppet. Alice made Amanda her little human toy after she met her too. I assume it's because Alice no longer had Bella as a plaything that she took on Amanda. They will no longer have any influence on my mate. I'm going to make sure that she receives proper counseling from Riley after her change. I was contemplating divorcing Amanda, but in my gut I knew that Amanda's my mate. We both felt the physical pain that comes with mating—something that I've never felt with my Bella.

Bella. Beautiful Bella. She graciously accepted the gifts I gave her and we've been texting each other for a week now. It was quite adorable actually. Out of the blue, Bella text messaged me to ask for my opinion on a book. I quickly sent her a text back saying that I didn't care for it, and offered her a different suggestion. Since then, we've been texting each other daily. For me, it meant the world. I was in virtual seclusion with Amanda. I still barely spoke to her so a few text messages with my Bella made the difference between sanity and insanity for me.

I did still speak to Carlisle a couple of times a week. We discussed Amanda's change and decided that injecting her with venom filled syringes would be the safest method. I didn't want to risk draining Amanda. We decided the home in Maine would be safest, both for Amanda and Bella. Frankly, I was worried about what Amanda would do to Bella after she was turned. My wife held such animosity towards Bella.

I've also been receiving counseling from Bella's brother, Riley. I could easily see why they are siblings by blood. Riley was just as kind hearted and open as Bella. He listened to me talk about my problems, asked some key questions, then would leave me to ponder my choices. I kept Amanda secluded in her bedroom whenever he was over because I didn't need her listening in on my private conversations with Riley. He even went for a quick hunt with me yesterday. It was nice since I've pretty much been hunting alone for the last five years. Hunting with Alice was just never my thing. She was more concerned about ruining her clothing more than the hunt. Riley, on the other hand, was just as fast as me—if not, faster. It made the hunt all the more thrilling.

My relationship with my siblings was one that was not so easily repaired. Everyone was hurt by my actions and proving myself was going to be a challenge. Amanda's act of destruction coupled with her hurtful words towards Bella only fueled their rage more. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper have barely spoken to me in the last five years. I don't blame them really. I said some terrible things about Bella while trying to justify my reason for abandoning her in Forks.

Jasper, though, what a lucky guy. I can't help, but feel a little jealousy towards him. The stars were aligned for my brother when we all ran into Bella at Climax. Who knew that she would actually be his mate. Why does he get to have a sweet, fun mate while I'm fated to be with a narrow-minded, religious zealot? Maybe things will change once Amanda is turned. She certainly won't be seeing her parents again. They think we're going on a second extended honeymoon to spread the word of God in Australia and New Zealand. Somewhere along the way, we'll be faking our deaths.

"Edward, I've made my peace with God and I'm ready to be changed." The shrill voice of my wife roused me from my thoughts. I grimaced at the thought of having to do this. It's not the act itself, it's just that I'm not so sure I could spend eternity with this woman by my side. Then again, the pain in both of our chests when we're away from each other is almost unbearable. Amanda had to be taken to the hospital on one occasion because the pain was so bad. It was Carlisle who identified it as the mating pull rather than the panic attack that the hospital diagnosed her with.

"Amanda, I have seven syringes filled with my venom. I'll be injecting one each into your ankles, your wrists, behind your knees and one into your left carotid artery in your neck. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes." She looked afraid, but resigned to her fate. "Would you at least kiss me, husband?"

I inhaled my wife's heavenly scent—it always brought back memories of my boyhood home. Amanda's fragrance reminded me of opening the closets and dresser drawers in my parent's house and of the fresh scent of the thorough cleaning my mother always gave our home daily. I took her clean scent in one more time and leaned over to give my wife a lingering kiss on the lips. There were always electric shocks when I kissed her—also part of the pull from my understanding. This time, for the first time, I let my tongue touch hers—it felt like heaven. My wife gasped. "Edward, we should wait until I'm changed before we go any further." She said.

"You're probably correct. Lay down Amanda, I'll see you in three days."

I quickly injected my wife with the venom and then the screaming began. Oh God! I can't do this alone. Holy shit! She's loud! There's no way I'll make it for three days!

**Esme's POV**

"Ow! God damn it! Take it easy, will ya?" Bella scowled at the waxing technician at the Bliss Spa. "Those are really sensitive parts."

"Sorry miss." The woman apologized.

"Bella, dear, why did you wait so long to get waxed. I told you we should go a month ago." I said.

"Mom, I hate getting waxed. It really hurts. I try to put it off as long as possible."

"It hurts more the longer you put it off." I said. "Now stop pouting."

The girls and I were all at the Bliss Spa for a mother-daughter day. We were all getting waxed, plucked, manicured, pedicured, and in Bella's case, massaged as well. We vampires couldn't possibly get massaged with our bodies feeling like solid marble. It would make the humans too suspicious. Afterwards, we were all getting our hair cut and styled before we headed off to do some shopping on Newbury Street ending with dinner for my still human daughter.

Oh, I really hope Jasper will change her soon. I worry so much for her in this fragile state. I also was extremely petrified for her safety now that Edward was changing that thing he calls a mate. Ew! Carlisle and I opened up the house in Maine for him so that he could change her. He knew that she was no longer welcome in our home after the stunt she pulled with Bella's belongings. I was seriously considering letting Rose snap her neck that day, but Carlisle told me that I had to hold her back.

"Mom, what do you think of me going platinum blonde?" Rose asked.

"Try it honey, you could always change it back in six weeks if you don't like it." I said then turned to my other daughter. "Charlotte dear, are you sure you should be taking that much hair off of your privates? Isn't it unhealthy?"

"Mom, we're vampires remember? We have no need for pubic hair. Besides, it makes the sex more exciting." Vicky whispered.

"Really, do you think I should do that too?" I asked.

"Yeah, just ask Elena here for a full Brazilian when you're up."

We left the spa a few hours later, looking and feeling better. I have to say that I was excited about showing my new bare self to Carlisle. We walked around Newbury Street and shopped at the little boutiques. Convincing Bella to let me purchase her something was an uphill battle. I knew she was starting school in ten days and I wanted to make sure that she had enough appropriate clothes to wear. It was only after Victoria told her that she was dragging everyone down by being stubborn that she finally relented. In the end, she bought two pair of jeans, a handful of shirts, some hooded sweatshirts, and a nice winter coat. I insisted that she purchase a pair of boots and some gloves and a hat too. With winter coming, I didn't need my human daughter freezing to death. Well, now that I know all of her sizes, I'll just shop for her. I smiled at the thought.

Bella also helped Charlotte and Irina pick out some appropriate clothes for attending college—as well as the regulatory backpack for hauling books and essentials to and from class. Vicky, of course, needed some more professional looking clothes as she was going to be teaching high school. I helped her with her selections. She was actually starting work on Tuesday. I had gone in yesterday and the day before to help her set up her classroom. We repainted the walls in a cheery pink color instead of that drab gray and we switched the shelving and her desk out to a nice, durable teak. I had wall to wall carpeting in a nice, neutral tan installed and replaced those awful blinds with some sheer, billowy drapes. I also added flowers to complement the room's design and put tablecloths and chair covers on the long rows of student desks. We may have overdid it, though, because the principal had a shocked expression on his face upon seeing the newly designed classroom.

After shopping, I took Bella to have dinner at Morton's Steakhouse. She insisted that we didn't have to go anywhere so fancy, but I pointed out that if we all had to ingest steak for her benefit—it was going to be good steak. We all ordered filet mignons—five extremely rare, almost raw and one medium rare with Bearnaise Sauce.

"Does cow's blood taste bad?" Bella had a look of curiosity on her face.

"Well, they're herbivore's so they're not as tasty as say a mountain lion or a bear." I said.

"May I get you fine ladies some more drinks?" The waiter with the southern accent asked.

"Yes, I think we could all do with another round." I answered.

"Excuse me, do you have any Cock Pops here?" Charlotte asked the waiter. Oh God. Why me? The girl has absolutely no filter.

"Um...no, I've only seen those at Climax, ma'am." The waiter replied undauntedly. "I work there on Thursday nights and the weekends."

"Oh my God. Do you wear one of those loincloths, sugar?" Charlotte asked licking her lips and staring straight at his manhood. Hmm...he looks like he's pretty well endowed for a human.

"No, I'm a dancer. I just got hired. Their most popular guy—the Major was killed in a traffic accident recently. I'm his replacement."

"What do they call you?"

"Oh, they call me the Cowboy." He drawled.

I instantly smelled the arousal of ever single woman at our table.

"You from down south? I detect an accent from you." Charlotte prodded.

"Houston, Texas, ma'am—born and bred." Charlotte then reached out to grab his ass.

"Charlotte! Leave the poor man alone and let him get back to work!" I scolded. "I apologize about my daughter."

"Oh, no problem, darlin'. You look too young and beautiful to be her mama." He said winking. Oh, he is smooth—I'll have to leave him a nice tip. A big one.

"Why, thank you." I breathed. Oh my, this is just one gorgeous human.

After Bella had a chocolate mousse for dessert, we all headed out of Morton's. First, we stopped in the bathroom to bring up the steaks we had just eaten. Bella waited outside for us.

"Thanks for dinner, Mom. That has to be the best steak I've ever had. The mousse was yummy too. The Cowboy was a bonus." Bella said.

"Anytime, baby. We can come back here whenever you want." I pulled her in for a little hug.

"Mom just wants to go back so she can ogle the waiter again." Rose snickered.

"Rosalie Hale—you watch what you say!" I chastised. Then, I smiled and admitted. "He was kind of built for a human, wasn't he?"

"We are so hitting Climax again." Vicky declared.

"Definitely, I think the Cowboy can give the Major a run for his money." Irina gushed.

Bella then started giggling. "What's so funny, Bella?" Rosie questioned.

"Poor Jasper. First the Major—now the Cowboy. The poor guy can't catch a break." She chuckled. In fact, we all started laughing.

We decided to go for a little walk to settle our stomachs. It was still the end of summer and the night was absolutely gorgeous. We cut through a deserted little side street so that we could get out to the main road quicker.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" A creepy voice sounded from the alley way. Three human males came striding up to us. "Give up your purses ladies!"

"Fuck off!" Charlotte said. "If you know what's good for you, you'll walk away."

"Pfft! Yeah, right! Whatcha gonna do—scream for help?" The mugger scoffed.

The big, scary looking one suddenly pulled out a gun. "I don't have time for this shit. Give us your purses now!" He ordered.

Suddenly, we were all covered by an invisible wall. Bella. Oh my God, Bella!

"What the fuck?" The man with the gun yelled as he tried to break through the shield. "What the hell is this?"

"I got this one." One of the other men grabbed Bella by the throat and shoved her up against the wall. "She's pretty—we could have fun with her."

Chaos broke loose within the shield. We were all pounding on it trying to get out.

"Bella!" Rose screamed. "Let us out! Please sis! This can't happen to you! Not you! Damn it Bella!"

"Oh God! Bella please! We can help you! Bellaaaa!" Vicky screamed.

Irina was shrieking Bella's name over and over again. She was completely unhinged and latched onto Vicky's side.

Bella looked at us and shook her head desperately. "Oh God! She can't put her shield down when she get's nervous or scared. It's an involuntary response, Mom. Do something! Mom please!" Vicky begged.

One of the men tried to rip Bella's shirt off, but she landed a punch to his face. He then hit her back full force, causing her to fall on the ground. She was bleeding. One of the other men grabbed Bella from behind and fondled her breasts. Bella elbowed him forcefully in the stomach and managed to get away from him, but his friend grabbed her immediately. Bella kneed him in the groin and tried to run. At least my daughter wasn't going down without a fight.

"You leave my sister alone! Get the fuck away from her you fucking bastards!" Charlotte screamed. "I'm gonna rip your little dicks off and shove 'em down your throats!"

Without warning, the man with the gun grabbed Bella. He slapped her across the face and shoved her up against the wall.

"Bellaaaa!" I cried. "Drop your shield, baby! Pleeeeease!"

"I'm getting tired of this bitch!" The man with the gun spat, knocking her on the side of the head with the butt of his gun.

"Bellaaaa!" We all screamed.

"Bellaaaa, baby, drop your shield! Mommy can help you! Help us, God! Please! I can't lose another child! Bellaaaa!" I was screaming to the heavens, to anyone who would listen, begging for help.

Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. Bella's shield was no more. All I could see was a sea of red.

**So...that ****wasn't too bad, right? I'd love to know what's going on in your noggins. I promise to write back, as always. XOXO mama4dukes**


	18. Chapter 18

**Wow, just wow! The last chapter had all of you ready to hurl me off of the cliff that I left you on. I feel so honored. Thank you so much for letting me hear your reactions through your reviews, faves, and alerts. I have so much fun chatting with you guys! Stripper Major will let you flog him while he dances or you can have Jasper soap up your body while you shower.**

**This chapter contains violence, lots and lots of it. If it's not your type of thing, you may want to skip this chapter.**

**This story is extremely AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. The idea of Peter with the sixth sense is the brainchild of I Dream of Eddy.**

**Readers 18+ only please.**

**Rosalie's POV**

My mother was screaming. Praying and crying to God, to anyone who would listen really, to let us out of the shield so we could go to my sister. The sound of a single gun shot rent the air and stunned us all into momentary silence. My sister clutched her blood-soaked stomach, smiled and mouthed "I love you" to us before she slumped to the ground. Then nothing. Absolutely nothing. I couldn't hear anything, but three evil heartbeats.

In an instant, my rage took over and I grabbed the monster that had fired the gun. I ripped his trigger finger off and threw him up against the wall. The rest of the women were in similar positions. Char ripped one guy's dick off and shoved it down his throat. His muffled cries could be heard as she meticulously ripped his body parts off one by one. Vicky and Irina took one guy together and started biting—without taking in any of his foul blood—and gouging him with their fingernails all over his body before finally taking a side each and tearing him right in half. My mother grabbed the demon that I threw and tore into him—ripping his eyeballs straight out of his sockets. I helped her by decapitating him like I did to Royce and his minions after they raped me all those years ago.

When we were done, the scene was a bloodbath. Each one of us were drenched in blood from head to toe. The beasts were all mutilated and decapitated-their body parts flung carelessly to the back of the alley. We all ran to Bella. I placed my hand on her abdomen and tried to staunch the bleeding. We were all screaming—crying in agony.

"Whyyyy?" I shrieked into the night.

**Jasper's POV**

We were throwing the football around at a park in South Boston. It was late and we were about to head home. That's when we felt it. We all felt it. Carlisle was the first to drop to his knees. Then, we all fell—one by one—like dominoes. Our mates were in trouble. "Bellaaaaaa!" Peter suddenly yelled. He was clutching his head with his eyes splayed open and rolling on the grass.

"Peter did you get something. What is it?" Carlisle asked.

Peter was a mess. "Bella, it's Bella. De...We have to go to her. No time!" Peter started running like a bat out of hell. No doubt his connection to Charlotte pulling him to where he needed to go. We all followed him. Riley quickly outstripping him. He, too, was feeling the pull to Vicky. Abruptly, five minutes into our run, my pull to Bella was severed. I couldn't feel a thing—no pull, nothing—just emptiness—hollow.

"Carlisle!" I screamed. "I can't feel her. I can't feel Bella. Dad!"

"Keep running son. We'll get to her. We're almost there." My father pushed.

We got to an alley in a deserted side street. The women were all huddled around Bella's bloody body sobbing uncontrollably—unrecognizable, each one bathed in blood. Rose had her hand securely fastened to Bella's abdomen, trying to control the bleeding. We looked to the back of the alley and there were human body parts piled haphazardly, one on top of each other—dead. There was a pistol laying a few feet away from them.

We didn't ask them what happened—not yet. Our first priority was Bella. Carlisle took Bella from the women. Her face was battered and her clothes were torn. I was seething with anger that I had to control for the sake of my girl. Carlisle ripped her clothes off of her so he could thoroughly examine her body. Peter and Laurent both had to hold me back from trying to attack Carlisle for being so close to my mate.

"Get a hold of yourself, now, Major!" Peter ordered. "Carlisle is trying to save her not have his way with her!"

"She still has a heartbeat, but barely—it's erratic and faint." Carlisle announced. "Riley, do you know CPR?"

"Yes." He said.

"Start it now. I'm going to remove the bullet from her abdomen and seal the wound with my venom. Jasper, be prepared to change her as soon as I give you the go ahead." Carlisle ordered.

I must have looked as terrified as I felt because Carlisle slapped me across the face. "This is your mate, son. Are you prepared to go on for all eternity without her?"

I shook my head, no.

"Then put your big boy pants on Major because I'm not prepared to lose my daughter!" Dad roared—every bit the vampire. He then quickly removed the bullet that was lodged in Bella's abdomen using his fingers. Fortunately, it wasn't embedded deeply so he was able to pull it out quickly and seal the wound with his venom.

Riley was pumping away at her chest and after every thirty compressions, Emmett would blow two breaths into Bella's mouth. Finally, after a few minutes Carlisle ordered them to stop.

"Her heartbeat's steady enough. Change her now Jasper." With venom tears lacing my eyes, I took a deep breath, kissed her on the lips, and bit down on her left jugular pumping as much venom into my girl as I could.

Riley bit down into her right carotid artery and pushed his venom into his sister. I noticed, then, that Carlisle and Emmett each bit down into her inner wrists—Emmett replacing James' mark with his own—and that Peter and Laurent each took an ankle while Esme and Vicky pumped their venom behind her knees.

"One more, my son—straight into her heart. It'll speed the delivery of your venom to her and it'll secure your bond as mates." My father encouraged.

I immediately did as I was told. She was now my Bella—heart and soul—mine. MINE!

"We need to clean up the scene and get out of here. Peter, Emmett, and Laurent—I need you boys to grab the vehicles. We'll come back for our mates' cars later." Carlisle instructed. "Peter, grab some lighter fluid at a store along the way. We need to get rid of those bodies." Faster than lightening, they were gone. A few minutes later, they were all back with the cars.

We dumped the dismembered bodies into the large trash bin at the back of the alley, doused them with lighter fluid, and lit them on fire. They would be unrecognizable by the time they were found. We quickly loaded our mates and ourselves into the vehicles and we were on our way to Amherst.

Bella was silent the whole way there. I could hear her heart beating, but she wasn't moving or screaming. Not one sound.

"Riley was like this too." Victoria noted. "Must be a family trait."

The Denalis were already waiting when we got there. Someone must have called them to tell them what happened. "Her room is ready and I have her bath drawn." Carmen gasped as she took in the sight of the blood-soaked women.

I thanked her and ran her upstairs. I gingerly stripped her of her tattered clothes and bathed her—her blood tinting the water pink. I dried her off and changed her into her favorite pajamas. Then I held her. I didn't have any intention of ever letting her go. If I let go, something bad might happen to her again. After they cleaned up, everyone came up into the room to check on her. "What happened?" Eleazar finally asked Esme.

The story was horrific. They were approached by three muggers who demanded their purses. While the women tried to convince them to go away, one pulled out a gun. Bella's shield went up immediately to protect the women. One of them grabbed Bella and attacked her. They attempted to rape her, but she put up a phenomenal fight—all the while keeping everyone's mates protected under her shield. The man with the gun lost his patience with her. He beat Bella then pulled the trigger. Bella's shield fell immediately. The women all grabbed the muggers, beat them, and ripped them apart. We arrived thirty seconds later.

"I'm glad you killed them." Carlisle said to the women. "Those beasts absolutely deserved to die for what they did to my daughter. We'll leave you two in peace now." That lasted about five minutes. Everyone came back in, one by one, and sat vigil by Bella—refusing to leave her side. I tried to absorb her pain, but didn't feel any coming from her. We all talked to her, reminding her of her human life-of memories we all made with her. We talked to her about her parents, the first time we met her in Forks, and the time we saw her again in Climax.

Rose told her about how much fun she had in Provincetown with her—the first and second time. She even reminded her about their few minutes in jail and how she wished they had those orange jumpsuits. "Next time, we'll just bring them." She chuckled.

Emmett told her about how he thought of her as a sister from the moment he met her. He talked about how he used to run through the forest in Forks with her on her back so they could just get away from school for a few minutes and talk before Rose or Edward came looking for them. I never knew they shared that memory.

We each shared a little something with Bella. We were filling her brain with happy thoughts and memories while she silently changed. About fifty-five hours later, we were all jerked out of our tranquil reminiscing by a desperate pounding on the front door accompanied by shrill screaming.

"What the hell are you doing here, Edward?" I heard Carlisle ask.

"Father, I can't do this anymore. She's been shrieking like this for the last fifty-six hours. I can't take it anymore. I know you asked me not to bring her, but please...I'm desperate...I need your help."

Put her in your room, Edward. I don't need her disturbing Bella."

"Bella's here?" Edward asked.

"Yes, she was attacked and gunned down two nights ago. She's changing, Edward."

A few minutes later, Edward ran into our room. Amanda, apparently abandoned.

"Bella, it's Edward. I'm so sorry you're changing, love. I always wanted you to live out your human life. I've always only wanted you to be happy Bella. That's all." He paused. "My fondest memory of you was of us sitting together in your room in Forks and reading Wuthering Heights. I remember getting into heated discussions with you about who was the real heroine in the story—Catherine or Isabella. I still say it was Isabella, I bet you still think it was Catherine. Think happy thoughts, Bella. It'll all be over soon. Jasper hasn't let you go this whole time."

Well, shit. This is fucked up. Here I am sitting with my mate while she changes and her heartbroken, love sick ex-boyfriend is sitting in vigil alongside of me while pouring his heart out to her. With our vampire hearing, we could hear his mate screaming like a hyena at the other end of the house. "Edward, shouldn't you sit with Amanda?" I asked.

"No, I need a break. I'll go insane if I have to listen to that shrieking at close range anymore." Edward admitted.

"Edward, she's your mate." Rose said.

"Oh, are you finally speaking to me now, Rose?" Edward chuckled.

She humphed and glared at him.

Twelve hours later. We could hear Amanda's heart pounding. Her change was nearly complete. Edward ran from Bella's bedside to his mate. Three minutes later we heard Edward screaming like a girl. "Heeeeelp!" He squealed. "Ouch! Owwww! Help me! Dear God, help meeee!"

We all ran to help, leaving Bella alone for just a few minutes. We found Edward in his closet, clutching his arm. "She bit me. She bit me twice." Edward bawled. Holy fuck, he's really crying like a baby.

Amanda looked feral. She was crouched and poised for attack. Having the most experience with newborns Vicky, Peter, Charlotte, and I took the front lines against her. I nodded to Peter.

"Amanda, you will sit down!" He commanded using his captain's voice. Amanda turned her head towards him and snarled. Her head kept moving in nervous ticks and her eyes were shifting from person to person.

"Nobody move." I warned. We were all trapped in the room by an untamed newborn.

"She's like a dog." Rose commented. Amanda's head snapped towards the source of the voice. She jumped on Rose. Vicky and Char were quick to subdue her. With Amanda's newborn strength they needed Peter's help. Amanda kept snarling, venom dripping, her teeth bared.

Fuck! I can't even use my gift and knock her out right now. It's the worst thing that I could do. She'll be even more out of control when she comes to.

"I could run home and grab the gag that I bought for her!" Tanya suggested brightly.

Eleazar shook his head at Tanya indicating that now was not the time for jokes.

"Do you know who you are?" I asked Amanda.

She looked into my eyes and shook her head no.

"Your name is Amanda Paine Masen." I said.

No she shook her head wildly again. We continued in this manner for two hours. I would try and remind her who she was. She would shake her head furiously in denial each time. Every so often, we had to subdue her as her savage, newborn instincts would come out in full force.

We finally gained enough control so that some of the guys could take her for a hunt. I was anxious to get back to Bella. She had now been alone for close to two hours.

We walked into the living room with a snarling Amanda when, all of a sudden, Bella skipped down the stairs carrying a full length mirror over her head. We were all stunned silent.

"What's that moth ball smell and who the hell went crazy with the Lysol?" Bella asked. She, then, calmly walked past us with the mirror and went out of the sliding glass door leading to the pool in the back. She gently set the mirror down in the direct sunlight and started taking her pajamas off.

"Bella! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked.

She ignored me and started checking her glorious nude body out in the mirror. Peter, Garrett, Edward, and Rex were all plastered to the glass gaping at her. "Hey! Stop eye-fucking my mate!"

"Bella! Put your clothes on and get back in the house!" I ordered.

"Hold on—I just want to see where I sparkle." She said.

"What?" We all shouted at the same time.

Bella sat on the ground in front of the mirror, spread her legs wide open, and suddenly announced, "Hey! My pussy sparkles!"

"Ungh...Bella! Edward came again-Amanda all but forgotten. Esme grabbed Edward and slapped him across the face. Carmen, then took him and punched him in the gut.

"What did I tell you about demeaning my daughter, Edward?" Esme scowled.

"I know what you told me, mother! I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. Whenever I see her, my member takes on a life of it's own and causes me to expel sperm. I don't know how to control it. What's happening to me?" He apologized.

Amanda suddenly ran outside next to Bella and ripped her clothes off and started mimicking her. Yuck! Now that's one pussy I don't want to see again—ever!

"Well fuck, that's a cockblocker and a half." Garrett said.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Bella asked.

Amanda got on all fours and started licking Bella's toes.

"Gross! Heal girl!" Bella commanded.

Amanda instantly obeyed. She got on her knees and started panting like a dog with her tongue sticking out.

"Shouldn't someone get her a doggie treat or something?" Bella said.

"That's it!" Esme took charge. "Edward, Garrett, Peter and Rex! Get away from the sliding glass door now! Katie close the drapes! Charlotte! Tanya! Why are you both naked?"

"We want to see if our pussies are sparkly too!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Put your clo...Rosalie! You too?" Esme asked flabbergasted.

"Mom, you have to admit that Bella's idea is great. As women, we should all be checking out our sparkly bits. It's not our fault that our organs aren't dangling out in the open like the men."

Every single male eye was turned to Rose. Sister or not, it's not everyday that you get to see a beauty queen stark naked.

Esme took a deep breath. "I want every single one of you men out of this house now! Yes, that includes you Carlisle. Tanya, Rex we don't want to see a live sex show! Take it upstairs to your room! Gentlemen!"

"Yes, Esme?" We all murmured in question.

"Don't you dare leave us with the rabid dog! Take her hunting now!" Esme roared.

Peter and I went outside to grab Amanda. I noticed that Peter took in another eyeful of my mate in all her glory. "God damn—you're a lucky dude!" He grinned at me.

As we approached, Amanda snarled at both of us and got into an attack position.

"Heal!" Bella chastised. Amanda instantly went to a begging position again. "These are Jasper and Peter. They're your friends. You listen, okay. Friends." She enunciated. "They're going to take you hunting. Yum-yum." Bella patted Amanda on the head. Amanda licked Bella's toes again.

"Ew!" Bella squealed.

"Come on Amanda! Good girl!" Peter encouraged. Amanda followed us stark naked on all fours.

As soon as we got away from the house, I nailed Edward with a right hook.

"That's for moaning Bella's name while you jizzed again!" I said as I got him with a left hook this time. "And that's because I missed my mate's awakening!"

"Hey, you don't think that I didn't want to be there too!" Edward yelled back. "She means a lot to me too!"

"Fuck you! Don't you dare think about my mate!" I slugged him in the jaw. This time Edward punched back. The two of us were punching and kicking until Laurent jumped in and did some kind of spinning karate kick and knocked us both on our asses.

"Huh! I've always wanted to try that with vampire strength. Cool!" Laurent said proudly.

"What's done is done!" Eleazar stated. "We all wanted to be there for Bella's awakening, but clearly it wasn't meant to be. We must take Amanda hunting. We should probably find something to take back for Bella while we're out here."

"What am I going to do?" Edward moaned pointing to Amanda. "She's positively animalistic. She doesn't even know who she is!"

"And that's a bad thing, how?" Peter asked.

"Peter, the girl I married is no more."

"Edward, this is a great thing. No one other than Alice liked the real Amanda—even you haven't liked her lately. Do you realize that you can train her to be whomever you want her to be? You've got a virtual blank slate—a tabula rasa."

Edward smiled, for the first time in five years, I think. "Maybe Bella can help me. She's the only one that Amanda is listening to so far." At the mention of Bella's name, Amanda started yelping excitedly and running around in circles on all fours.

"Come on." Peter said to Amanda. "Let's get you fed and back to your mama Bella." Amanda obediently followed Peter—again on all fours.

"Uh...Edward, this training Amanda thing may take awhile." I commented.

We soon spotted a herd of deer. Edward grabbed one, snapped it's neck, and presented it to Amanda, who devoured it instantly. Now, she was a bloody, naked mess. We did the same thing with another deer, then a mountain lion. She was now covered in fur and animal blood.

"There's a pond beyond those trees. You can clean her up in there Edward." Emmett said.

Edward's eyes bulged as we approached the pond. "You want me to clean her up? I've never touched a woman before. I don't know how."

"Jeez, Edward! You're married. Haven't you even grabbed her tit or something?" Garrett asked.

"No. I finally touched the tip of her tongue with mine the other day." He admitted. "I didn't even hold her when she slept. I only did that with Bella."

Okay, the poor kid is repressed. Holy hell. I'm older than he is and even I managed to French kiss a girl way before I was his age. Edward must have been a real mama's boy.

"First of all, you need to stop being so hung up on Bella. She's Jasper's mate." Riley advised. "Second, if you feel that uncomfortable bathing her, I'm sure that one of the others will help you. Right Peter?"

"Fucker, I still owe you for the pink tutu. You bathe her damn it!" Peter yelled just as Amanda got on her knees and started begging and panting to him like she did with Bella.

Riley just raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

"Hey, Peter. Looks like you have a brand new friend." Laurent pointed out laughing.

Peter jumped into the pond with Amanda and helped her wash. Edward took his shirt off and handed it to Peter so he could put it on her. We then headed back to the house. We all agreed that we needed a serene atmosphere for both Amanda and Bella so that they could get used to their new lives. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth than when we arrived back at the house. Shit! We forgot to pick up an animal for Bella to feed on. I'll just have to take her hunting.

"What the fuck is going on?" Carlisle who rarely swore asked.

We walked into the house and the lights were dimmed, the girls were all screaming, AC/DC's "Back In Black" was pumping out of the speakers, and Rex was dancing on top of the coffee table.

"Off with the shirt, Major!" Tanya cheered.

"Wait, Char—go rip it off of him!" Rosie yelled.

"No way, don't Char. Let him do it. He does it all sexy!" Bella declared. "Come on Rex rip that shirt off the way I like it! I wanna see those buttons fly all over the living room!"

"Oh God damn! Now, that's a V." Irina said. "Tanya, you lucky bitch!"

"Rex! You've got to unbutton those sexy jeans of yours and show us where that V leads to." Rose screamed.

Rex smiled and unbuttoned his jeans and left his fly undone all while continuing to dance on the coffee table.

"Holy motherfucker! That V leads straight to his cock!" Vicky cheered.

"Hot damn! We've got a winner! Now, those are abs!" My mate hailed. She jumped up and down along with Char—clapping her hands. Amanda joined in—copying their motions.

What the fuck! "Hey, remember who you belong to." I whispered into Bella's ear. I noticed the other men taking similar positions behind their mates.

"You baby. Only you." She said and planted a kiss on my lips. "Now let's watch Rex the Sex Show."

I swatted Bella playfully on the ass and sat her down on my knee. Damn it! If she wanted to watch strippers, she was gonna do it with me. Unfortunately, Amanda did the same as Bella and sat down on my other knee next to Bella. Why me? When I wrapped my arm around Bella, Edward's mate grabbed my other arm and wrapped it around herself.

Peter, Garrett, and Emmett were watching and guffawing. Edward tried to pull Amanda off of me, but she was stunned by his sudden movement and bit him. Edward was screaming like a girl again while his mate assumed her position on my other knee—firmly placing my arm around her. This is literally heaven and hell! I have my angel on one knee and Edward's demon dog on the other.

Esme suddenly ran up to Rex and started taking turns with Carmen swatting his ass. Carmen was using her bare hand while Esme used her riding crop.

"Harder girls! I can handle it now that I'm a vampire!" Rex encouraged. What? Do Carmen and Esme spank him regularly. What kind of female role models are they? I'm glad Bella and I live in Cambridge—she doesn't need to be exposed to too much of that kinky shit. Carlisle and Riley, for some reason, both looked horrified and rubbed their backsides as if reliving a painful memory.

Carmen and Esme were both whacking Rex full force and the guy was relishing it. Hey, whatever floats his boat.

"Wait for it! Wait for it! Get ready!" Vicky yelled. "Now!" Carmen and Esme both ripped off Rex's pants simultaneously. The girls all cheered.

"Not fair!" Katie pouted. "How come Irina gets Laurent the Enlightened Karate Master, Tanya gets Rex the Sex, and I end up with Garrett."

"Aw...come on Katie, Garrett's not so bad. I find the fact that he actually served under General Washington kind of hot." Bella tried to cheer Katie up.

"Hey, when can we go to Climax to see that Cowboy guy? Now that's a real man!" Char gushed.

"Oh hell, yeah. I'm game for whenever." Bella agreed.

"What a minute! What Cowboy?" Rex and I asked at the same time.

"Oh, he's the guy that replaced you Rex." Rosalie announced. "Super sexy and with an accent that just makes you want to drop your panties on the spot. He's from Texas."

"Born and Bred. All cowboy." Vicky finished.

Riley growled—so did Rex.

"Can we go see him? Can we? Can we?" Char jumped up and down excitedly. Amanda mimicked her and did the same thing.

"Bella can't go. She's a newborn." I smirked. No way she was gonna go see some Texan who thinks he's a cowboy. I'm the only Texas Cowboy in her life.

"Oh, she'll be able to go." Victoria challenged. "So far, everything about her change has been just like Riley's. She'll have absolutely no bloodlust at all. Look at all the control she has already. How many newborns do you know that can hang out and have a conversation? Bella, are you thirsty?"

"Not really, why?"

"Bella, you should be insane with thirst by now." I stated. What the fuck is wrong with my mate? Hell, what the fuck is wrong with me? Have I lost my mind? I forgot that Bella's a newborn.

Vicky had a smug expression on her face. "You see what I mean? She's just like Riley. She can even replicate all the fine and gross motor skills of a human. No screaming while changing, no pain either right?"

"No, not really. It just kind of tickled. Plus it was really hot—kind of like being in a sauna." Bella replied.

"I guarantee you that she's gonna jump right into being herself—just like her brother. She'll probably still be able to go to Harvard next week too. Just slap a pair of brown contacts into her eyes."

"We're awesome, baby girl!" Riley said.

"More like freaks of nature." Irina scoffed.

"Cool!" Bella jumped up and high-fived him—so did Amanda. "I don't have to give up my scholarship!"

Carlisle interrupted. "I'd like to keep you home for a few months, sweetheart, just to be safe."

"No, please don't do that to me!" Bella said. "I worked hard for that scholarship. Dad, you have no idea how much extra work I put in just to earn it."

"I agree with Bella. She'll be fine. Right after my first feed. I ran back to Seattle with Vicky to go grab my Suburban. I was totally fine. I was even able to drive in rush hour traffic." Riley stated proudly.

"Here, I'm going to prove my theory." Victoria rushed down to the basement and came back upstairs with a bag of human blood from our emergency stores. She threw the bag in the microwave for a minute, ripped it open, and poured it into a mug. She pulled Bella into the kitchen. "Here, take a whiff of this." Victoria thrust the mug directly under Bella's nose. Meanwhile, Amanda was snarling and licking her lips, her eyes going in a hundred different directions, looking for the source of the scent. Hell, I didn't blame her—that shit smells good.

Bella inhaled deeply. "It stinks! It smells like rust and salt. What the fuck is it?"

"No shit! Kind of smells like sea water that's been sitting stagnant for a while, doesn't it sis?" Riley asked.

"Bella, Riley language!" Esme and Carmen both chastised.

"Sorry." They both said. Okay. Bella and Riley are officially fucked in the head. That blood is mouthwatering.

"That, my dear sister is a bag of extremely rare and fragrant AB positive." Just as Victoria said that, Amanda who was being held by Peter, broke loose and attacked the mug that she was holding. The mug cracked under the force of pressure of Amanda's grasp so she started lapping it up from the floor using her tongue. When the floor was completely clean. Amanda got into her seemingly favorite position and started begging Bella and Vicky for more.

"Wow, Mom. At least you won't have to mop the floor clean." Bella said, picking up the remains of the mug and chucking them in the trash bin. "It already smells like Lysol—so do my toes, come to think of it."

"I'm taking Bella for a hunt." I announced and grabbed Bella's hand. Amanda started whimpering and following Bella on all fours.

"I'll be right back. Stay with Peter." Bella patted Amanda on her head again. "Good girl."

Bella and I ran into the forest hand in hand. I couldn't get over how she seemingly had none of the standard newborn traits. She was calm, not reactive and she was not sensitive at all to sounds and movements. She just took everything in stride, kind of rolled with the changes. Bella had no bloodlust at all either. I couldn't feel any coming from her—just like I could never feel any coming from her brother Riley. Amanda's reaction to the human blood was typical. Bella actually said it smelled bad and refused it. How the hell did I get so lucky to have a mate like her?

Suddenly, I heard it. It was a heartbeat. Probably bear. "Bella, do you hear it?" I whispered.

"Yeah. It's a heartbeat, right?"

"Right, where do you hear it coming from?"

"Um...that way." She pointed towards the clearing.

"Yep, now follow it." I instructed.

Bella followed the heartbeat and hid behind a tree. Sure enough it was a massive black bear. She waited til it's back was turned then went in for the kill. Bella quickly snapped it's neck and sunk her teeth into it's artery. She didn't spill a drop of blood. When she was finished. She dropped the bear and pierced me with pitch black, lust-filled eyes.

I instantly attacked. I pinned my mate to the ground and ripped her clothes off, then my own. I kissed her lips with new abandon then thrust into her pussy without warning. "Jasper, you feel so warm." She moved her hands up all up and down my back—stopping to squeeze my ass. "Fuck me hard now, Jasper!" She ordered.

So, I did. My mate could handle it now. I pounded into her over and over again with no mercy.

"Harder, Jasper! More!" My mate cried out.

I pulled out of her and flipped her over. She immediately arched her back so I could fist her hair and plunge into her just the way I like it. I was relentless as I rammed my cock in and out of her pussy.

"Jasper, keep fucking me like that. Just like that—Jasper please!" She begged. The intensity was like no other. We were linking ourselves to each other, securing our bond as mates. I reached for her heart and ran my fingers gently over the final bite I gave her for her change. She moaned.

I thought about the events preceding the change, how those men tried to attack her, then beat her, and finally shot her. I cringed at the memory of how I wasn't there to protect her. Never again. Never again will that happen. I fucked her harder then, my mating instincts kicking into high gear. Somehow, I managed to penetrate her deeper as I pulled her closer to me.

"Don't let go of me, Jasper! Keep me with you! Jasper...promise me!"

"Never Bella! Never! You're mine, Bella! Always mine! MINE!" I sunk my teeth deep into her collarbone and claimed her, no longer able to deny my urges, as we reached our crescendo together. Bella screamed at the top of her lungs, both in pleasure and pain. "Jasperrrrr!"

I sat down on the forest floor and pulled my mate onto my lap gently licking her new mark. She snuggled into my chest, turned to look at me and reassured me, "Yours, Jasper. Only yours. Eternally yours."

"I love you, Bella." I whispered into her lips as I kissed her tenderly. I picked her up and carried her through the forest, back to the house. We jumped up onto our balcony and went into our room, that way so that no one could stop to talk to us along the way. I filled the tub up and climbed in with her. We washed the forest grime off of each other then she cuddled up to me. I held her. Talked to her. Simply loved her.

"Hey, you two done with your sexin' yet? We wanna hear how Bella's first hunt went. Plus, Amanda's getting a little antsy." Peter called.

"Jasper, what the hell am I going to do with Edward's mate. She's like attached to me. When did she wake up anyway?"

"She woke up a couple of hours before you did. We'll figure out what to do with her as we go along—for now, though, you and Peter are the only ones she's listening to."

"Great." She moaned. "I've gained a pet."

We walked downstairs where everyone was waiting. "So, how was it?" Carlisle was the first to ask.

"It was incredible. Sex as a vampire is so much more satisfying than as a human." Bella stated. I think she's been spending too much time with Char and Tanya—she's losing her verbal filter.

"I meant the hunt." Carlisle said uncomfortably. Then he fixed me with an angry glare.

"Oh...It was a black bear. Easy." She said, snapping her fingers.

"Yeah, I didn't even have to tell her what to do. She just snapped it's neck and went for it. She didn't even spill a drop of blood." I added. "Come to think of it, how did you know what to do?"

"It's not the first time I've been hunting, you know." She revealed. "I've been, plenty of times."

"What?" Most of us said stunned. We noticed that Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent were all looking either at their toes or up at that ceiling.

"You guys took her hunting?" I hollered. "You could have lost control and killed her?"

"She was fine. She was always up in a tree watching us anyway. What did you want us to do? Leave her by herself? It was always when we were on vacation anyway." Irina justified.

"Um...couldn't you guys have taken turns to watch her?" Edward made a really good point.

"No, no time. We had lots to see and limited time. The lines at Disneyworld can be out of control during winter break, you know. Besides, we thought it would be best if she were as prepared as possible for this life." Vicky stated.

I'll say. Bella has to be the most prepared vampire in existence. She knows how to hunt and even how to take out newborns. All courtesy of my sweet yet deadly new sister, Vicky and my cousin Irina. Both of whom had the most warped sense of reality in existence.

"So, mom—I was wondering. Do you think that I could install a tree in Jasper and my bedroom?" Bella asked. Jeez! I was hoping she'd forget about the tree during her change, but clearly that didn't happen.

"A tree, sweetheart, why?" Esme turned to Bella.

"I just want to swing from it. You know, for exercise." Rose and Emmett both chuckled.

Please say no, Esme. Please say no. Bella goes nuts around that tree. Besides, come to think of it, now that she has no gag reflex, I need her to keep trying to convince me. So for me, say no. I shook my head almost imperceptibly at my mom. She acknowledged me by blinking her eyes once.

"Bella, there's no room for a tree in your room. Why don't I just install some swings for you in the backyard?" Esme looked excited at the prospect.

"Oh, okay. I guess that'll have to do." Bella pouted. As soon as Amanda saw her pouting face, she whimpered and started licking Bella's toes again in an attempt to make her feel better. Poor Edward, it's gonna take years to make his mate even passably human. In Maria's army, vampires like Amanda with absolutely no control were destroyed right away. We didn't have time to teach and train them and their human memories rarely, if ever, came back. During her burning, Amanda lost every single one of her memories. She isn't even aware that she was once human. She's very much an infant, trying to learn by mimicking. At this point, she thinks that Bella is her mother and that Peter is her father. I can feel her strong connection to the two of them. She also feels the pull to Edward, but at this point she isn't able to identify what it is—that's why she keeps attacking him.

Edward, on the other hand, is torn between the lust he feels for Bella and the pull he feels towards Amanda. Bella's more like his intellectual ideal and his fantasy Playboy centerfold rolled into one, however he feels absolutely no pull to her and that bothers him. Edward actually feels the pull towards Amanda. I felt his desire for her when she was hunting naked in the woods—he probably still feels betrayed about her actions as a human and doesn't know what to make of the helpless newborn that she's become. I have to hand it to the kid though, he sure has a lot of self control. As soon as I saw Bella as a vampire, I had the urge to mark her as mine. I almost did when she stripped naked in front of the pool to check herself out. By the time she had hunted for the first time, my instincts were screaming at me to claim her before anyone else did. That's why I took her when I did. I didn't want any males, familiar or unfamiliar, seeing her without my mark. Edward, on the other hand, has completely tampered down on his urges. It might have something to do with him injecting her rather than biting her. We'll have to look into it more because clearly, with Amanda being as feral as she is, it was going to take all of us to train her.

"Hey!" Bella asked suddenly. "Who changed me anyway?''

"Ah...that's a good question kitten. Many of us did, but it's mainly Jasper's venom that runs though your veins. He injected you on your left carotid artery and your heart, Riley got your right carotid artery. Emmett and I took your radial arteries..." Carlisle tried to go on, but was interrupted by Emmett.

"I replaced James' bite with mine. I didn't want that bastard's mark anywhere on you sissy."

"Thanks." Bella acknowledged Emmett.

"Yes, thank you." Vicky seconded that.

Carlisle then continued. "As I was saying, Emmett and I took your radial arteries, Peter and Laurent took your posterior tibial arteries, and your mom and Vicky took your popliteal arteries."

"I know where the radial arteries are, but I have no idea where the other two are." Bella stated perplexed.

"The posterior tibial are the inside of your ankles sis." Peter said. "Now you've got a bit of me running through you for all eternity."

Edward then spoke. "The popliteal arteries winds from the front of your knees to the back. You were most likely bitten on the softer back side of your knees."

"Thanks, Edward." Bella acknowledged. "Why did so many of you bite me?"

"Well, we had to sweetheart, you were dying. We needed to push as much venom into your body as we could in a short amount of time to shock your system." Carlisle told Bella truthfully.

"Wow! Thanks. It's pretty cool knowing that I have everyone's venom running through me. Does that mean I have eight sires?"

"Yes, it does and you'll always feel a connection to us, but your primary bond will always be with Jasper because he is your mate as well as your sire. It's mainly his venom that runs through your veins." Carlisle said.

Bella smiled at me and climbed on my lap, nuzzling my neck. Oh shit! Here comes Amanda again.

"Um, guys. What are we supposed to do with Amanda?" Edward asked. "She seems to be attached to Bella, Peter, and Jasper. She keeps attacking me." Amanda mimicked Bella—nuzzling the other side of my neck. Oh God! She's licking my neck!

I took Bella and Amanda off of my lap. Amanda instantly climbed onto Bella's. "Edward, Amanda can feel she's your mate, but she's not capable of identifying it yet. She doesn't even know that she's a vampire that was once human. She feels the pull, but can only see it as physical pain—that's why she keeps attacking you."

"Well, how are we supposed to teach her?" Edward asked.

Eleazar jumped in the conversation. "It's going to take all of us. Thankfully, Jasper, Peter, Char, and Vicky have experience in this."

"No, we don't. She would have been culled immediately in Maria's army." Vicky said with a hopeful grin.

"Jasper, what are Amanda's feelings towards Bella and Peter?" Eleazar asked.

"For lack of better terms, they're her parents." I answered.

"It's a girl—I think." Peter announced brightly to Bella. She looked disgusted as Amanda was now lapping up Bella's face with her tongue.

"Edward, get your wife off of me!" Bella yelled.

Edward made to move Amanda off of her, but she was startled, jumped on him and bit him again.

"Ouch! Stop it!" Edward whined. "That really hurts!"

"No, no Amanda! No biting Edward!" Peter said forcefully. She stopped immediately and jumped into his arms sobbing.

"Mother! What are we supposed to do with this?" Peter asked Bella. He was cradling a now bawling Amanda in his arms.

"Hell if I know. I've never trained a newborn before." Bella said perplexed. "Maybe we should pick up a copy of Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care or What to Expect From Your Newborn Puppy?"

"Amanda! No, no cry. Happy! Smile!" Peter tried consoling her by grinning.

Amanda mimicked Peter by putting a grin on her face. Huh. This is the first time I've ever seen the girl smile. She always looked like she had a stick stuck up her ass when she was human.

"Um...it looks like you've got this Peter so I'm gonna go take a shower. I smell like Lysol and moth balls." Bella ran upstairs to our room and I heard the shower turn on immediately. She's naked in there and lathering herself up with soap. Shit! I should be soaping up her body for her. Damn it! I've got a hard-on again.

"Um...I'll be right back. Bella's a newborn—she'll probably need help showering!" I ran out of the living room, ripped my clothes off, and dove into the shower with my mate.

"What took you so long?" Bella winked as she dropped to her knees.

Indeed, what took me so long.

**Guess what? No, cliffhanger! Wasn't that nice of me? So, let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing your opinions and I can't wait to write back! XOXO**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello All! Thanks for all your fabulous reviews, messages, faves, and alerts! Some of you are hilarious! Jasper will scent you at your leisure and for you men, Char will flash her tatas for you.**

**This chapter contains the Psychotic Keebler Elf and another idiot. I apologize for that, but it was necessary at this point. To make up for it, Amanda says her first words-you'll actually be quite proud of her. Really, you will.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Vicky's POV**

My sister has finally been changed. It was a violent end to her human life, but at least we were able to save her in time to give her a new life. I wasn't happy about the circumstances that led to her change, but I was jumping up and down with joy inside that she was now a vampire.

Our lives have changed so much in the last couple of months. Bella running into the Cullens was the catalyst for change that we needed. We now had parents. Carlisle and Esme were wonderful in giving us all guidance. In addition, I gained new sisters in Charlotte and Rosalie. I was close to both of them because they both knew what it was like to be used and abused. The three of us have talked about and discussed our individual situations and we were able to give each other incredible amounts of moral support. My mother, Esme, also knew what it was like to be abused. Although, she was never raped. She knew what it was like to be beaten everyday. Her human husband used her like his own personal punching bag. She gave us strength whenever we were feeling worthless.

With my new family, I also gained brothers. Emmett was loveable and always there to lend an ear or a hand. He was also smart as a whip. He could hack into any computer system or come up with a simple solution to a seemingly complex problem. Peter, on the other hand, was a joker, but when push came to shove he was the most protective of his family and his mate.

Jasper was someone that I became extremely close to. He and I would go hunting together whenever Bella and Riley met for their brother-sister bonding time. Out of everyone in the family, including my own mate, Jasper had the best understanding of who I was. He understood the two sides to my personality. Sweet Vicky and Lethal Victoria. Sweet Vicky was who I was most of the time—caring, fun, and happy. Lethal Victoria was who I became whenever provoked or threatened—she was ruthless and unforgiving. Lethal Victoria was who Bella and the Cullens met for the first time at that baseball game in Forks. Lethal Victoria was the vampire who was hell bent on vengeance and changed Riley. Sweet Vicky is who my mate, Riley, coaxed out of Lethal Victoria's hard shell. Lethal Victoria is who controlled Alice.

"We need to call a family meeting. Too much has happened over the last few days for us not to discuss it." I heard Carlisle speaking with Eleazar.

"Everyone's here, except for Jasper and Bella." Eleazar scanned the living room. "Someone needs to go get them."

"I'm not doing it. The last time I invaded their private space, the Major nearly took my head off—literally." Peter said.

"Uh...shithead...that's because you offered to tie Bella up, spank her, and have sex with her. Of course, Jasper was gonna go all Major on you. You know how possessive he is. You're so fucking clueless sometimes!" Char shook her head in disbelief.

"I'll go." Rose offered and ran up the stairs two at a time.

Fifteen seconds later, we heard Rose yelling. "Aren't you two fucking done yet? You've been at it for nine hours. Peter is beginning to smell like a fucking Lysol factory! Jasper! There aren't any more places left on her body to scent. I swear you're worse than Emmett! Carlisle's called a family meeting so put some clothes on and get your fucking asses downstairs now!" Rose slammed their door shut.

Rosalie stomped down the stairs and sat back down. "Jasper's gone all possessive vamp again and he's scenting her. They were mid fuck when I got there so they should be down in a few minutes."

"How the hell do you scent and fuck at the same time?" Garrett asked.

"Hell if I know. He was doing it though." Rose said.

"Jasper has always been good at multi-tasking." Esme said proudly. Leave it to mom to find pride in the most fucked up things. Scenting and fucking? Come on now!

A few minutes later, Jasper and Bella walked into the living room, hand in hand, looking completely sated. Jasper sat down on the sofa and plopped Bella down on his lap. Amanda went bounding to them and jumped on a resigned Jasper's lap. I'm just relieved that it's not me that the lapdog's taken a liking to. That would just suck. I have no idea how Edward plans on training her, but he's gonna need our help. The kid has absolutely no experience in dealing with newborns. In all my years with Maria, never once have I seen a newborn that's completely lost all her faculties. She's even lost her verbal abilities. Not a bad thing since she only spouted shit when she was human, but, damn, this was gonna take some work.

"Okay, family meeting time. We have a lot to discuss." Carlisle called us and the Denalis together to the large dining table. "First of all, we need to discuss the issue of newborns. If Vicky's theory proves correct, Bella has seemingly skipped the newborn stage completely. We need to test the theory in front of humans, however. I'll need several volunteers to take Bella to the mall or supermarket to see how she fares and be ready to intervene in case her bloodlust becomes severe."

Everyone volunteered to take Bella. It was decided that it would be Jasper, Carmen, Eleazar, and Garrett that would go. The rest would be on Amanda duty.

"Bella, if you pass this test then I will allow you to attend Harvard as planned. You must keep Jasper or Garrett with you at all times, though—at least during the first year. Fair enough?" Carlisle asked.

"Definitely!" Bella smiled then ran up to hug Carlisle. Amanda followed her and hugged him too.

"Our second, more pressing order of business is the matter of Amanda. None of us were expecting her to be so...erm...helpless. We all lead busy lives, some of us are in school, some of us are working. Unfortunately, though, Edward is going to need help. What I am...excuse me for a minute..." Just then, Carlisle's phone rang.

"Yes Alice?"

The shrill voice of my new pet was coming through loud and clear from the other end. "Um...Father...I was pulled over for a speeding ticket in Beverly Hills, California and for some reason they took me into custody."

"Why did they take you into custody for a simple speeding ticket."

"I don't know. Something about missing a court date in Provincetown. I told them that I've never been in Provincetown, but they flat out refused to believe me."

We all looked up to see Rose and Bella chuckling along with Emmett. Carlisle glared at the three of them, then sighed. "What do you need me to do, Alice?"

"Well, I need you to fly to California and bail me out. Really, Carlisle is it so difficult for you to understand? Are you that clueless?"

Why that insolent little bitch! How dare she talk down to my father!

"Alice, if you want me to bail you out, you're going to have to watch your attitude." Carlisle said.

"Watch my attitude? I'm under duress! They've forced me into this hideous orange jumpsuit. They're not even 100% cotton. They're some sort of polyester blend. On top of that, orange sallows out my complexion." Alice cried. "How can you be so concerned about my attitude at a time like this! Just get me out of this hell!"

Esme looked fierce with anger. She took the phone from Carlisle and spoke. "Alice, you will treat your father with respect. Now, we can't just drop everything and fly to California to bail you out at the moment. We're kind of busy here with Amanda's change."

"Mother, surely Amanda doesn't require a whole family to handle her. She has such a sweet temperament. How difficult can one newborn be?" Alice questioned. "I'm in a real jam here. Please, just bail me the fuck out!"

"Alice, that attitude of yours is getting you nowhere. Think about it before you call us back!" Esme pressed the "end" button and handed the phone back to Carlisle.

"That was interesting. Care to explain—Emmett, Rosalie, and Bella?" My father asked menacingly.

Emmett was the first to speak. "Well, it started off like this. Ro..." He was interrupted by Carlisle's phone ringing again.

"Dr. Cullen speaking?"

"Dr. Cullen. This is Pastor Paine calling. I just received a disturbing phone call from the Provincetown Police Department. I wonder if I might have a moment of your time?"

"Yes, of course." My father replied politely.

"According to the police, there's an outstanding warrant out for the arrest of Amanda Cullen for missing a court date. Apparently, she and Alice were both arrested two weekends ago in Providence for disorderly conduct and assault and battery. I tried to tell them that it must be a case of mistaken identity because Amanda and Edward were at their home two weekends ago. I asked them to take my word as a minister, but they refused to. They said that some of the wildest kids are the offspring of church leaders. Can you believe the nerve?"

"Yes, well..." Carlisle started, but was soon interrupted by the sleazy minister.

"Anyway, I asked them to email a picture of the Amanda and Alice Cullen they were looking for and sure enough the photos were of my daughter and your daughter. I believe our daughters have been taken in by the devil himself. That devil, Dr. Cullen, is your son Edward."

We all started giggling at that one—Edward being the loudest. He was banging his head on the table, clutching his stomach and laughing. "I'm the devil? I'm a 109 year old virgin and I'm the devil. Dad, maybe you should tell him that I've taken to studying Wicca. Better yet, tell him that Amanda and I are at a nudist colony in New Zealand."

Okay, I have to hand it to the little prick. That was kind of funny.

"Ahem." Carlisle cleared his throat loudly so that we'd all stay quiet. "Pastor Paine, why do you feel that Edward is the devil? You said yourself that he was a worthy gift from God."

"Dr. Cullen, prior to their marriage, Amanda promised me that Edward would fund the five million dollars I need to start my own ministry. When she asked him for the capital last week, he apparently refused to provide the funds stating that he couldn't fund something that he had no faith in. Having no faith in my ministry means that he's lost his way with the Lord. Clearly, he's taken up with the Devil."

Carlisle was seething. So was everyone at the table. Amanda, sensing everyone's emotions whimpered and snuggled into Bella. Poor Bella. Bella handled it like a pro and ran her fingers through Amanda's hair in an attempt to calm her.

"Pastor Paine, what makes you think that Edward has that kind of money. My son just recently graduated from college with your daughter. What kind of twenty-two year old has that kind of money?"

"Dr. Cullen, even if your son doesn't, surely you can find it in your heart to support such a worthy cause." Why that fucking greasy, money grubber! Everyone was growling at this point.

"Pastor Paine, aren't you even remotely concerned about your daughter's arrest warrant?" Carlisle asked angrily.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you can help remedy the situation. Her being arrested is going to make me look bad. I looked online and news of their arrest is already in the local newspaper in Provincetown. I'm very upset at your son, Dr. Cullen." Sleazy minister said. "Now, since it was your son that caused the downfall of my daughter, I'm sure you can see where some financial restitution on your part is due to me and my wife."

"Pastor Paine?" Carlisle said gently.

"Yes, Dr. Cullen?" I could just picture the creep on the other end smiling his greasy smile.

"Fuck off!" With that my father ended the phone call. He then turned his scathing glare towards the table. "Isabella, Rosalie, and Emmett! I want answers and I want them right the fuck now! What happened after your arrest?"

"When were you three arrested?" Esme asked perplexed.

"Apparently, Isabella and Rosalie were arrested for fighting in a bar in Provincetown." Carlisle told Esme.

Esme looked deadly. "Well, answer your father kids. Now!"

Rosalie spoke first. "It's possible that Emmett may have superimposed photos of Alice and Amanda onto the arrest records."

"Okay, then how come they want Alice and Amanda Cullen? They're now known as Alice Brandon and Amanda Masen."

"Well, maybe, just maybe I ordered fake I.D.'s for me and Bella, using those names."

"Maybe or you did, Rosalie?" Esme asked.

"Did." Rosalie said.

"What's done is done. Emmett, hack into wherever you need to and expunge Amanda's arrest record. We're going to need to keep Alice's record in there for now since she's already been picked up. It'll look too suspicious." Carlisle said. "Do it now, Emmett."

"Yes, Dad." He said and ran up to his room to clear the records.

"Rose and Isabella. What in hell made you two use aliases in Provincetown?" Carlisle asked.

"Um...we were hanging out at our favorite bar and they already knew us by that name." Bella explained.

"Yes, well why did you two feel you needed to use aliases?" Carlisle prompted.

"It all started out when we went to Provincetown the first time. We were kind of in a wet t-shirt contest." Bella stated.

"A wet t-shirt contest?" Everyone except for Jasper and Amanda burst out.

"Why?" Carlisle asked furiously. "I want to know why the hell my daughters would feel the need to expose themselves in public?"

"Yeah, and more importantly, did you win?" Peter added.

"It's just that no one was there to stop us and we wanted to let our hair down and have fun for once." Rose said. "It was at a lesbian bar anyway so no men saw us."

"Wait a minute! Are you telling me that Alice and Amanda Cullen were in a wet t-shirt contest at a lesbian bar in Provincetown?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah and Alice won." Bella said.

"This shit gets better and better. The prune and the prude are now known lesbian criminals in Provincetown, Massachusetts." Garrett chuckled.

"Language, Garrett!" Carmen chided.

"Sorry Mom." How the hell does Garrett manage to look so remorseful. I can't even manage to look even half as sorry.

"When do they hold these wet t-shirt contests?" Tanya asked.

"I don't know. You'd have to call The Lonely Barmaid and ask." Rose said.

"I'll get on it right away, Tanya." Char was suddenly businesslike and pulled out her iPhone.

I swear those two are insatiable. They don't ever stop. They're total swingers too. It's not uncommon to find Rex in Char's bed or Peter in Tanya's or vice versa. We all just let them be because, hell, it's their lives. As long as they're not in our beds it shouldn't matter at all. Although, Riley and I freaked out one night when we found a naked Char laying in between us. She has a way of sneaking up on you when you're least expecting it.

"I want you girls to both sit and think about your behavior in public and the consequences of your actions!" Carlisle admonished both Rose and Bella. They flashed quick smiles to each other before managing to look dejected in front of our parents.

"Okay, done!" Emmett came downstairs with a smile on his face. "All records of Amanda Cullen have been erased."

"Oh Grizz, I love it when you go all computer geek on me." Rosalie latched on to Emmett's lips and started kissing him furiously. They stopped when Carlisle cleared his throat.

"Okay, now to deal wi..." Carlisle was interrupted by Jasper's phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Jazzy? Jazzy pooh! It's your wife Alice. I'm in a bind, honey. I'm in jail and Carlisle and Esme won't bail me out. You need to fly to L.A., come to the Beverly Hills Police Department and bail me out. Please Jazzy pooh. I've seen you doing this—it's for the best. Afterwards we go back to my hotel and have mind-blowing sex. I can't wait to have you in my pussy. I'll even let you eat my pussy out."

Bella was growling and Amanda was sitting on her lap mimicking her. In fact, everyone was either growling or scowling.

"Who the hell is growling Jazzy? Tell them to stop! They're making me uncomfortable!" Alice sounded like a fucking brat. That's it! I can't take this shit anymore. I held my hand out to Jasper for his phone and winked at him. My brother wagged his eyebrows at me and handed me the phone.

"Hello, my pet." I spoke into the phone. "In a little bind, are we?"

"Eeeeeek!" Alice squealed. "V...V...V...Victoria?"

"Oh, you remember me, my pet. What a good girl. I heard every conversation you had with the family. Lucky for you I happened to be in the room. Now, do I have to remind you about your behavior? Yes or no will do, my pet."

"N...n...no." Alice managed to squeak out.

"Now, you've been a bad girl and you need us to bail you out, yes?" I made sure my tone of voice was sickly sweet.

"Y...y...yes."

"We're going to do that for you, my pet, but you need to learn some patience first and wait for someone to bail you out."

"Yes, Victoria." Alice whimpered.

"Oh, and Alice, you will no longer sexually harass my brother Jasper it really upsets him and his mate. I'll also be teaching you a lesson in respecting your parents. So, be ready for that my pet. Just to be sure you understand, I want you to run your fingernails over that little mark I gave you. Do it now, pet!" Lethal Victoria commanded.

"Aaaagh!" Alice shrieked in pain.

"Good girl. We'll have a few more things to go over when you get back to New Hampshire. Now, I want you to sit and wait patiently. Someone will come and get you out-eventually. No more phone calls, pet." Click. I snapped Jasper's phone shut and handed it back to him with a smile. Jasper grinned and gave me a peck on the cheek. Amanda did the same. Wonderful, now I smell like Lysol.

"Well, you handled that perfectly, angel." My mom said proudly then turned to my dad. "Carlisle, I don't think we should bail her out right away. Why don't we let her stew in jail over the weekend then have Jenks send one of his assistants down to bail her out on Monday?"

"I think that's a terrific idea, love." Carlisle smiled then started the meeting again. "Before we were interrupted, multiple times, we were discussing the topic of Amanda. Clearly, she's going to need help getting through her newborn stage. Right now, she seems to be the most comfortable with Bella, Peter, and Jasper. Unfortunately, Bella's a newborn herself, Jasper will be going to school, and Peter will be working. They simply do not have the time to care for Amanda full time and I would never ask them for that type of commitment anyway. First and foremost, she is Edward's responsibility."

"Dad, may I interject here?" Edward asked. Carlisle nodded and gave him the go ahead. "I know that my behavior in the last five years has been reprehensible to say the least. I said some cruel things about Bella and I forced my decisions and opinions on you when I had no right to. I'd like to apologize for that. I am truly sorry." He took a deep breath before he continued. "I've been working with Riley to relax my standards. He's helped me see that I can't hold anyone, including myself, to the ridiculously rigid set of rules I set."

Well, my husband really is a miracle worker. I have to hand it to him. He got through to the little shit. I still want to hurt him for what he did to Bella in Forks, though, just not as much. Maybe Kate and I can go hunting with him and she can shock him a couple of times.

Edward went on. "I know that this is a lot to ask and I know her past behavior does not warrant your kindness, but I am begging for your assistance in the matter of Amanda. She is still my mate and I feel the pull to her, but I am unequipped to handle a newborn. If you could all just pitch in just a little, I'd greatly appreciate it. The only thing that I have to offer in return is my appreciation and my tutoring services for those of you in school."

Eleazar then interrupted. "Edward, Carmen and I can definitely pitch in. We only ask that you help our girls and Garrett with their schoolwork. The girls are over a thousand years old and have never been in school since women didn't have that option at that time."

"Yeah, Eddie. I could really use your help too. I was never really good at the school thing. Kept chasing boys. I'm kinda nervous about college, I don't have the brains that the rest of ya do." Charlotte said.

"Now, Char, I don't ever wanna hear you chastising yourself like that again!" Peter said. "You have the brains, you just never put in the effort. I've got faith in you sugar." Despite his cockiness and lack of filter, Peter really does love Charlotte. He'll do anything to keep her happy.

Charlotte planted a passionate kiss on Peter's lips. Aww...that was sweet. Oh-oh! Here comes Amanda. Poor Peter, there she goes mimicking Charlotte and kissing him smack, dab on the lips.

"Your mate tastes like Listerine." Peter said to Edward, as he wiped his mouth off with the sleeve of his shirt. He looked like he wanted to vomit.

"Yes, I know. Refreshing, isn't it?" Edward actually looked excited—almost as if he were sharing a good thing about his mate.

"Whatever you say Eddie. Listen, I'll help you with Amanda after work and stuff if you help my wife get through school. Who knows? She may be able to teach you a thing or two too." Peter winked.

"I'll help when I can." Bella said to everyone's shock. "What? Why are you all surprised? She's kind of growing on me. Besides, it's the only pet that Peter and I will ever own together." Amanda crawled over to Bella, climbed onto her lap, and snuggled into her.

The rest of us told Edward that we'd be happy to pitch in. Edward thanked us graciously. The Cullens really are a forgiving bunch, aren't they?

**Alice's POV**

"Miss, that was two phone calls. I'm gonna have to take you back to lock-up now." The prison guard said. I looked up at him, resigned to my fate, and allowed him to put handcuffs on me and bring me back to my cell. The irony was that I could easily break free of the handcuffs, overtake the guard, and just run. I knew the importance of keeping up a human facade though so I just went with it.

I couldn't believe that Carlisle and Esme were so selfish on the phone. They couldn't pull their heads out of their asses and think about the situation I was in, for once. Okay, sure I was the one that was stupid enough to be pulled over for a speeding ticket, but this warrant for arrest for missing a court date in Provincetown, of all places—that's clearly human error. Why would I be in Provincetown? Why would I be anywhere near that place? On top of those charges, I was also booked for using a false name. I guess when they ran my driver's license, a note came up that said, " Known Alias: Alice Cullen." That's why they booked me. All I know is that whomever was trying to sabotage me was thorough. I wonder if it was the Volturi? I better start searching my visions for answers—I have nothing better to do anyway.

I was thrown into a 6 X 8 feet jail cell with a bunk bed on one side and a toilet on the other. My roommate was a large tattooed woman named Bernice who kept winking at me—almost as if she were trying to pick me up at a bar or something. As if? Why would I ever be interested in a woman? I'm Alice Brandon Cullen and I'm a sex goddess. Men fall to my feet in lust. I remember when I was married to Jasper, he used to beg to make me cum. I have to admit that Jasper was good at his job. He knew it too. After a mind blowing orgasm, he'd always have a shit-eating grin on his face. He'd never hover around and expect to hold me or anything stupid like that afterwards. He'd always go on and do his own thing and let me clean up in peace. Most men liked to shower with their mates afterwards, but never Jasper. He was amazing. I miss the physical aspect of our relationship tremendously.

Now, though, my sworn enemy is Bella Swan. How dare the little whore encroach on my territory. My entire family seems to be taken in by her—especially Jasper. Jasper is fucking her. He's actually fucking her. The worst thing is that I thought I had taken care of the little bitch when we left Forks. I knew that Jasper and Bella were mates, but that she'd have to date Edward first before it happened. I knew that almost one year from the day that we left Forks, on Bella's 19th birthday, Emmett would find her, bring her home to New Hampshire, and Jasper and Bella would see each other and become instantly mated. I couldn't let that happen, even though I knew he wasn't my mate—I don't like to share what was once mine—so I worked diligently to find a solution in my visions. My visions told me that if Bella spilt blood on her birthday, Jasper would be completely overcome by our combined bloodlust and there was a fifty-fifty chance that he would drain her. If that didn't happen, I had a back-up plan. I saw it, clear as day, in a vision while I was shopping that Victoria had decided to drain her and leave her for dead. So, with Bella as good as dead and Jasper out of the picture, all I had to do was wait for Edward to meet his true mate, marry her, and change her—then I would meet mine. A split second decision that Victoria made must have changed everything because now, not only is Victoria mated to Bella's brother—who, by the way, is hot as hell—but she is now part of the Cullen family and has some sort of control over me. I've never been so terrified of any one person in my life and my brain seems to automatically register that if I don't do what she says the consequences would be deadly. The worst thing is that she's actually taking orders from Jasper who really seems to like her.

I needed to look for a solution to my current problems. The thing is, I couldn't see anything to do with my family anymore—even Edward and Amanda. I do hope Amanda is doing well, she was so obedient and let me play dress up with her all the time. She never complained like that skank Bella did.

I can't see a thing. At least not anything to do with the family. Oh no. Oh no. They're going to put me on laundry duty here in jail starting tomorrow. Oh God! I've never done laundry in my entire life. Esme always took care of it for me and when I was living in Dartmouth, Amanda did everything for me—she even cleaned our house from top to bottom for us. She did use a boatload of Lysol though. Oh well, can't complain though—beggars can't be choosers.

Hmm...what else? Oh! Oh! I get to meet my mate as soon as I get out of here. I go for a quick hunt, do some shopping, and I'll run into him. Still can't see a face though. Maybe it'll come to me soon.

"Alice, Bernice get your asses down to the mess hall for dinner!" The lock to the cell clinked open and Bernice and I were escorted to the cafeteria. Oh fuck me, I have to eat human food! Probably three times a day by the looks of it. Get me the fuck out of here!

Anything else before I have to eat human food? Ew! Bernice is going to proposition me after dinner. No way am I doing that to her! Absolutely not! I only like men. Oh God! If I don't, I'll end up draining her and get charged with murder. That can't happen either. The Volturi will get involved and execute me on the spot. What am I going to do?

**Garrett's POV**

This should be interesting. Jasper and I are taking Bella to the little country store on Main Street. If that goes well, then we're moving on to the huge Walmart Supercenter on Route 101. I'm hopeful that she'll pass her test because so far she's so unlike any newborn I've ever known. When Vicky thrust that mug AB positive under her nose, she didn't even flinch. I could smell it from the living room and I nearly knocked down Emmett in order to go get it. Animal blood is okay, but it's just not as satisfying as the real thing. Unfortunately, with this family, it's go vegetarian or goodbye.

Jasper and I climbed out of my truck with Bella. Carmen and Eleazar were parked, waiting in their Mercedes in case they were needed. We walked into the store where Bella was to ask for a pack of Marlboro's and some lottery tickets.

Bella was completely calm as she approached the counter. "Hi. Can I have a pack of Marlboro's and two Powerball tickets please?"

"Which one's?" The store clerk asked. Bella looked to me since they were my cigarettes.

"Red." I whispered, so only she could hear.

"Uh...the red ones please."

"I'll need to see your ID." The clerk said.

Bella handed her ID over to the clerk.

"Such a pretty little thing." He said. "Too bad you aren't single." Why that fucking scum bucket! Don't you go flirting with Bella!

The clerk looked scared when Jasper and I both started growling. "Uh...that'll be $10.52." He gulped, then pissed himself.

Bella gave him fifteen bucks, told the guy to keep the change and high tailed it out of the store and into Carmen and Eleazar's Mercedes.

"That bad?" Eleazar asked sympathetically.

"Yes. I can't take these two anywhere. They started growling at the store clerk and he peed his pants." Bella said.

Carmen glared at me and Jasper. "What happened?"

"He looked at Bella." We both said.

"Well, Bella is beautiful. People are going to look at her." Carmen grabbed both of us by our chins. "You two can't go growling at everyone who glances at her. It's going to happen more often than not. Imagine if you were with the three succubus sisters. Now get in your truck and meet us at Walmart."

"Yes, Carmen." We both said as we got into my truck.

"Why the fuck did you have to growl at the guy?" Jasper asked me.

"Me? You're the one that went fucking caveman. I bet you were thinking of scenting her, weren't you?"

Jasper looked out of the window. "Why the hell would I scent her there? That guy was no threat."

"We were both growling at him fucker!"

"Fuck you!" He yelled.

"Fuck you too!" I lit up a cigarette and offered him one, which he took. "You know, you lucked out completely with your mate, man."

"I know. She could have easily been like Amanda. I can't even imagine it. I've never met a newborn like Bella before and I've known thousands. The only bloodlust I felt in that store was coming from you and me. When I took her hunting yesterday, she heard the heartbeat and went for the kill, but I felt absolutely no bloodlust coming from her."

"Gee whiz! Victoria said that Riley was like that too. Lucky fuckers! It took me years before I could be around humans. I'm actually worried about starting school. What if I drain a classroom full of kids?" I was more than worried. I would be alone in all of my classes since I'm an undergraduate and Jasper and Bella were graduate students.

"You'll be fine. Your bloodlust isn't as bad as Edward's is. His is actually the worst in the family and he can still control himself in a classroom full of kids. Have you met your singer yet?"

"Yeah, I drained her years ago. I couldn't control myself. I was only two years into this life when it happened." I took a drag off of my cigarette.

"Well, they say you only have one singer, so at least you know that you won't be meeting anyone as tempting." Jasper assured. "If you need help, just call or text me. We're on the same campus so I'll find a way to get to you."

We got out of the truck and were met by Carmen, Eleazar, and Bella. I was actually pretty excited about going to Walmart. I'd heard about this store, but never been inside one. Hell, the only stores I've ever really been in are convenience stores where I just run in for my smokes and an occasional lighter.

"Welcome to Walmart. Have a nice day." An old man in a blue vest greeted us. Well, that's friendly. I might as well get used to interacting with humans. I was a human-drinking nomad up until five years ago and the only human interaction I had for over two hundred years prior to that was immediately before I drained them. In Denali, we were secluded so we rarely dealt with humans. I extended my hand to shake the man's hand.

"Good day, kind sir. My name is Garrett? How fare thee today?"

"Wrong era, Garrett." Jasper whispered. Damn! I keep forgetting to adjust my speech to keep up with the times.

"Good, I suppose." The man seemed a little perplexed. Okay, what do I do now? Oh, I know, I'll talk about the weather.

"A fine day out today, I must say." I said.

"It's overcast and cloudy. It's probably going to rain." The man answered.

"Yes, I know. Perfect day for our kind...oops...I meant humans...yes, that's right...humans to go out."

"Right. Let's go Garrett. We've got some shopping to do before we take you back to the 'facility'." Jasper dragged me into the store. "He's called a greeter, man, his job is to greet people at the front as they walk in. You're not supposed to have conversations with them."

"Well, how the hell was I supposed to know? We didn't have greeters back in my day."

"Okay, Bella, if you need to leave. Just let one of us know. You'll be within arms reach of someone at all times." Eleazar said a little worried.

Bella nodded, then grabbed a shopping cart and started pushing. "God, I love this store. Everything you need in one stop. Look, we can even get the oil changed. Okay, so what do we need?"

"Well, we need tons of clothes for Amanda." Carmen said. "Her closet is filled with functionally obsolete clothes that Alice chose. We're just going to get rid of those and purchase some easy pieces. She'll need everything from underwear to t-shirts to jeans. I suspect she'll be going through at least ten outfits a day until she can gain control of her motor skills."

"Fuck me!" Bella exclaimed in shock. "Ten outfits a day?"

"Language, carina!" Carmen scolded.

"Lo siento." Bella apologized in Spanish. "Okay, let's do this. Do you have her sizes?"

"Yes, carina, now we should get a hundred of everything plus two hundred bras and panties."

Bella's jaw dropped. "I think everyone's going to need a shopping cart."

We loaded up the carts with clothes for Edward's mate. With Bella choosing her outfits, for the first time in her life, the girl was going to look her age. Alice is going to throw a fit when she finds out what Bella's done to Amanda's wardrobe. I can't wait.

"Carmen, is there stuff we can get Amanda to mask her scent a little?" Jasper asked. No shit, the girl smells like a nursing home.

"Sure, maybe we can change her soap and shampoo so she doesn't smell like a hospital waiting room mixed with kitty litter." Carmen said.

"Why is it that Edward isn't repulsed by her scent?" Bella asked.

"The boy has strange tastes. It's clear she's his mate, though, because he's the only one that thinks she smells refreshing. He told me that her scent reminds him of his boyhood home." Eleazar crinkled his nose.

We all had disgusted looks on our faces after hearing that. He must have grown up in a stinky home. Carmen loaded the shopping cart up with scented soaps and shampoos for Amanda. "Hey, Carmen, we used to mask my dad and my scents by spraying everything with Lysol because it was repulsive to Victoria. What if we sprayed all her clothes with Febreeze?"

"Carina, that might work. At this point we should try anything and everything. I think my sense of smell is becoming dulled." Carmen and Bella filled the shopping carts up with all sorts of air fresheners and fabric refreshers.

Eleazar then spoke. "Bella, you seem to be doing fine. How do you feel? Any bloodlust?"

"Normal." Bella said.

"I don't feel an ounce of bloodlust coming from her." Jasper said. "More from the four of us, but minimal. It's not like going to one of these places with Edward or Alice."

"Interesting." Eleazar had a fascinated expression on his face. "Well, let's see what all the hype about Walmart is and look around, then."

We walked around the store and I was amazed. I had never been to a store such as this. It was one-stop shopping at it's best. "Look! They even have bicycles here." I couldn't help myself. I've always wanted to try riding one of these. I grabbed a blue one and mounted it. Eleazar grabbed a red one and did the same. "So how do we drive these things?"

"You hold on to the handle bars to steer and put your feet on the pedals and propel yourself." Bella explained.

"Sounds easy enough." Eleazar said. "Let's give it a go." With that Eleazar and I both did as Bella instructed. It really was easy. Soon the two of us were pedaling the bicycles throughout the store. I started going faster and soon the humans and the store aisles looked like blurs to me.

"Um...guys. You should probably stop. You're attracting attention." We heard Jasper speaking from somewhere.

Good idea. How do I stop this? "How do these things stop?" I called out.

"Pull back on the silver levers sticking out from the handles!" Bella yelled out.

Ah, these must be it. I pulled back on the levers and was suddenly flung unceremoniously off the bicycle onto a display of apples. I saw Eleazar landing a few feet away from me into a display of tomatoes. Oh fuck.

The store manager came running up to us out of breath, his face as red as a lobster. "I'm tired of you college kids coming in here and pulling pranks in the store. Out! Get out!" He yelled, then turned to Carmen, Bella, and Jasper with their five loaded shopping carts. "You three—leave with them! Did you think you could just fill up the shopping carts and abandon them somewhere in the store just to make more work for my employees. Out! Get out! Don't come back either!"

The five of us left the store quickly. We didn't need the manager calling the cops on us or anything.

"I swear, I can't take you boys anywhere!" Carmen huffed. "Now what are we going to do? We still have to shop for Amanda."

"Yes, and we have to buy bicycles for everyone. Those are fun!" Eleazar added. He was covered from head to toe in tomato juice just like I had bits and pieces of apples clinging to me.

"We can always drive to a different Walmart or go to Target. I don't see the point in going to the mall if Amanda's going to be ripping through ten outfits a day." Bella said.

In the end, we decided to go to a different Walmart. Bella and Carmen ran in to pick up new clothes for Eleazar and me first. Bella even grabbed some bath towels so we could wipe off some of the apples and tomatoes before getting dressed.

"Bella picked the clothes. You both look so young!" Carmen commented smiling. Bella had put us both in sneakers, jeans, and sports team jerseys. Mine was a Boston Red Sox baseball jersey while Eleazar wore a New England Patriots football jersey. "Now, you two behave yourselves this time when we go into the store!"

We quickly grabbed what we needed for Amanda and loaded everything into the trunk and the backseat of the Mercedes. We didn't have room in the bed of my truck because Eleazar insisted on purchasing bicycles for every Cullen and Denali. He apparently found a new hobby.

We drove back to the Cullens where everyone was waiting anxiously to hear about Bella's first day out in public. "What took you guys so long? How did Bella do?" Carlisle asked from the front porch where he had apparently been pacing the entire day.

"She was fantastic!" Eleazar beamed. "Not an ounce of bloodlust."

"She was well behaved too—unlike these two." Carmen pointed at me and Eleazar.

"Excellent. I suppose you can go to school as planned, Bella." Carlisle had a look of pride on his face as he engulfed his newest daughter in a hug. "So, why are you all so late and why are there twenty bicycles in the bed of Garrett's truck?"

"Dad, Uncle Eleazar and Garrett decided to take up bike riding." Bella explained. "They tried them out at the first Walmart and ended up crashing into a display of apples and tomatoes. The manager threw us out and banned us from the store so we had to go to a different Walmart."

"That's why we're so late." Jasper added. "We had to drive all the way to Salem to a different Walmart."

Carlisle had an amused expression on his face. "Eli, you're looking a bit young?"

"Yes, well, I had tomato juice all over me. Bella dressed me up."

The others soon came out of the house to greet us and to help us unload. Amanda came bounding up to Bella and jumped up into her arms. Bella just patted her head as if she were a baby. The women all went to Edward and Amanda's room to try to weed through her wardrobe and to teach her how to dress herself while we men sat around the living room to talk.

Suddenly, Jasper's cell phone started ringing. "Oh, thank God I got you Jazzy! This is your wife." It was the fucking delusional pixie bitch.

"I don't have a wife." Jasper stated. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Jazzy pooh! I'll always be your wife. You really need to get me out of here! They want me to work in the laundry room! Can you imagine?"

"How are you using the phone, Alice?" Jasper asked.

"I snuck out of the mess hall and into one of the offices. Jazzy please! I won't survive in here. It's brutal in here! If you get me out I saw in a vision that you and I have mind-blowing sex afterwards at the Beverly Hills Hotel."

"I have mind-blowing sex everyday Alice." Jasper chuckled.

"Yes, well the whore you're with is only a human. How mind-blowing can it be?" Alice fucked up right then and there. Calling Bella a whore wasn't helping her case at all. We all started growling.

"Why the fuck is everyone growling? It's a fact, Bella Swan is a greedy, money grubbing whore! You should just let Amanda eat her!"

Peter took the phone away from Jasper—who, at this point, looked like a raging bull. "Hello, bitch." Peter said casually.

"What do you want? Put my husband back on the phone!" Alice ordered.

"Bitch. I just wanted to ask, how are ya liking your new cellmate?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Alice scoffed.

"Really, cause something popped into my brain a few hours ago. I didn't realize you swung that way, bitch. That would explain why you couldn't keep your man."

"You...you...how dare you!" Alice screeched.

"I want to offer you some words of wisdom, bitch. First of all, stay away from the Major. You try and call him again and I'll make sure to fuck you up then turn all of the pieces into ash. Second, you even talk about Bella again, in a less than flattering way, I can promise you that I'll burn your ass alive. Oh wait a minute. You don't have an ass." Peter then paused before speaking again. "Third and this is the most important part, watch your teeth when you go down on your cellmate. You wouldn't want the Volturi coming to get ya now, would ya?"

"You...you...if you tell anyone..." Alice started threatening Peter just as Amanda came flying onto Peter's lap."

"Goodbye, bitch." Peter said to Alice.

From atop Peter's lap, we heard Amanda say her first words loud and clear—just before Peter ended the phone call. "Goodbye, bitch." As the word's left his mate's mouth, Edward's jaw hit the floor.

Peter looked like a proud father as he heard the words tumble out of her mouth. "Good girl." He cooed as Amanda snuggled up to him. Aww...what a touching moment.

**So, anyone want to kill Alice? What about our greedy minister? I can't believe the vamps got thrown out of Walmart, can you? I'd love to hear what you think. I'll write back, you know I love chatting with ya! XOXO**


	20. Chapter 20

**Almost all of you were moved by Amanda's first words. I was too, just like Peter was. Thank you very much for all your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. They were all so encouraging. I truly appreciate each and every one of you. Jasper will check out all your angles on a... Read on, to find out.**

**This chapter contains sex, parental sex, swearing, shopping, oh and disinfection of a dangling male organ.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Bella's POV**

"Oh God! More! Fuck yes! Fuck! Harder! Yes, yes, yesssssss!" I could hear them loud and clear. I could hear everyone loud and clear. My new vampire hearing was better than any fancy James Bond listening device ever invented. I looked over at my mate and he looked just as uncomfortable as I did.

There's something about listening to your mom and dad go at it like rabbits that completely makes every shred of desire you have fizzle.

"Jasper, they've been at it for the last six hours." I noted. "Is this normal?"

"Pretty much. You get used to it after a while, but Carlisle's hitting it really hard tonight."

"Don't say stuff like that—it's just ew!"

"Who do you belong to, Esme? WHO?"

"You Carlisle! YOU! God, I need to cum! Yessss! Bite me now!"

We both heard them roaring to an orgasm, Carlisle, no doubt, marking Esme.

Jasper and I both looked at each other uncomfortably and sighed. We had come up to our room six hours ago ready to have our own fun when we were cock-blocked by the sounds of our parents fucking. They haven't let up yet either.

"Another round, Nurse Esme?" We heard Carlisle asking Esme in a sultry voice.

"Are you hard already, Dr. DILF?" Esme cooed.

"Let's go for a hunt, baby" Jasper said with urgency. We were both dressed in pajamas, but at this point expediency was key and we needed to get out of the house now! We jumped off of our balcony and ran through the forest hand in hand. Jasper quickly took down an elk and drained it. When he saw that I hadn't hunted he spoke. "Bella, you have to hunt. You're still a newborn and you need to feed more than usual. After the first few months you can start to ease off, but for now you have to hunt everyday."

"It's just that I'm not really thirsty." I complained. Well, it was true. I wasn't thirsty at all.

"Wait here." My mate directed. A couple of minutes later he was back with a mountain lion. He quickly snapped it's neck and presented it's jugular to me. "Drink Bella."

I latched on and quickly drained it. Huh, I guess I was thirstier than I thought. When I finished I looked up into Jasper's pitch black eyes. He quickly dropped the mountain lion and pulled his pajama pants down. "Still want that tree, Bella?"

Oh, yeah, I know what he wants. I smirked, shook my head, then kneeled in front of my mate, wrapping my lips around his cock. I was loving the sensation of Jasper's cock sliding in and out of my mouth. He was moaning my name enjoying the feeling when suddenly we heard voices yelling, "Amanda stop!" We both turned towards the voices, Jasper's cock still in my mouth, to see Amanda, Peter, Edward, and Charlotte all staring at us. Amanda quickly ran to Peter, ripped his pants off, and took his cock in her mouth—mimicking me. I quickly released Jasper and pulled his pants up. Edward stood stock still with his mouth hanging open. Charlotte and I both covered our mouths not knowing what to do.

"Um...a little help?" Peter begged. "Please?" Amanda was not releasing Peter's cock. She was just staring straight up at him with his cock in her mouth trying to mimic what I was doing to Jasper earlier. Vicky, Riley, Rose, and Emmett soon joined us in the clearing.

"Had to get away from the house too, huh?" Emmett asked. "Mom and Dad making it is still the biggest cock-blocker for us." Rose and Vicky both slapped him on the back of the head simultaneously.

"Ow, what the fuck?" Emmett cried as they both pointed to the sight of Amanda attached to Peter. Emmett's eyes grew big as saucers, he then scratched his head clearly confused.

"What happened?" Vicky asked.

"Why don't you demonstrate, Bella?" Peter suggested.

"Yes, Bella. I'd like to see you continue what you were doing." Edward smirked. "You're very talented."

"Did you just crack a joke, Eddie?" Peter asked laughing. "Um...seriously, though, someone needs to remove your mate from my cock."

Edward tried to pull Amanda off, but she just threw him across the clearing never releasing Peter. Charlotte then tried to gently pry Amanda's mouth open to free her husband. Amanda let go for a split second and bit Charlotte on the arm, then resumed sucking on Peter's cock once again. "Ow, fuck!" Charlotte yelped.

"Is someone gonna tell the rest of us what happened so we can help figure out a solution or do we have to stand here watching Amanda disinfecting Peter's cock?" Vicky asked.

Char spoke up. "Amanda recognized Bella's scent and ran to find her. Bella was here with Jasper on her knees giving him head. We all yelled for Amanda to stop when we heard Jasper's moans. It was too late though. As soon as she saw Peter, she mimicked Bella and latched on to his cock. So, here we are now."

"Any ideas, Major?" Vicky asked. "I have to be honest with you, this is a first for me."

"I hate to say this, but I think Bella's gonna have to approach her. She's the only one Amanda will listen to." Jasper said then turned to me. "Babe, you're gonna have to walk up to her slowly. Go at human speed and kneel down to her level so you see her eye to eye, then get her to release him."

Peter suddenly looked as if he were a kid in a candy store. "Oh, yeah!" He said. "I'm waiting Miss Bella."

Shit! I guess it's me or nobody. I slowly approached Amanda and got down on my knees. I looked her in the eyes and said. "Amanda, open." I, then, opened my mouth to show her what I meant. Amanda opened her mouth, but just as Peter tried to pull his cock away, I closed my mouth and she clamped her mouth shut hard on him.

"Ouch!" Peter said. "That hurt!"

"Oops, sorry." I tried again. "Open."

This time when she opened her mouth, I kept my mouth open. I grabbed Peter's cock with one hand and gently popped it out of her mouth. "Uh...hang on to that, babe, and jerk it a little." Peter said to me. "Better yet, throw it in that pretty little mouth of yours and suck on it." I could hear Jasper growling from where he was standing. I let go of Peter, but not before giving his dick a tight squeeze that made him yelp. I looked Amanda in the eyes and started standing slowly. Amanda did the same, never taking her eyes off of mine. I slowly took her hand and walked to Edward. I grabbed Edward's hand with my other hand hoping that Amanda would copy me and do the same. She did. I released Amanda's hand and leaned into Edward, putting my head on his chest. Amanda did the same. Edward put his arms around Amanda, quickly securing her to him. I slowly let go of his hand and scurried off to Jasper's waiting arms. Amanda was purring into Edward's chest.

Everyone was completely silent. All we could hear was the sound of Amanda quietly purring. Edward quickly sat down and put Amanda on his lap. Jasper picked me up and sat across from Edward and Amanda, quickly placing me on his lap. He motioned for the other couples to do the same. They immediately took up similar positions and flanked us. It was almost as if we were sitting around an invisible campfire. "Thanks." Whispered Edward to all of us.

We were good for about twenty minutes. Amanda continued purring into her mate's chest until nature called. A coyote came wandering into our site. Before we knew it, Amanda had taken off after it. We all ran like hell to grab her—Edward, Riley, and me were the fastest. Amanda quickly took down her prey and was a bloody mess. As we approached her, she was feral and crouched for attack. We all stood still, without moving a muscle, until Edward tried to grab her. All hell broke lose. Amanda jumped on Edward and bit straight into his collarbone—then she ripped his arms off.

Jasper and Peter quickly subdued her. Amanda was thrashing uncontrollably. Jasper used his gift to knock her out. He picked her up and took her to a nearby pond to wash the blood off of her. Meanwhile, Char and Vicky put Edward back together.

"What just happened?" Riley and I asked at the same time.

"Amanda was acting on sheer instinct. She smelled the coyote's blood and went after it and, then, when she saw Edward—she sensed her mate and marked him. The only problem is that she still doesn't understand that Edward is her mate so she ripped his arms off." Vicky said.

"Eddie, you can't just grab a newborn. You have to approach her calmly." Charlotte reproached him then turned to Vicky. "Sis, I think we're gonna have to give Eddie here some lessons in handling a newborn. He doesn't know jack shit. Even Bella knows more than he does."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Vicky sighed. "I can't believe you've been a vampire for almost a hundred years and you don't know the basics about handling a newborn. How could you even consider changing someone without prior knowledge? You may have tons of degrees, but you lack common sense!"

"Vicky, go easy on him. He just suffered a trauma." Riley said.

"A trauma? A trauma? No, Riley! I will not go easy on him! This kid has no idea what he has in store for him and it's high time he learned the truth! You don't fucking go around changing people if you don't know what to do. He doesn't know scat about caring for a newborn. What did you think, Edward? Did you think you'd change her and life would be merry?"

Edward looked down at his feet, defeated. "Edward, you must have seen what it was like when Esme, Rosalie and Emmett were changed. Weren't you there for that?" I said.

"Yes, but I was too selfish to care. Carlisle handled everything on his own. They weren't as bad as Amanda anyway." He said. "It's not fair! Why does Jasper get the mate who doesn't even have a newborn phase. Why? Why does he get the girl of my dreams and I get stuck with...with...whatever the hell she is? Why? Jasper is a murderer! He culled thousands of newborns and razed half of Texas and New Mexico in order to gain territory. I was never that bad. Still he gets you, Bella. You! Why? You're all I've ever wanted. Why can't you love me? Fuck my life!" He stood up and kicked a tree so hard that it snapped into two.

I didn't know what to say to that—neither did anyone else.

"Take Amanda back to the house. Edward, you and I are going to talk. Now." Riley spoke in an uncharacteristically deadly tone. We all rushed back to the house. Amanda in Jasper's arms still knocked out.

As soon as we got inside, I broke down. I couldn't handle the stress anymore. I felt Emmett's solid arms picking me up and cradling me. "Sissy. Don't let Fuckward get to you. He can't handle the fact that he's lost control of his life and he took it out on you. He should never have done that."

At this point, I was sobbing uncontrollably. "I know." I whimpered and snuggled closer into Emmett's chest. "I still feel bad for him though. Um...I need to get some fresh air." I walked outside and did some deep breathing. I tried to do a couple of yoga poses, but that didn't help at all, so I decided to go for a quick run.

I ran. Ran like the wind. It felt so wonderful, so free. I didn't want to stop—ever. I didn't care where I was running to—I just knew I wanted to run. So, I kept going. I didn't even notice that night turned into day then to night again. I just kept going. Suddenly, I stopped. Everything smelled familiar—as if I had been here before.

I found myself standing in front of our old house—Charlie's house. The new owners were fast asleep. I could hear their heartbeats and some light snoring. I have no idea what compelled me to do it, but I did. I jumped up into the tree by my old room and hopped onto the ledge. I quietly slid the window open and climbed in There was a little boy sleeping with not a care in the world. Probably dreaming of superheroes and race cars. I smiled. So sweet. So innocent. So lucky.

I turned back around to leave when I stepped on a loose floorboard. Funny. That wasn't there before, must be new. I tried to secure the floorboard down, but instead it popped open as if something were blocking it. Inside, there was a manila envelope with my name on it. Interesting. The scent was faint, but easily identifiable—it was Edward's. I took the envelope, then carefully replaced the floorboard and jumped out of the window.

I ran to the only place I could think of to go—Charlie's grave. I kneeled in front of his headstone and broke down. "Hi Daddy. I'm here. How are things up in heaven? I bet you're probably fishing all day long with some really cute blonde babe, aren't you?" I paused. "Daddy, you probably already know this, but I'm dead. By dead, I mean in the clinical sense. I'm still walking the Earth though. The only thing is, I'm a vampire while you're an angel. I have a mate, Daddy. His name is Jasper and he's really sweet—maybe a bit rough around the edges, but he takes care of me and he's my everything. Riley and Vicky are fine, too, Daddy. They still take care of me just like they promised you they would."

I took another deep breath and dabbed at my eyes which were clouded by venom tears that I could never shed. "Daddy, life doesn't get easier does it? It doesn't matter whether we're human or vampire, life just happens and we have to learn to roll with it, just like you've always said, don't we? It's just that sometimes, like today, I become so overwhelmed and I'm not so sure how much I can take. Daddy, I really wish you were here. I wish you were still alive to guide me, Riley, and Vicky. We love you so much."

I sobbed openly now and just let myself go. I was releasing all the pain I had been feeling for days now. The pain from being attacked, the pain from not being able to control my shield which ultimately led to the end of human life. If I had been able to control my shield, I would still be human, but more importantly, my mother and sisters wouldn't have had to commit murders in my name. I would have done the same for them at any time, though. I had additional stress in my life now. My ex-boyfriend was apparently still in love with me, but I couldn't return that love and I felt bad about it. I knew what it was like to be in his shoes and it hurts. I also had the added responsibility of his wife. The same wife that burned my books and called me a devil worshipper. For some reason, Amanda thought of me and Peter as her parents. She was completely helpless and the thing is, I knew that it easily could have been me that were in her shoes. Would she have done the same for me? Somehow, I doubt it, but I planned on taking the higher road. Peter and I talked and we decided to help shape her together before Alice could get her evil claws in her.

The hairs on the back of my neck were suddenly standing. I sensed someone or something watching me. I quickly got into a crouched position and scanned the area. Nothing. Out of nowhere, I was blanketed with an overwhelming sense of calm and I felt a pair of warm arms pick me up and cradle me before he sat down pretzel style in front of Charlie's headstone and spoke. "Hello Chief Swan. My name is Jasper Whitlock. I wanted to properly introduce myself to you. I'm Bella's mate. I wanted you to know that I love your daughter, sir, and nothing can ever change that. She's my everything. Without her, I can't exist. That's the truth, sir. I swear to you that I'll take care of her to the best of my ability even when she's being stubborn. I promise you too, sir, that I'll make an honest woman out of her, if she'll have me. Chief Swan, it's getting to be daylight and we need to get going, but know this, you can rest easy knowing that Bella's in good hands and being looked after. You never have to worry about her, just fish to your heart's content and wink at the hot blonde babe for me."

Jasper then looked into my eyes and prompted me to say goodbye. "Daddy, I'll see you later. I'll be back to talk again. I love you so much." Just then, a ray of sunlight filtered directly onto Charlie's headstone and filled my body with hope and love. "Thanks, Daddy. I love you." I acknowledged the love that I was sure that Charlie sent to me.

Jasper picked me up bridal style and started running. It was a rare, sunny day in Forks, Washington and we needed to find shelter fast. On top of that, I was still in my pajamas. He stopped at the Cullen's old house and kicked the front door open. "We're gonna have to fix that before we leave. I think Esme still has extra doors stored in the basement." Jasper stated. "You feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you." I said. "I don't know what happened. I was trying to calm myself down when I had a sudden urge to run. I couldn't stop after that. How did you find me?"

"I was right behind you the whole time. I was watching you when you were doing yoga which, by the way, you're doing naked in our house from now on. Anyway, when you started running, I immediately followed. You didn't feel the pain from the mating pull at all, did ya?"

"Come to think of it, no I didn't." I smiled. "I love you, Jasper."

"I love you too, Bella." He pulled me onto his lap and nuzzled my neck. "So, what did you find in your old house?"

"Oh, yeah, this thing." I remembered the envelope that I found under the floorboard. "I have no idea what it is. It's addressed to me and Edward's scent is all over it. Let's open it."

I opened the big envelope and let the contents fall onto the coffee table. It was the CD of Edward's music that he gave me for my birthday, along with now expired airline tickets to Jacksonville from Esme and Carlisle, as well as every single photo of me, him, and the family that he took away from me when he broke up with me. Within the pile of photos, there was a single photo that stood out. It was a picture that Emmett had taken of me and Jasper at the prom. My leg was still broken and I had lost my balance and Jasper had caught me and swept me into his arms. Emmett had snapped the photo just as I looked into his eyes, smiled, and thanked him. I picked the photo up. "We should frame this."

"I believe we should, klutzy." Jasper chuckled.

"Hey, I outgrew my klutziness!" I pretended I to be hurt by his comment.

"I know that, but when you were in Forks, you'd trip over your own two feet." Jasper laughed then looked seriously at me. "Why would Edward hide those things from you?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was his own warped way of breaking up with me. He told me that he wanted it to be like he and your family never existed. He said that my human mind was like a sieve and I'd eventually forget everything. Maybe this was his skewed way of helping me forget while helping himself too."

"Bella, you know all those things that Edward said about me taking out half of Texas and New Mexico are true, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I also know that you, Vicky, Peter, and Char did what you had to do to survive. It's not like you had a choice. You know, it's kind of like slavery in a way. Laurent didn't have a choice when he was first brought to the United States by slave traders. It wasn't his choice to be taken and sold like cattle, but in the end it came to a choice between life and death. He chose life." I paused. "Edward, on the other hand, had a choice. He chose to become a vigilante and go after criminals during his so-called rebellious phase. He actually chose to become a murderer." I pointed out.

"I never thought of it that way." Jasper mused. "Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you remember the part when I was talking to Charlie earlier and said that I want to make an honest woman out of you."

Yeah..." Oh my God! He's not proposing is he? Now? I'm in my jammies and my feet are covered in mud from running cross country without any shoes on.

"Well, I meant it." Jasper inhaled a deep breath before getting down on one knee. Holy fuck! This is it! Shit! "Isabella Marie Swan-Biers, will you marry me?"

Um...uh...my jaw dropped open. This has to be the most romantic thing that ever happened to me and we both look like shit. Not that I ever cared about appearances, but come on—shouldn't we at least look good for getting engaged. This at least counts as a special occasion, doesn't it? Fuck it! "Yes, Jasper, I'll marry you."

"You just made me the happiest guy in the universe." Jasper attacked my mouth with a kiss then ripped off my pajamas. "Babe, it's just you and me in the house and we don't have to be back home for four more days."

He's right. No one listening in, no interruptions. This was sheer bliss. I ripped off Jasper's clothes and pushed him onto the floor. I squatted onto his waiting cock and moaned at the sensation of him filling me. I bounced up and down on my mate taking in every inch of him into my hungry pussy.

Jasper sat up and started licking my nipples, making me shudder and purr. I arched my back to give him better access when, suddenly, I found him on top thrusting in and out of me at vampire speed. "Jasper...oh...feels...good. Oh...oh...OHHHHHH!" I screamed as I reached my peak and sunk my teeth into the area above his collarbone. "Oh my God! Jasper! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bite you!"

Jasper chuckled. "Bella, you just marked me. That's what mates do. You weren't upset when I marked you, were you?"

"No, it's just that...I don't know...I guess I thought it would be planned more or something. I'm not sure what I thought."

"Babe, you can't plan a mating mark. It just happens. Sometimes over and over again in one night. Now come and seal the mark with your venom." Jasper purred as I ran my tongue over his mark.

He picked me up and ran me into the shower. We took our time washing each other, exploring each other's bodies over and over again. Jasper still had some clothes left over while I raided Rose's closet. Her jeans were a little long, but otherwise, everything else fit perfectly. We fixed the front door then spent the rest of the day chatting and reading. Jasper put in a phone call to Jenks mid-morning to see about getting a new ID and papers made by this evening so that we could fly home rather than run.

It was 5 p.m. and Jenks' was meeting us at his office in two hours. "You got everything you want to take with you, babe. We're not coming back." Jasper waited impatiently by the front door.

"Jasper, what's the rush? We don't need to be back for four days—you said so yourself." I kind of wanted to spend some much needed alone time with my mate before heading back to New Hampshire.

"Baby, with the wolves here, we're just not safe with your red eyes. They'll think you're a human drinking vampire. We can come back here after your eyes turn golden in a couple of months. Come to think of it, we need to grab some contacts for you."

Good point. I didn't think of those horrific wolves, nor did I have any contacts with me because I ran here in my pajama pants. "Let me go grab some sunglasses from Rose's room. I think I saw a pair in there."

As soon as I grabbed the sunglasses, Jasper and I were off. We ran towards Seattle and soon Forks was just a blur in the distance. After stopping at the bank, our first stop was at a vision store where Jasper bribed an optician to dispense a hundred packs of dark brown contacts without a prescription. Apparently, you needed a prescription for contacts, even for the non-prescription kind because they're considered medical devices. I never thought about stuff like this.

After popping in a pair of contacts, we were off to Jenks' office. We were forty minutes early, but Jenks seemed to have been anticipating this. "Mr. J...J...Jasper, Miss Isabella...I have your new documents here." The man was terrified of Jasper. He was sweating buckets and was shaking. In my previous dealings with him, he was never this nervous. Then again, I was with Riley and he wasn't as intimidating as Jasper was. Riley was really nice to him. Jasper acted like a mob boss.

"Jenks. I take it you have everything ready?" Jasper's tone of voice was really sinister.

"Y...Y...Yes, of c...c...course." Jenks handed Jasper an envelope. My mate quickly scanned the contents and seemed to be satisfied.

I decided to break the tension a bit. "How have you been Mr. Jenks? It's been a while since we last saw each other." Jenks visibly relaxed after I spoke.

"Yes, thank you Miss Isabella. Your brother Mr. Riley and Miss. V...V...Victoria are doing well, I take it?" I had forgotten that he was scared stiff of my sister after she tore into him about the price he was charging for new documents and demanded that he give us a family discount. Riley and I couldn't apologize enough to him for her outburst. To this day, we never let Vicky deal with Jenks. What if he suffered a heart attack from being scared?

Jasper actually smirked when he saw that Jenks was stuttering Vicky's name. I took a page out of Rose's book and slapped the back of my mate's head and wiped the smile right off of his face before answering Jenks. "Riley and Vicky are fine. Thanks for asking."

Jasper handed Jenks an envelope filled with cash and we left quickly. As soon as we were in the elevator, I turned to my mate. "Why the hell were you so mean to him? He's really a nice guy, you know."

"Keeps him on his toes." Jasper said nonchalantly.

We hailed a taxi and headed off to the airport. "So, where are we going?" I asked him as we approached the ticket counter.

"What do you think of Las Vegas? With all the covered garages and everything being open 24/7, it's a great place for vampires to hang out. The city was made for vampires!

"Awesome. I've never been there. I've always wanted to go." It was true. Vegas sounded like a lot of fun. I've always wanted to try those slot machines too.

The two hour flight to Las Vegas flew by. We rented a Maserati from an exotic car rental company and drove to the Palms Casino Resort. I let Jasper handle everything since I knew absolutely nothing about Las Vegas. My jaw dropped when my mate checked us into the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa for three nights at a whopping forty thousand dollars a night. I just didn't see the point of that kind of extravagance. I would have been fine at a Motel 6, but Jasper just dropped a hundred and twenty thousand dollars like it was nothing. I think my jaw was still hanging open when we got to the room and I plopped myself on one of the sofas because Jasper whipped his dick out and threw it in my mouth. Mmm...I just love the feel of my mate on my tongue. I soon had him shuddering and moaning to an orgasm.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Jasper smirked as I swallowed every last drop of his mouthwatering seed. I was about to say something about the ridiculousness of the suite when he spoke. "I don't want to hear one complaint about the cost Bella. This is a special occasion for us and we're going to live it up the way I want to. Besides, you deserve all of this and more."

"Yeah, but Jasper, this pl..." I was abruptly cut off by mate kissing me.

"Shh...not another word, babe. Let's just enjoy ourselves before we have to head back to reality."

We toured the villa and I was awed by the amenities. There was a full gym within the room complete with a sauna. There was, what appeared to be a poker table, and a huge spa style bathroom. Actually, it had an uncanny resemblance to Jasper and I's bathroom in Amherst. I wonder if Esme modeled it after this one. There was also a huge jacuzzi swimming pool out on the private deck with a gigantic Playboy bunny logo on the floor tiles. The kicker was the bed. It was humongous, round, and it rotated. Oh my God! I planned on doing lots of things with my mate on that circular wonder. The only thing missing from the room was a tree. If it had a tree, it might even be worth forty thousand dollars a night.

"Come on, baby. We have to go grab some clothes. Neither of us have a change of clothes." Jasper took something out of the envelope that Jenks' gave him. "Here, take this. It's yours." It was a black credit card with the name Isabella Whitlock embossed on the front.

I was stunned speechless. "Jasper, I can't take this. You know how I feel. Carlisle and Esme have been trying to give me a black credit card all summer and I won't take it. It's the whole principle of it—it's not money that I earned."

"Bella, you're my mate. Like it or not, I'm taking care of you for the rest of your existence. We're engaged now too, remember? In my eyes, you're already Mrs. Jasper Whitlock. What's mine is yours." He then looked into my eyes with his huge, golden puppy dog eyes and pouted. "Indulge me a little, baby?"

Shit! There I go, falling for him again. Jasper had a way of getting his own way with just one look. "Okay." I breathed, then he gave me one of his panty soaking kisses. At the bare minimum, I needed new panties—lots of them.

We went shopping at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. It was an entire mall full of high end stores. Only in my dreams would I be able to afford any of this stuff. Despite what I told him, I planned on being stubborn and holding my ground until Jasper drove me to a Marshalls or at least a normal shopping mall.

"Don't even think about it. I can feel your obstinance, Bella. You might as well stop whatever you're planning now because I'm not giving in." Jasper looked as stubborn as I felt.

First stop, Agent Provacateur. Jasper didn't even let me pick anything. He just went crazy buying all sorts of lingerie for me. "Um...Jasper, we're only here for three days. I really don't need all those things. There's like fifty pairs of panties alone."

"These aren't just for here. I plan on ripping most of this off of you anyway." Oh God! I think I'm going to cum in my panties. I'll be like the female version of Edward, only they'll call me Jizzella. Doesn't he know that he shouldn't say stuff like that?

"Shouldn't we be buying underwear at Walmart if you're just going to shred them anyway?" I asked.

"Indulge me, Bella." He said. Fine. We'll play your way.

Jasper then took me dress shopping. He bought me several dresses, tons of jeans and tops, and a bunch of shoes to go with everything. Whenever, I tried to complain, he would simply say "indulge me." As if I had a choice. The clothes were really pretty though, and he let me pick what I wanted.

Suddenly, I had a weird thought pop into my brain. I felt oddly insecure. "Jasper, did you do this type of thing a lot with Alice? What I'm trying to say is that I'm not her, I've never really been into shopping."

Jasper was in front of me quicker than lightening. "Never, Bella. Never. Only my mate deserves to be treated this way. Listen, I know that material things hold no meaning for you, but I just feel like spoiling you—you deserve it. This weekend is about you, baby." He pulled me into his chest for a hug and flooded me with calm and love. We were done shopping for me and he asked for help with his stuff. I'm no trendsetter so I tried to help him pick stuff that I thought maybe Riley would pick. Riley always kept on top of fashion trends. I swear, sometimes I think he'd make the perfect gay male, but I know he's straight by the way he and Vicky go at it every night.

In the end, Jasper ended up purchasing everything from Armani suits to simple jeans and t-shirts. He even bought himself a pair of black cowboy boots and a Stetson. God, he looked like heaven. There goes another pair of panties. Maybe Jasper had the right idea when he went psycho at the lingerie shop.

Jasper had all the stores take our purchases to the mall's concierge service and arranged for everything to be delivered to our hotel. He also told the concierge to purchase enough luggage to hold everything and put it on his account. Gee whiz! This was really outrageous! At least we were done, though. I just want to go back to the hotel, run to the gift shop, and find a good book to read.

"One more stop, Bella." Jasper whispered. What? I thought we were finally finished. Jasper took my hand and we walked into a jewelry store called Harry Winston. Harry Winston? The Harry Winston? Isn't that who all the Hollywood celebrities buy their jewelry from?

"Ah...Mr. Whitlock, we've been expecting you. Mr. Winston is sorry that he couldn't be here. You called so suddenly that he was unable to adjust his schedule. Is this your beautiful bride to be?" An Italian man in his thirties greeted us.

"Yes, this is my Isabella." Jasper answered.

"Isabella, you are bellisima just like your name." The man was trying to be smooth. He was laying it on thick. He was probably getting a huge commission off of this sale. "My name is Giovanni."

"Is it ready?" Jasper asked. Is what ready? What the fuck?

Giovanni pulled out a box from the safe. The engagement ring is called "The One" made to Mr. Whitlock's specifications. It has a five carat cushion cut colorless diamond stone in the center surrounded by a pave setting which also encrusts the platinum band. It comes with a coordinating wedding band for you and the groom."

For the second time today, my jaw dropped. "Close your mouth Bella." Jasper whispered so only I could hear. "I'd love a blow, just not in here."

A blow? How could he think of a blow job at a time like this. Oh yeah, he's a man. Typical! I closed my mouth and collected myself as much as possible before I said. "Jasper, this is too much. I can't accept this."

"You can and you will. You're mine, Bella, and only the best will do for you." Jasper slid the engagement ring onto my left ring finger. "I love you."

Damn it! He's done it again. He keeps making me do his bidding just by talking. I wonder if it's one of his special vampire gifts? "I love you, too. Thank you for this, for everything." I said.

I heard sobbing coming from behind the counter. Giovanni was dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. Jasper paid him for the ring and gave him a hefty cash tip. The guy practically started howling after that. Geez! Ham it up a little more, why don't you?

"Let's go back to the hotel." My mate said and took my hand.

"Hey, Jasper?"

"Yeah?"

"We don't have to get married right away do we?" I asked as we climbed into the car. "I was thinking that maybe we could have a long engagement."

"How long is long, Bella?"

"I don't know, maybe after I get my master's degree."

"That's two years!" Jasper exclaimed.

"Unless I decide to go for my PhD." I mumbled.

"I'm not waiting four years, Bella. Besides, why does it matter when we get married? We're gonna be together anyway. We can file this conversation away for later. Let's just enjoy ourselves while we're here." Jasper grinned and started the engine.

**Jasper's POV**

Oh, hell no! I'm not waiting two to four years to tie the knot. She's out of her fucking mind. We're getting married sometime in the next three days and that's final. I already had the marriage license ready to go. All we needed to do now was say "I do" and get the officiant's signature and Bella would officially be Mrs. Jasper Whitlock.

As for the ring, I had ordered it a couple of months ago. There was no way in hell that I wasn't going to make an honest woman of my mate. I loved her with my entire being and I knew she felt the same about me. There were absolutely no reasons for us not to get married.

I smiled at my mate as we walked into our hotel suite. I was forming a plan in my mind to get Bella to say "I do." Oh Bella, Bella, Bella, you have no idea who you're dealing with. "Let's try out that rotating bed. I want to see how you look naked from all angles, baby."

**My, my, my... What could Jasper possibly be planning? Edward certainly went on a rant, didn't he? And Amanda...oh dear. I'd love to hear what's on your mind. I promise to write back, as always. XOXO**


	21. Chapter 21

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**Wow! Amanda's little act with Peter surprised all of you! Thank you for all your reviews, alerts, and faves. I truly appreciate hearing from all of you! Viva Las Vegas with your choice of vamp for each and everyone of you!**

**This chapter contains drunken behavior, lusting, gambling, Claude, Elvis, and a spermal expulsion.**

**This story is AU/OOC. Things will be over the top!**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Edward's POV**

"Take Amanda back to the house. Edward, you and I are going to talk—now." Riley's words were clear as day. We were going to discuss my tantrum immediately. Everyone retreated from the scene. Jasper using his gift to subdue my mate so that he could carry her. My Bella looked at me with pained eyes just before she followed everyone else back home. I had done that. I had caused her that pain.

I didn't mean to go on a rant. It just happened. I didn't expect my mate to be so feral and helpless after her awakening. I don't know what I was expecting, to be honest. Couple that with Bella's total control and her lack of bloodlust and I was already on the verge of a breakdown. When Amanda ran off from us in search of Bella, and we ran into her and Jasper in a compromising position—I was stunned. I tried to joke about it, but inside I was dying. I wished it was me she was doing that to. Then my mate has to go and mimic and her, but instead of running to me she runs to Peter. It took everything I had in me to not go and rip Peter's head off. He wasn't enjoying it and it wasn't his fault. When Bella brought Amanda to me I secured her to my side, but what I really wanted to do was to hold onto Bella. Things were better after Amanda started purring into my chest as mate's do, then the coyote had to go and ruin it all. In an instant, everything went haywire. Amanda ran after the coyote, attacked and marked me, then Victoria and Charlotte chastised me about the responsibilities that come with changing a newborn. That completely sent me over the edge. I knew they were right. I didn't know one thing about raising a newborn. I hated being wrong. I broke down and flew into a jealous rage about Amanda, Jasper, and Bella.

"Come on Edward. We're going on a hunt and then we're going to discuss your issues." Riley and I took off running deep into the forest. We were in Maine when we found a couple of black bears. We each took down one then we found a stream to sit by. "Now, you tell me why you lost control back there, Edward."

"I know I was wrong." I said. "I'm sorry."

"That's not what I asked you. I asked why you lost control, not whether you were right or wrong or sorry." Riley raised his eyebrow as his intense gaze pierced my eyes.

"It was jealousy. Pure and simple. Things just don't seem to be going my way at all. Amanda turned out to be not what I expected. She can barely talk. The only thing she said with some coherence is "goodbye, bitch" and that's only because she mimicked Peter. Not only that, but she seems to have completely latched onto Peter and Bella. She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you Edward. Jasper said that she knows that you're her mate, but because mentally she's about one or two, she can't comprehend it. That's probably why she marked you. She was acting on pure instinct. She has no idea why she did what she did." Riley paused then fixed me with his gaze once again. "What else is bothering you?"

"It's Bella." I admitted. "I just can't understand how she could love Jasper. I'm so jealous. I used to be her everything and now Jasper is and she's his. Jasper is my brother. The brother that tried to drain her on her eighteenth birthday. The one who had the least control, the one who committed untold atrocities in the past, yet Bella still loves him. Why?"

"It's quite simple. She grew up. Believe me, she did a lot of maturing between the time you left her in Forks and now. Bella had to get over you, Edward, otherwise it would have held her back from living a happy life. When she lost both of her parents in a short span of time, she had to grow up fast. Fortunately, Vicky and I were there to guide her, but she matured on her own for the most part. She made lots of mistakes along the way, but she learned from them. She still makes mistakes, we all do. The trick is to learn from them and not let them keep you down."

"Yes, but why Jasper? Why not me? Why did she have to run straight into Jasper's arms after me?" I asked pleadingly.

"Edward, she didn't run straight into Jasper's arms. She had a couple of failed relationships in between with human boys. One was a condescending control freak and the other one was a one man party machine. She gave it a good go with both guys, but neither one was a good match for her. It wasn't until she met Jasper that she finally had a stable relationship. Even then, it was touch and go between the two of them. They worked through most of their difficulties though. It helps, of course, that they're mates."

I pinched the bridge of my nose then covered my face with my hands. I had to let everything Riley said sink in. Basically, he was telling me that I had some growing up to do. "Riley, so what you're saying is that I have to mature a little, right?"

"Not only that, Edward, but you need to learn from your mistakes. You also have to accept the fact that Amanda is your mate and Bella is Jasper's. Those facts will never change."

"Yeah, but I'm not so sure how I feel about Amanda. I know I love Bella."

"Edward, Bella isn't yours to love. She's Jasper's. You know, as well as I do, how screwed up this whole mating thing is. I'm living proof of that. My mate took away my human life for the sole purpose of murdering my sister. I can assure you though that, eventually, you'll fall in love with Amanda. She won't stay the way she is forever and we'll work with you to help her."

"I suppose I don't really have a choice." I sighed. "It's just not fair."

"Life isn't fair. A very wise man once gave me, Bella, and Vicky some words of advice. He told us that life happens, so just roll with it. That man, Edward, was Charlie Swan. He had a way of just rolling with the changes. You have to learn to do the same. Let yourself enjoy life." He paused. "I'm going to talk to Carlisle. I don't think that you finding a job next year is in your best interest. I think you need to go back to high school, maybe as a junior, and try to enjoy what it has to offer. Join the chess club or soccer team or something. I also want you to get a part time job. Something character building, like bagging groceries or working at McDonalds."

"McDonalds? I'm so much better than that. I have countless degrees."

"That's exactly the reason why you should start off with a minimum wage job. You need to see the world as a whole. Edward, you were coddled in both your human life and your vampire life. You have no idea what life is like for real people. You say that you're so much better than someone working at McDonalds, but are you really? There are people there that are working there because that's the only job that they could get. They might be parents who have to support themselves and their children with that minimum wage paycheck. Can you honestly say that you're better than they are?"

I never really thought about things like that. I always thought that I was superior because of my degrees and my intellectual capabilities. I was born into privilege since infancy and I was raised to believe that there were two different types of people in the world—the haves and the have nots. I didn't give one iota of concern to the have nots because I was always part of the world of the haves. Riley was right, my view of the world was skewed.

"Come on, Edward, I'll race you back. You're the only one that can give me a run for the money in a race. We'll get the guys and throw the football around too. I'll teach you some moves." Riley said. I was always game for a race. Riley was super fast so he challenged me.

"Alright, on the count of three. One...two...three!" We were off. We zipped through the forests of Maine and soon we were in New Hampshire and back in front of Esme's home in Amherst. "Hey, I won!" I cheered for myself.

"That you did. Not for long though. We go back the other way tomorrow." Riley insisted.

"You're on!" I challenged. I have to admit it was nice having Riley as a support system. He was really an ideal older brother. "Riley, thank you."

"Anytime kid." He smiled then patted me on my shoulder.

We walked into the house where Amanda was curled up into Peter. Vicky came rushing down the stairs with anxiety plastering her face. "Riley, Riley they're gone. Bella took off running and Jasper went after her. I've been trying to call their cell phones, but Bella's is here and Jasper isn't picking his up. I'm worried."

I was too. Yet another result of my tirade. I felt horrible.

"Calm down, honey. Jasper's a phenomenal tracker, he's probably right behind her and giving her some breathing space. She's had a rough morning." Riley reassured his wife.

"Did you try texting him?" I asked. "It's possible that he doesn't want to alert her to his presence so he's not picking up any calls."

"Good point, Edward. I'll text him now." Rose piped in.

Two minutes later. Rose's phone buzzed with a text. She passed the phone around to us.

From: J Whitlock

To: R Hale

All is well. Bella's running. Probably thinking. She's a minute ahead. Heading due west. I'll text as soon as she stops.

"Phew! She's okay." Rose then turned to me and clocked me in the nose. "You ever make my sister feel bad again and I'll rip your dick off then burn it. You'll have to go through eternity as a virgin eunuch!"

The guys and I played some football, then we spent a couple of hours teaching Amanda how to speak. Those who had to work left. About mid-morning, Charlotte and the Denali girls had to go to the University of New Hampshire campus to register for freshman classes and purchase books. Peter offered to watch Amanda and asked me to go with them and give them advice. I was glad for the break and happy to offer them whatever assistance they needed. Apparently, Peter wouldn't be working until Amanda was stable enough to be left with Carmen and Eleazar.

"Try to enjoy yourself, Eddie. Just go with the flow." Peter winked at me on my way out the door.

What kind of cryptic message was that?

We were in Irina's Ford Explorer on the way to the UNH campus. "Irina, why don't you buy something a little fancier than this SUV, you have the money?" Tanya asked.

"I know I have the money, but there's really no need. This SUV suits me just fine—it's reliable and does well in the snow. I rarely needed a car in Boston, I always walked or took the train. After volunteering at the women's shelter for four years, I realized that material things hold no real meaning for me. You should see what some of these women have had to endure." Irina said.

"May I try driving it?" I asked. I was curious since it's been a while since I've driven an American car.

"Sure." Irina pulled over and let me take the wheel. She hopped into the back where I had been. It was surprisingly easy to drive and it handled really well too. Maybe I'll trade the Volvo in for one of these. I can ask Riley to let me drive his Suburban too.

"So, Eddie." Charlotte started. "Let's talk about sex."

What else is new. This woman lived and breathed sex—literally.

"Um...Charlotte is it really necessary for us to talk about sex?" I asked, slightly terrified.

"Yes. You're a virgin and you need training. Now, how far did you get with Amanda before you changed her?"

"I...uh...I...kissed her. I touched the tip of my tongue to hers for a second. I also held Bella every night so she could fall asleep in Forks." I admitted.

"You're fucking with us, right?" Katie asked.

"Um...no...it's the truth. Scout's honor." I put my right hand over my heart.

"Well no wonder you keep jizzing whenever you see Bella. You have about a hundred years worth of pent up cum. You must have a perennial woody and your balls must be bright blue by now. Can I see?" Charlotte asked as she reached over from the passenger side and unzipped my fly.

"Um...Charlotte...please...I'm driving...I really don't think you should be...what would Peter say?" I desperately tried to keep one hand on the wheel while I tried to zip my fly back up.

I can't believe it. She actually pulled my now erect penis out. "Um...Peter suggested it. He's not as small as you assumed Irina. He's not as big as Jasper or Peter, but he's not what I'd term as small." Char examined my penis a little more. "I'd say he's above average in length and average in girth."

Well, that was nice of her to observe. Oh hell! What am I talking about? The woman has her hand around my penis and her husband suggested it. She's crazy. He's crazy.

"Let me see." Tanya said and peeked over the seat to look. "Not bad. I thought it would be a lot worse by the way he acted."

Wait! What do you mean by a lot worse? How did I act?

"No kidding. I didn't think he had any sex drive whatsoever until I heard about him creaming his pants whenever Bella's around." Irina added.

I then felt a hand slink from between the seats and grab hold of my penis. "Not bad. You and Tanya can work with this." Katie said as she jerked my cock a few times.

Oh God! No! Not here, not in front of them! "Ungh, Bella!" I came all over Katie's hand.

"Um..do you have any wet wipes in here?" Katie asked Irina as she released my penis.

"No, I don't. Edward, pull over at the next rest stop so Katie can wash her hands." Irina ordered.

"I can see you're embarrassed, Edward." Char said kindly. "Don't be, Tanya and I needed to know how much you could take. Not much, by the looks of it, seeing that Katie only jerked you about five times. We're gonna work on your control so you can hold out a little longer."

"Um...b...b...but I'm married." I stuttered. "It's really not n...necessary."

"We're married too and yes it is necessary. Trust me, your lack of ability to hold it in is nothing to be proud of—you tutor us and we'll train you." Tanya said in a matter of fact way. "My first advice to you would be to stop screaming Bella's name whenever you cum. That's a little creepy."

"Um...thank you." I said because I didn't know what else to say. I really need to talk to Riley. This is just too weird.

We enrolled them in their classes and picked up their books. They were all undecided major wise so they all just signed up for core liberal arts courses. It would be simple for me to tutor them.

By the time we made our way back to Amherst it was early evening.

"So, how was your first lesson Eddie?" Peter grinned as I walked into the house.

"First lesson in what?" Esme asked. Oh no—not my mother.

If I wasn't mortified then, I was now completely mortified.

"Oh, Char and the Denali girls are training Edward to be more in control around Bella." Peter stated.

I sat on the sofa and put my head in my lap.

"Well, it's about time. I'm proud of you Edward." Esme patted me on my head. "Self improvement is always a good thing to work on."

"Hey, Edward, stay there for a sec. I'm going to see if I can get Amanda to go to you." Peter said then he sat on my knee and put his head on my shoulder. This was so weird. Amanda copied him and sat on my other knee and nuzzled her head into my neck. Peter slowly got off of my lap. "Edward no big movements. Stay still and she should be fine. She likes it when you rub her back so try that. We also got her to say a few words so work on that with her. I'm gonna take a little break and fuck Char. I'll see you in a bit." With that he was gone and I could hear the amorous couple moaning and groaning as they pleasured each other upstairs.

I tried talking to Amanda a bit. She seemed to respond to her name now. I noticed some photos of our family on the coffee table. Amanda did too. She nodded at me so I pointed to each photo to see who she could and couldn't identify. She was able to identify everyone by their first name. When she got to Peter's picture, she called him "Petey Papa." She looked at Charlotte's picture and said, "Super Tatas." Oh jeez! Leave it to Peter to teach Amanda to refer to his wife as Super Tatas. With Bella, she called her "Belly Mama." Funny, Bella's probably not aware what Peter's teaching Amanda to call her. Emmett was "Emmy," Rex was "Big Major," and Jasper was "Little Major." Peter probably did that to annoy Jasper. I'll have to thank him for that. When I pointed at a picture of me she said, "Edward Mate."

"That's right, Edward Mate." I held the picture of me next to my face so she could identify me.

She pointed at me and said, "Edward Mate" again. Then she nuzzled her face in my neck and I think she licked the mating mark she gave me.

One more picture, it was of Alice. I held it up and Amanda scowled and said, "Bitch."

"Um...yeah, you're absolutely correct Amanda—this is Bitch. Good girl." After I gave her a pat on the head, Amanda nuzzled into my chest and started purring. If only she were more coherent. There were so many things I'd love to try with her.

One by one, those family members at work had made their way home. We spent the rest of the night watching movies. It was already past three a.m. "No word from Jasper yet?" Carlisle asked with a worried expression.

"No." Everyone replied.

"I'm worried, Dad, Bella was barefoot and wearing her pajamas when she ran. At least Jasper had changed." Victoria pointed out.

Carlisle took a deep calming breath. "I'll text Jasper again, kitten. I'm sure they're fine."

A few minutes later, Carlisle received a message from Jasper. "According to Jasper, Bella is talking to Charlie. They're in Forks. He'll text us again later."

"She always used to go to his grave to think things through." Riley mused.

"Dad, you need to text him back and tell him that they need to leave by early evening. The wolves will think Bella's a human drinking vampire." Peter said.

"Oh, I forgot about them. Let me text him now." Carlisle said. Another text came in from Jasper. "He said that they'll hide out in the old house at Forks and leave about 5 p.m."

"Phew! I wouldn't put it past those wretched wolves to attack Bella after what they did to Charlie." Vicky pointed out.

I never thought about the wolves when I left Bella in Forks. I felt horrible for leaving her the way I did. "That Jacob Black always had inappropriate thoughts about Bella." I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, Jacob Black is who murdered, Charlie." Victoria said. I growled at hearing that. "He's not allowed near Charlie's grave and we have it worked out so that we can visit his grave whenever we want without any intrusion from any of the wolves."

I knew it was a wolf that murdered Charlie, but never in a hundred years would I have imagined it to be Jacob Black. Charlie and his father were best friends. How dreadful!

Just before everyone left for work again, Carlisle's phone buzzed with another text message. "They're safe and sound at the house in Forks. Rose, just so you know, Bella borrowed some clothes from you. They're going on a little getaway. They'll be back before the term starts at Harvard in four days."

I think we all felt a sense of relief knowing that Bella and Jasper were safe. Another getaway, though? How often do those two need to go on vacation? Weren't they just in Provincetown?

Just then, Irina piped in with her opinion mirroring mine. "Again? You're joking, right? They were just in Provincetown. Jasper and Bella spend more time away from home than any other couple. Soon they're going to be going away for months, then years!"

"Don't you dare say such a thing, Irina. Jasper and Bella would never spend years away from the family!" Esme objected, worriedly.

"What if they want to live apart from us, Mom?" Char asked.

"I won't allow that to happen ever. You're not to worry, sweetheart." Esme soothed Charlotte, but she couldn't hide her own concerned expression.

I couldn't help, but worry either. Bella was a ray of sunshine in my life and I just didn't think I could exist without her.

**Jasper's POV**

"Turn around, Bella." I'd been sitting in a chair across from the rotating bed, watching my mate pleasure herself for a few hours. I'd been sending her a fuckton of lust and each time she was about to reach her peak, I'd pull back abruptly making her beg me to let her cum. Cruel, I know, but the sight of Bella masturbating was the hottest thing ever. This round, rotating bed let me view her from every angle too.

"Not fair, Jasper! Get over here and help me finish!" Bella yelled.

"I'm not done yet, Bella." I said.

"Well, I'm done with this game!" She climbed off of the bed and, in an instant, was straddling me.

"Oh, alright. I suppose I could let you cum." I chuckled, then carried her over to the bed to fuck her. Soon enough, we were both screaming each other's names in ecstasy. I swear, I can never get enough of my mate.

"We're picking up one of these beds for our house in Cambridge, baby." I stated.

"Yeah, but Jasper, we already have a round bed."

"I know, but it doesn't rotate. We can throw the old one in the guest room. It needs a bed anyway."

"Um...when do I get my tree?" Bella questioned. "You seem to be furnishing our house the way you want to. You even threw a stripper pole in our bedroom Jasper?"

"Okay, I give. How about we put an addition on to the house especially for the tree? I'm thinking that I might want one of those jacuzzi pools too, anyway."

"Jasper, that's ridiculous. We don't need a jacuzzi pool. We already have an oversized jacuzzi in the house and we certainly don't need an addition. Besides, I doubt the City of Cambridge is going to issue you a permit for a jacuzzi pool." Bella pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna try."

Bella threw her arms in the air and rolled her eyes at me. I love getting her in a tizzy. She looked so cute glaring at me with her nose flaring out and her full lips in a pout!

After a dip in the jacuzzi pool and a quick workout in the gym, we took a shower, got dressed, and headed off for a hunt. We drove north, well into the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest and took down a couple of mountain lions and shared an antelope. It was the first time either of us had shared a meal and it was totally erotic. I had to have my mate right then and there after that. Unfortunately, I shredded both of our clothes so I had to pull into the garage at the Forum Shops and call Claude, the concierge and have him deliver some jeans and tees for the two of us while we sat naked in the Maserati. He took it all in stride though. "This is nothing. I've seen it all. One time, I had to deliver a complete outfit to a man and two ladies as they waited stark naked behind that dumpster over there. When I arrived with the clothes, both women were on their knees taking turns servicing him. They didn't even bother stopping when I got there. The man, however, just stood there in all his glory chatting with me as if I were an old friend that he ran into at the supermarket. He gave me a big tip though."

Hmm...sounds oddly like Peter, Char, and Tanya. I tipped the guy a couple hundred and held out three more. "Tell me, the man's last name didn't happen to be Whitlock, did it?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, it was. That's odd, same as you. Two beautiful women were with him. One was a strawberry blonde and the other had platinum blonde hair. Of course, I bat for the other team. That Mr. Whitlock was pretty well hung, although I would have preferred a little more manscaping on his part."

"Thank you, Claude." I said and handed him the other three hundred and rolled up the window so we could change. I turned to my mate. "Bella, baby, we now have some powerful ammo to use against Peter, Char, and Tanya someday, if we ever need to." She started laughing.

We went back to the hotel and took another shower to wash off the grime from the hunt and subsequent sex. The day was overcast, very rare for Las Vegas, so we decided to explore the strip on foot. We hit the Adventuredome and went on a few roller coasters, then grabbed some souvenirs for the family at various shops along the strip. Afterwards, we stopped in at a few casinos along the strip. I kept winning while Bella kept losing. It was my lucky day. Time to put Operation Mrs. Whitlock into motion.

"Baby, let's go back to the hotel and get ready for this evening." I kissed the back of her neck and practically had her panting.

"Okay, Jasper." She said as I took her hand and guided her back towards the hotel. Step one, go back to the hotel room and work my mate up, but don't let her cum. We walked into our suite and I slowly undressed Bella and carried her into the shower. I lathered up her body with soap, making sure to spend a little extra time on her glorious tits and rinsed her off. She was on her knees sucking me off in an instant. Hey, I never said that I couldn't cum—just that she couldn't.

"Oh shit! Bella, I'm sorry baby. I want you to have your turn, but we're gonna be late to the show. You know how you wanted to see Penn and Teller? Well, I got us front row seats."

"Really? I'm so excited! I can wait for my turn. We have to get ready. We can't miss the show. Thank you, Jasper. I love you so much!" She planted a wet kiss right on my lips.

"Darlin', would ya do me a favor and wear that pretty, white dress we bought yesterday? It looks so sexy on ya." I laid my drawl on thick, knowing that it turned her on.

"Of course." She breathed and went to find the dress. I threw on my new Armani suit. When she wasn't looking, I opened the safe and grabbed the marriage license and our wedding bands. Oh, Bella, if you only knew what I have planned for you tonight.

After the show, I took Bella to Studio 54 at the MGM Grand Hotel for some dancing. Step two, get Bella drunk and keep her horny. "Bella, what's your poison darlin'?"

"Oh, whatever, Jasper. You pick." She suggested.

Hmm...Jack Daniels was always a good choice, she likes it, plus it still tastes good to us vamps. "How 'bout some Jack? You've always enjoyed it."

"Good idea."

"Wait here, baby." I went to the bar, slipped the bartender a few hundred and convinced him to give me two bottles of Jack, two glasses, and a bucket of ice. I poured the whiskey into the glasses and held one out for my mate. "To us." I said, as our glasses clinked together. I poured glass after glass for Bella while I only had two. Bella was now a vampire and it would take a hell of a lot of whiskey to get her inebriated. I needed to keep my wits about me tonight.

"Let's dance, baby." I whispered. We danced to a couple of fast songs and then to a slow song. I kept running my tongue over my mark, knowing that it turned her on. She was purring into my chest as we danced. Good, my plan is working so far. We went back to our table and I had Bella finish off the rest of the Jack. Then we headed back to our hotel for a little blackjack and roulette at the Playboy Club.

Fuck yeah! It's definitely my lucky day! I started with blackjack and placed a 100 grand as my bet. The gambling gods were singing to me cause I kept pulling together 21. When I moved on to roulette, the ball kept landing on red 7. I think I just added a few million to my bank account. I looked over to my mate who was looking good and sloshed. Before I had started playing, I tipped a couple of those cute Playboy Bunnies a few hundreds each to keep the Jack Daniels coming—especially for my fiancee, and asked them to keep her company while I was at the tables. They caught my drift and were true to their word. Bella was swaying by the time I finished gambling.

Just as we were about to leave, this time for the Wynn Hotel, the casino manager approached us. "Mr. Whitlock, I'd like to offer you a complementary room in one of our high roller's suites."

"Thank you, sir, but we're already staying in the Hugh Hefner Skyline Villa upstairs."

"Ah, a man with excellent taste. How long is your visit with us for?"

"We checked in last night, we're here for two more nights."

"Let me reverse the charges on your card then, and offer you a complimentary stay." He offered.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's the least we can do for our best guests. I trust we'll see you and your beautiful friend again in one of the hotel's casinos tomorrow night?" The man was aching to win back some of the money the casino just lost. "Let me take care of your bar tab tonight as well." Oh yeah, he was pulling out all the stops.

"Sure thing, we'll see you tomorrow night." I assured him. "Oh, and thanks again."

"Goodbye, girls!" Bella was blowing kisses at the Playboy Bunnies as we were leaving. "Jasper, maybe I should get a job here. Those girls said I could make a couple of thousand dollars in tip money on a really good night. Plus those bunny costumes are really cute. I wonder if they itch, though?"

Hell no! My wife isn't going to work as a Playboy Bunny. She must be drunker than I thought. What the hell is she thinking? I have a hard enough time fighting men off now, Peter and Rex being the worst. I can only imagine the riot Bella in a bunny outfit would cause. In private, however, now that's a different story altogether. Hmm...I'm gonna have to pick up one of those bunny suits for her.

I drove the Maserati to the Wynn Hotel. We were gonna do a little more dancing and drinking at the Tryst Nightclub. I tipped the valet and told him to keep the car up front. Judging from how drunk Bella was, Operation Mrs. Whitlock would come to fruition in the next couple of hours. I tipped the manager well for intimate seating in the VIP lounge. There was a small dance floor and a stripper pole. The ambience was perfect with red velvet love seats and low lighting plus the entire nightclub was situated on it's own lagoon, away from the hotel-it was sure to get Bella in the mood. Step 3, fawn all over your mate and keep her drunk. First, I worked my magic with the cocktail waitress to keep the Jack Daniels coming. Each time, Bella would finish her drink, I'd swap it out with mine so she had no idea that I wasn't even drinking.

"I love you, Bella." I cooed into her ear. Then I smothered her with butterfly kisses from her ear to her jawline, and ended with a deep kiss on her lips. Bella climbed onto my lap.

I grabbed the glass of whiskey and put it to her lips. "Have a little more, baby." I encouraged. She downed the glass in one go. I kissed Bella some more and she was moaning into my lips. I threw her a tiny amount of lust and she was clawing at my tie trying to untie it. In the end, she just ripped it off. Oh, well.

"Hey, baby, we're in Vegas. Wanna go see Elvis?" I asked.

"Oh my God. So cool. Elvis in Vegas? Is he a vampire, Jasper?" She questioned me.

"Nah, babe, just an impersonator."

"A vampire impersonator?" Damn, she really is drunk.

"No, an Elvis impersonator."

"Darlin', you wait here. I'm gonna go wash my hands."

"Okay, Jasper." Ah...so gullible. In reality, I was going to place a call to the Little White Chapel so they could have their Elvis impersonator ready to read our vows to us at the drive thru in a half an hour.

It took a while to make the arrangements because Elvis had apparently just left the building and they had to find another guy who would be able to get into costume and come to the chapel in a jiffy. I wasn't prepared for the scene I encountered when I got back to our seat. Bella wasn't there. Instead, she was twirling around the stripper pole with her dress hiked halfway up her thighs. Men were surrounding her and waving hundreds at her.

Fuck me! This was all my fault. I shouldn't have left her drunk and alone while I called the chapel. Some guy tried to grab her ass! "Fucker, get your hands off of my girl!" I growled. I gave all the men a menacing stare and they all dispersed quickly. Half of them pissing themselves.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

"Dancing. I wanted to surprise you."

"Thanks, Bella, I really appreciate you thinking about me. We need to go now. Elvis is waiting. He's gonna put on a private show for us." She wasn't budging. I'll try some reverse psychology.

"You know what, Bella? That's okay, we won't go see Elvis now, even though I went through all the trouble to make the arrangements." I looked at my mate dejectedly.

That did it. She slid off of the stripper pole. Fuck! Why does she have to be so sexy? I want her now. "Let's go see Elvis, Jasper." She said.

"No, Bella. You put on this special surprise for me by dancing. You look so beautiful and all." I countered.

"Damn it, Jasper! I insist we go see Elvis now!" She said fiercely then swayed. "Only, can you carry me Jasper? I don't think I can walk straight anymore."

"Sure, babe." I picked her up and carried her to the car. I plopped her down in the passenger seat, got in, and headed to the chapel. After all, she insisted. Step four, get her to beg for it. On the way to the chapel, I kept sending waves of lust to my mate. I pulled to a stop in front of the drive thru window. We were still a little early. Time to play a little with my girl—work her up into a frenzy. We were making out furiously when the window to the drive thru opened.

"Are you Jasper Whitlock and Isabella Swan-Biers?" A woman in her fifties asked.

"Yes." I answered for both of us. Bella was completely oblivious and nibbling on my ear.

"I'll need the marriage license, identification for both of you, and the fee." I handed the woman all she asked for plus a hefty tip for her and Elvis. She returned a couple of minutes later saying that everything checked out and returned both driver's licenses to me.

Elvis suddenly appeared at the window. "How y'all doing tonight? Ya ready to get hitched?"

"Yes, can you make it quick please." I urged him.

"Ya wanna get your woman alone, don't ya? Well, I don't blame ya. She's a pretty little thing. Ya want me to run through the whole speech or just the part where you guys say I do and I bless the rings?"

"Uh...the short one."

"Alrighty, you got the rings?" I handed the rings to Elvis and he got started. "Let's get started. Jasper, do you take Isabella to be your lawful wedded wife?"

"I do." I responded.

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?"

"I do." I said again, then flooded Bella with a fuckton of lust.

"Isabella, do you take Jasper to be your lawful wedded husband."

"Bella." I whispered so only she could hear. "Do you want to cum"

"Oh, I do." She breathed.

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?"

"Bella, you sure you want to cum, baby?" I whispered again. This time I plunged two fingers into her dripping pussy. She moaned. "Answer me, darlin', either you do or you don't."

"Of course I do, I've been waiting all night!" She yelled.

"Hang on there beautiful. I'll get you and your man hitched in no time." Elvis told Bella, thinking she was anxious to get married. I kissed Bella to distract both her and him.

Let us bless these rings, symbols of eternity and forgiveness." Shit! I'm gonna need a fuckton of forgiveness from Bella after this. Elvis continued while Bella moved on to molesting my neck. I continued pumping her with lust. "A reminder that love is never ending, but instead can be renewed at any time and place of our choosing. May these rings grace the loving hand of Isabella and Jasper with a joyful and nurturing presence, symbolic of the eternal love and faithfulness they pledge to one another."

He paused and told us to place the rings on each other's fingers. This was gonna be tricky. Damn it! I still have my fingers in her pussy. I pulled my fingers out, wiped them off on my pants, and placed Bella's ring on her left ring finger, easy enough. "Baby." I whispered at vampire speed. "I want to see what it's like to have my wedding band on my hand. Would you do me the honor?"

"Sure, baby!" Bella placed my band on my left ring finger. "Wow! It looks great on you!"

"By the power vested in me by the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. I planted a lingering kiss on my new wife. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock. Now, I just need you both to sign by the X."

Now what was I going to do? I quickly signed my name and put the pen in Bella's hand. "Bella, you need to sign your name by the X." I whispered.

"What for?"

"So, Elvis can sing." I lied. Oh, I'm going to hell. She immediately scribbled her name next to the X.

Elvis shook my hand. Bella was still plastered to me. "What song would you like me to perform for you? It comes as part of the package."

"Bella, what's your favorite Elvis song?" I asked.

"Burning Love." She responded.

"That's an odd one for a wedding." Elvis commented. "Usually they ask for 'Love Me Tender' or 'Can't Help Falling In Love.' I did have one couple request 'Jailhouse Rock,' but the man had just gotten out of prison."

"Just sing the damn song!" I ordered.

Elvis sang his heart out for us. Bella cheered.

"We're not done yet." Elvis said. "We need to take a picture of the happy couple."

"Ooh! I love pictures!" Bella looked towards Elvis and smiled for the camera. I pulled her close to me and smiled too.

"Beautiful!" Elvis praised. "Let me take one more of the two of ya kissin'."

I planted a deep, passionate kiss on Bella's lips while Elvis snapped the shot. "I'll get the signed marriage license off to the licensing bureau, you'll receive an official copy at your home in 7 to 10 business days. You'll also be receiving your wedding photos plus a special recording of me singing "Burning Love" to you at your house. I thanked him, gave him an extra tip, and headed back to the hotel.

The weekend traffic in Vegas was horrific. It was 2 am and the Vegas Strip was bumper to bumper with cars packed with revelers. "I can't wait for the hotel Jasper!" Bella ripped her panties off, undid my pants, and climbed onto my erect cock. She was bouncing up and down on me and I was trying my best to stay in control of the Maserati. I couldn't pull into a parking garage either, I was blocked in on all four sides and there were cars honking their horns all along the strip. People were taking their partying to a new level.

"Oh...fuck...Bella. Baby, I'm...trying...aaaahh...to drive. Oh...yeah...baby...keep up...that rhythm. Shit...brake...brake...car...in...oh...yeah...front...keep going, baby." I panted.

"Mmm...Jasper. You feel so nice...so big...I've...been...waiting all night...oh, yes...yes...yes!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she crescendoed to an orgasm and sunk her teeth into my collarbone.

Not five seconds later, I was yelling out her name and marking her again. "I love you, Bella." I soothed as I sealed my mark with my venom.

"I love you, Jasper." Bella purred.

**Peter's POV**

It was 11 pm on Saturday night, everyone was home and we were all sitting around watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Something suddenly popped into my brain. "Oh my fuck!" I exclaimed.

Amanda automatically mimicked me and shouted "Oh my fuck!"

"What is it Peter? What did you see?" Carlisle asked worriedly.

"Uh...uh...nothing. It really wasn't anything. Just Jasper and Bella having a merry old time on their getaway."

"You're lying." Riley raised his eyebrow at me. Fuck it all! I forgot about his gift.

"You're definitely lying, babe. You only stutter when you lie." Char pointed out.

"What are you lying about?" Vicky looked and sounded menacing. Oh, hell no. You aren't pulling that crap on me woman. I can be just as sinister as you. I gave her my evil Captain Whitlock glare. She didn't even flinch.

"Tell us what you saw now, Peter!" My mother demanded. Now, that I couldn't handle. I was a mama's boy through and through.

"Jasper and Bella just eloped!" I blurted out really fast, hoping no one would catch it.

"Jasper and Bella just eloped!" Amanda repeated. Now, really isn't a good time to copy me little pup.

"WHAT?" My mother screamed. All hell broke loose in the house and my mother was the ringleader. Good luck to the happy couple when they return in two days. I better make sure my iPhone's charged up so I can capture it all on video. The shit was gonna hit the fan!

********

**Okay, now I'd absolutely love to hear your opinion regarding our sneaky Major. If I were him, I'd be worried about Bella's reaction once she finds out the truth. What will the family say? What did you think of Riley's little talk with Edward? Let me know and I promise to write back.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Yikes! You're all angry at Jasper. It was pretty underhanded and manipulative of him though. Let's see how his deception is handled once the truth is revealed. I have to thank you for all your fabulous reviews, faves, and alerts. I am so tickled by all of them and I truly enjoy corresponding with each and everyone of you. No Jasper this time because he was a bad, bad boy. How about if I send Peter and Eddie to your homes? For those of you expecting an impromptu visit from the in-laws for the holidays, I can send Amanda over to stand in each room for a minute so your home smells nice and Lysol fresh.**

**This chapter would not have been possible without the help of IzzyBFFAddict92. I hit a roadblock of epic proportions and she patiently held my hand and talked me through my rage, tears, and happiness-all emotions that I experienced as I was writing this particular part of the story. So, thank you Cliff-you have my utmost respect. Now, bend over and let me spank ya.**

**This story is extremely AU/OOC. Many of the situations will be completely over the top. If this is not your cup of tea then you may not want to read this story.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Carlisle's POV**

"Calm down, sweetheart. I'm sure that Jasper and Bella will have a good explanation for their elopement." I soothed.

"How could they, Carlisle? How could they? I was planning on an elaborate wedding for our daughter! How could they just rip a mother's dream from her heart!" Esme sobbed.

"Well, did you tell them what you were planning?" I asked.

"Not yet, but that's not the point! They should have known!"

"I wanted to give my daughter away too, darling." I mused.

"You see! We give them all of our love and they throw it right in our faces! When I get my hands on them..." She seethed.

"I definitely don't want to be there." I finished in my mind. My wife was on a rampage. In fact, all the women were. Esme had called the Denalis with the news and Carmen had come over kicking and screaming about how selfish today's young people were. Apparently, she too was planning on an elaborate wedding for Bella and Jasper.

Charlotte was screaming about not getting to be in her first wedding ever. Rosie was cursing the ground Jasper walked on and Irina and Vicky were both in a rage. Add Tanya and Katie to the mix and you had a cocktail of pure female hormonal rage. Oddly, Amanda was the only calm female in the room.

The men were all dispersed around the living room looking stunned. "Peter, what exactly did you see?" I asked.

"Well, as you know, my visions aren't as detailed as the Psycho Bitch's." Peter pointed out.

"Psycho Bitch." Amanda repeated.

"Good girl." I heard Edward and Emmett both say at the same time.

"Anyway, all I see is the end result. I saw both of them signing a marriage certificate and then a fake Elvis crooning "Burning Love" to them."

"Burning Love?" Rosie asked. "Who the fuck chooses 'Burning Love' as their wedding song?"

"Was she even in a wedding gown?" Irina asked.

"Let me think? No, I don't think so. I couldn't really see because they were in a car."

All hell broke loose then. Esme let out an ear shattering scream. A few of the windows actually cracked under the pressure. "A car? Are you telling me that my son and daughter got hitched in a car? Answer me now Peter Whitlock!"

"Y...y...yes, mama." He answered with fear clearly plastered all over his face.

Oh dear Lord, save my son and daughter from the wrath they're going to incur from their mother. She wasn't going to let this go easily.

"Why don't we all calm down now." I tried desperately to get everyone settled. "Esme, sweetie?"

"What is it, Carlisle?" She snapped. Yikes.

"What's done is done. Why don't you and the girls start planning a real ceremony for them now. Spare no expenses. Anything you want, darling." I encouraged.

"It still doesn't make up for their selfishness, but I suppose it'll have to do." Esme scowled. All the women started planning immediately.

"Let's take Amanda for a hunt." Eleazar suggested. "In Canada." He added as an afterthought.

"Good idea. Edward grab a change of clothes for her. She gets pretty messy when she hunts." I said.

Edward was back quicker than lightening and we were all running away from the house, away from the women.

**Jasper's POV**

Boy, was I in a pickle. How the hell was I going to tell my wife that we were married? We were swimming naked in the outdoor jacuzzi pool. Bella had just scampered onto my back and I was piggy-backing her as I swam across to the edge of the pool.

"What's the matter, Jasper? You seem distracted." Bella asked with concern as we both climbed out of the pool. I wrapped my mate in a towel and guided her towards the shower for a quick rinse.

Time to own up. "Babe, what do you remember about last night?"

"Not much. I was completely plastered. Don't ever let me drink like that again. There's no telling what I'll do." Bella said.

Okay, we can work with this. "Exactly what I was thinking. See, something happened last night. Something big. Not a bad thing, but still pretty life altering."

"Life altering?" She chuckled. "Jasper, we're vampires, I doubt anything life altering can happen to us."

"Come on, Bella, use some of that vampire memory retention we have and think back on some of what happened last night." I encouraged her as I rinsed her body. She was thinking hard.

"OH MY GOD!" She shouted. "Jasper, I insisted we go see Elvis last night and then I married you like some floozie with your fingers in my pussy!"

I totally wasn't expecting that answer, but we'll run with it. It could work to my advantage.

"Jasper, I'm so sorry!" Bella looked truly remorseful.

"Aw...babe, don't worry about it. I'm actually happy we got married. We were both pretty drunk, ya know. Things happened, we're in Vegas. Let's just go with it." I was grinning like a kid in a candy store. She actually thinks it was her idea. "You're not unhappy are you?"

"No, no. I just need to process this. We would have been married in a few years anyway, right?"

"Right. I would have waited forever for you, babe." I'm such a lying tool.

"Well, maybe this was the best way for it to happen. I hate hoopla and ceremonies anyway. You know that the family would have wanted to do a huge wedding. This way, we don't have to have one."

"Yeah, yeah, that's right." I agreed as I toweled down my mate and carried her to the bed. I hit the switch on the remote to make it rotate. I couldn't help myself. I rolled on top of my wife and kissed her passionately as I ran my fingertips over her body—she responded immediately. I continued stroking her body, stopping at her bundle of nerves—then ran small circles over it with my thumb, causing Bella to moan my name. I kissed her once more before planting kisses all the way down until I reached her glistening pussy and inhaled her mouthwatering scent before running my tongue over her folds. I continued licking her up and down her slit while still circling her clit with my thumb. She was gasping and moaning, then, suddenly she screamed my name as she erupted to an orgasm. "Jasperrrr!"

Just as she screamed, I plunged my cock into her waiting pussy in one swift move. I could feel her orgasm pulsating on my cock as I pounded into her—in and out—relentlessly, at vampire speed, until I was ready to explode. "Bellaaaa!" I yelled, then I sunk my teeth into the fleshy area above her collarbone, marking my wife and mate again.

"Aaaahhh!" Bella screamed both in agony and ecstasy. I sealed her fresh wound with my venom then continued down her body—the sudden urge to scent her overwhelming my vampire instincts. She was mine, my wife, my mate for all eternity. No male would ever lay their hands on her ever again. They would know she was mine by her scent, by my mark.

"Enough already! Jeez Jasper! I know this scenting is instinctual, but come on. You're running over the same spots for the third time. We only have one more day in Las Vegas so let's make the best of it."

"Bella, what the hell? You're not supposed to be stopping me. I told you this shit was all instinctual."

"Uh, Jasper, people can smell you on me a hundred miles away. I think you've doused me in enough man repellent for the next twenty years."

"Bella!" I groaned. I hated being interrupted mid-scent. "Fine. I'll make it really quick."

I finished scenting my mate, fucked her one last time for good measure, then got dressed for a final day and night of adventure in Vegas.

_**24 Hours Later...**_

"Jasper, that was the best trip of my life. Promise me we can go back again?"

"I promise, baby. I had a lot of fun there. On top of that, Las Vegas is where you became my wife. Some of our best memories together were made there." I leaned over and gave Bella a kiss. We were on a six hour flight back to Boston. Instead of going straight to New Hampshire, we planned on stopping off at our house in Cambridge, dropping off our luggage, then heading to the Cullens later at night.

"What a trip! I can't believe you won so much, Jasper! Plus, you won a truck for me! I'm pretty excited about the truck you know."

All totaled, I had won about twelve million dollars combined at all the casinos playing blackjack, roulette, and baccarat. Right before we left Las Vegas, we stopped off at the Hard Rock Hotel because Bella wanted to check out the rooms there. Afterwards, we took a detour through their casino where Bella lost about a hundred bucks playing with the slot machine. She was frustrated and angry that she hadn't won a thing so I threw a dollar coin in and pulled down on the lever. Lo and behold, the machine lit up like fireworks and started pinging and buzzing, indicating that I had won. The casino manager showed up immediately and asked where I'd like my new Ford F-150 delivered and what color I'd like it in. I let Bella choose, gave him our address in Cambridge, then he said to expect delivery within ten days.

"Bella, I think you're my lucky charm. I've never won that much in Las Vegas. The truck was a total fluke. I was trying to show you that most people lose on slots. Guess it didn't work, huh?"

"No, but I'm happy you won. Did you know that I lost 161 dollars this weekend on slot machines. I've never been so irresponsible with money. I'm going to have to ask Riley for an advance on my allowance. I only have 189 dollars and 61 cents to my name and that won't cover the textbooks I have to buy tomorrow. He's going to lecture me again on responsibility. I'm so not looking forward to that."

Did she just say that she has to ask Riley for an advance on her allowance? "Bella, has Riley been giving you an allowance the whole time we've been together?"

"Yeah, I've always gotten a hundred bucks a week. That's all he could afford with his salary, but he refused to let me work while I was getting my bachelor's degree. He wanted me to live life a little for once since I've worked a part time job since I was fourteen. Twelve, actually. I used to babysit for my neighbor down the street. I had to, you know. My mom was never responsible with money so it was the only way to pay the light bill and put food on the table."

I was seething inside. The fact that she had to work at such a young age for fucking necessities that her mother should have been responsible for was unacceptable. I could see why Riley wanted her to take a break in college. Bella as a girl had too many adult responsibilities.

"Bella, I want you to tell Riley that you don't need an allowance anymore."

"I was thinking of doing the same thing. It's time I get a part-time job. I feel like such a freeloader."

"Bella, you're not a freeloader—far from it. Now that we're married, you and I need to have a little talk about our finances."

"Um...that's your private business, Jasper. It really doesn't matter to me what you have. I'm just happy to be your mate."

"Bella, it's not my private business. It's our private business. You're not only my mate, but my wife. That means we share whatever assets I have fifty/fifty. Now, I want you to just listen, okay?"

"Okay, Jasper." She nodded.

"Bella, I'm gonna make a long story short. During my time with Maria, I acquired a lot of assets including property, stocks, bonds, and bank accounts throughout the southwestern United States. Through careful investment, I was able to build up the value of those assets. Most of the property, I sold and reinvested—however, I own homes or apartments in London, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Zurich, New York, Houston, and Dallas.

"You forgot Cambridge, Massachusetts."

"Oh, right." I paused. "Bella, I'm not done yet. The stocks and bonds have all been carefully managed and are doing well despite the recent beating the markets have taken. We own shares in Apple and Walmart to name a couple. As for the bank accounts, we have a few. One in each city that we own property in, but our main one is in Switzerland."

"Um...by Switzerland, do you mean one of those Swiss Bank Accounts they always feature in James Bond movies?" She gulped.

"Yes, our account number is 02-12-15-0024-113-007.

"Fuck me!" She gasped.

"Not yet, Bella, I'm not done. We can join the mile high club in a couple of minutes, but you have to hear me out first."

"This isn't the time for jokes Jasper." She tried her best to put on a serious expression, but I could tell she wanted to laugh.

"I'm not joking, I'm meeting you in the bathroom in about ten minutes." I could smell her arousal as soon as I said that. Yeah, my mate is just as freaky as I am. "Bella, I'm telling you all of this because you're my mate and my wife. Carlisle is the only other one in the Cullen family that knows of my assets and even he only knows about half. He has no idea, for example, about the Swiss Bank Account. He also doesn't know where most of my properties are located. Alice doesn't have one inkling about my assets. As far as she's concerned, I'm a penniless pauper living off of Carlisle. Peter knows, though. He managed everything for me while I was married to Alice, away from her visions.

"I can see why you didn't tell Alice anything. She would have taken everything for herself. How did you manage to hide everything from her and from Edward, for that matter?"

"Easy. I never made any financial decisions in the house. I would always make those while Alice was away on one of her shopping sprees. She rarely looks for visions then. I would then go to Peter's and take care of business. He'd handle everything for me that way, in the rare case that Alice was seeking out a vision, it would be his decision—not mine. Edward, of course, was too far from us to hear anything."

"It still doesn't change anything, though, Jasper." Bella said. "It's still your money, not mine. I'm still getting a part time job."

I'm not going to lose my temper. I'm not going to lose my temper. I swear to God, I'm not going to lose my temper. Fuck it! I'm going to lose my temper. "Bella, get it through your thick skull. You are my wife. The money that I have is now ours whether you want it to be or not. Every single asset that I have has your name on it now too, like it or not it's yours as well. Managing our estate and assets takes a good chunk of time and skill, you need to learn how to do it as well, in case, God forbid, I cease to exist. You aren't working now because I don't want you to. That's not to say that you can't have a career later. Right now, you're going to have enough on your plate with graduate school and taking care of Amanda. On top of that, if you work, I'll have to work too because no matter how in control you are, you're still a newborn. I also can't be away from you for too long without my chest feeling like hell so if you decide to flip burgers at McDonald's, I'll be doing it alongside of you."

"I was actually thinking of working as a cocktail waitress at Climax, so maybe you can wear one of those loincloths and wait tables. I heard the tips are great. We might get our asses grabbed a few times a night though, but it'll be worth it for the tips."

"Like hell you are! What the fuck are you thinking? Climax? Those cocktail waitresses might as well be naked!" I yelled to the shock of the rest of the passengers on the plane.

"Sir, Ma'am. Is everything alright?" A concerned flight attendant questioned us.

"Yes, my wife and I were just talking. I'm sorry things got a little out of hand, ma'am." I laid my accent on thick and grinned at the woman. She instantly became aroused.

"Um...I really didn't need to smell that. I was just trying to get a rise out of you. It worked." Bella chuckled. "I won't work if you don't want me to, but only if you talk to Carlisle and get him to stop forcing his black credit card and his start-up funds on me."

"Deal. Now get in that bathroom, take your panties off, and wait for me." I winked. She was gone in a flash. Now for the mile high club.

_**Emmett's POV**_

"We're home!" Bella's voice rang like a chime as she and Jasper walked through the front door and into the living room. Amanda went bounding up to her. "Belly Mama!" She jumped up into Bella's arms and snuggled into her chest, then she looked up at Jasper and said, "Little Major, bad boy! Oh my fuck! Jasper and Bella just eloped!"

At hearing that, Jasper and Bella looked quizzically at each other, then at the family. "Hi everyone! Guess what? Bella and I just got married, but it seems you already knew that."

We all glared back at the two of them. The women, in particular, looked like they were going to remove some limbs. My mother was sitting at the coffee table whacking a riding crop on it. Rose and Vicky were both cracking their knuckles.

"So, how was Las Vegas, kids?" Carlisle asked scathingly.

"Um...how did you know where we were?" Bella asked.

"Where else can you get married at a drive thru?" Rose replied venomously. "Who the hell picks 'Burning Love' as a wedding song?"

"Didn't you think we would have wanted to see you get married?" Carmen questioned the couple.

"I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I was really drunk and then I insisted on seeing Elvis and the next thing you know, we were married." Bella sobbed. Jasper put his arm around Bella and pulled her close to him. Funny, he had a guilty expression on his face.

"What do you have to say about all of this, son?" Carlisle asked.

"Um...what she says." Jasper replied then looked down.

"He's lying. Bella's being honest, but Jasper's lying." My new fuckawesome, lie detecting, football playing bro Riley noted.

We all moved into action. Rex pulled Bella out of harms way and the women surrounded a terrified looking Jasper. Esme was wielding her riding crop and standing over Jasper who was on his knees after Katie had shocked him. "Riley Biers! Front and center!" Esme called out.

Riley instantly made his way next to Esme. "Yes, mom?"

"You tell me if the boy lies." She ordered. Riley nodded that he understood..

"Jasper, my boy? How is it that my daughter is suddenly married this weekend, yet she seems to have no inkling about how it came about?"

"She told ya, mom. We were drinking and we just decided to tie the knot." Jasper replied.

"Lie." Riley stated. Esme took her riding crop and tapped it on Jasper's thigh.

"Try again." She suggested.

"We went drinking, we danced, then gambled, drank a little more then went to see Elvis and got hitched."

"Lie." Riley stated again.

Esme lifted her riding crop to whack Jasper, but he got up quicker than lightening. Unfortunately for him, Katie moved in and shocked him twice. This time, he was curled up on the floor writhing in pain. He looked up at Esme. She gave him a sinister smile and snapped her riding crop three times on Jasper's ass. "Don't you dare try and escape again! I want the truth Jasper Whitlock and I want it now!" She roared.

You would think that being shocked twice by Kate and then being impaled by a riding crop would knock some sense into the fool. Of course not. "What more do you want me to say? I'm telling the truth. Bella and I just decided to elope." Jasper yelled.

"Lie." Riley confirmed to Esme. Mom took the riding crop and flicked it hard ten times on Jasper who was yelping in pain. My mother can be a tough bitch. I've been at the other end of that riding crop and let me tell you, it's not pretty. The one she's using was specifically meant to cause pain. She had it specially made with silver tips on it. That shit hurts.

"Should I gag him, Aunt Esme?" Tanya was waving around a silver ball gag hopefully.

"No, dear. We actually want him to speak." Esme replied sweetly. She then turned to Jasper menacingly. "One more time before I start removing fingers, son. Whose idea was it to get married this weekend?" She raised her riding crop threateningly.

"My idea! It was all my idea. I didn't want to wait four years to get married so I got Bella drunk and duped her into marrying me. I planned it all from beginning to end, except for Elvis singing 'Burning Love'—that was all Bella!"

"Truth." Riley validated angrily, then clocked Jasper with a jab to his chin, followed by a right hook to the jaw.

"Why you little scoundrel! How dare you!" Esme went ballistic. She whacked Jasper continuously with her riding crop while the other girls started kicking and punching him mercilessly.

"Stop!" Bella yelled, then threw her shield on Jasper to protect him. "Leave him alone!"

The women stopped as soon as they heard her and looked up at Bella shamefully.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked Jasper.

"Yes." He said. "I'm sorry."

"Good." She lowered her physical shield and slapped him across the face.

Amanda followed Bella's lead and slapped Jasper across the face.

"Good girl." Bella patted her on the head.

"We need to talk now, Jasper." Bella said scathingly. "In private."

"I figured that. Let's go hunting." Jasper suggested and tried to take Bella's hand.

"Don't touch me!" She snapped and headed towards the door. "Let's go."

**Bella's POV**

That sneaky piece of shit! How dare he? How fucking dare he lie to me. He even made me think it was my idea to get married. Aaargh!

"Babe, I'm..."

"Don't you 'babe' me! You have no right to call me 'babe' or anything else for that matter! How could you, Jasper? You got me drunk and forced me to marry you. Why? Tell me why?"

"I couldn't take it anymore Bella. I had to marry you."

"Obviously! You still haven't told me why though?"

"I...I...Damn it, Bella! It's me, okay. I tried Bella. I really tried to keep up with the times for you. The one thing that I couldn't handle anymore was not making an honest woman out of you. Hell, it's just how I was brought up. I'm 167 years old in human years Bella and in my day men and women married each other fairly quickly. We were taught that it was the right thing to do." He sat on the forest floor and ran his hand through his hair. "When you said that you wanted to wait two to four years to get married, I got scared. Scared that you'll never want to marry me."

"Oh, so instead, you get me drunk, throw two fingers in my pussy and get me to say 'I do.' You say that you wanted to make an honest woman out of me, but that was a really underhanded and dishonest way for you to do it. I'm really hurt Jasper. I truly am." I started crying, I really wished that I could cry some real tears—but I couldn't.

"Bella, I'm sorry. It was wrong of me. I'm an asshole. I don't know what I can do to make it up to you. Tell me, Bella. Tell me what I can do?"

"Jasper, I'm pissed off, okay! I can't give you a straight answer right now. You need to know that I'm more upset that you couldn't tell me how you felt about you and me living together than about the actual fucked up wedding itself. I'm hurt that you couldn't trust me and now I know that I can't trust you."

"I should have told you—I know, but something took hold of me and made me want to marry you right then. I don't know what it was, maybe it was the mating pull, maybe it was the need for me to have that extra security of being married to you, I don't know what it was. You do need to know that to marry you in Las Vegas was a spur of the moment decision, however I had been planning on asking you to marry me for months now. I even had your ring on order for about two months." Jasper sighed. "I wanted to do it right, have a wedding, get married in front of the family, but I think I was feeling insecure with all that's been happening lately. The violent end to your human life and Edward still admitting that he loves you was bothering me to no end. Then, when you ran to Forks, I got scared that I was going to lose you."

Jasper looked so forlorn. I didn't know whether to forgive him or not. I was truly hurt by his actions. What I really needed to do was talk to someone, far away from the house—and I knew exactly who that someone was going to be. "Jasper, I need to be away from you for a little bit. I can't be around you right now."

"Bella, please! Don't leave me! I can't handle that!" He was pleading, on his knees, with venom tears in his eyes. I had to look away.

"Jasper, I'm going back home to think, okay? I really need some time to think right now."

"Okay, if that's what you need, I understand." He slumped against a tree, hugged his knees, and put his head down. That's how I left him.

I quickly reached the house and got to the front door, I was about to go in when I decided that I really didn't want the entire family getting into my business. I needed to get the person that I wanted to talk to alone. I quickly lowered my mental shield for the first time in years and spoke in my mind. "Edward? Edward? Can you hear me? It's Bella, if you can hear me, put you right hand into your pocket. I can see you from where I am."

Edward looked bewildered, but put his hand in his pocket. "Edward, I need to talk to you. Can you meet me in the garage by your Volvo? Maybe you can tell everyone that Amanda needs to go for a hunt."

Edward removed his hand from his pocket and gave me a quick thumbs up. As I loped off to the garage, I heard him telling everyone, "I'm taking Amanda on a hunt. I'll be right back."

"Belly Mama!" Amanda jumped into my arms in the garage. Edward opened the door for us and I quickly climbed into the backseat settling Amanda on my lap. Edward quickly backed out of the garage, but we were blocked by Peter. As soon as Edward stopped the car, Peter jumped into the passenger seat. When we were about five miles out, Peter finally spoke. "If you guys would have gone by yourselves, the Major would have come out and ripped Eddie boy apart. It would have been chaos, he's gonna be panicked enough when he finds that you're gone from the house. Text him and tell him that you're with me, Eddie, and Amanda."

I quickly sent a message to Jasper and I got one in reply immediately.

**From: J Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**Whatever you need. I'm sorry, darlin'. I love you.**

"What the heck was that all about? How come I suddenly heard you speaking to me in my mind, Bella?" Edward asked curiously.

"I'm a shield, Edward. I lowered my shield so I could talk to you mentally."

"Well, that explains a lot of things. Have you been blocking everyone else from me too?"

"Yes." I replied simply.

"That's a relief. I thought it was because of all those spermal expulsions that my power wasn't working. I feel better now."

"Edward, why would you think an orgasm cause you to lose control of your power?" I asked curiously.

"Well, they're so powerful and I feel it through my whole body whenever I have one that I thought maybe it drained my power."

"Edward, you're supposed to feel an orgasm through your entire body. Haven't you ever masturbated in the shower or anything?" I asked curiously.

"Um...no. I don't really know how and with my vampire power, what if I remove my penis?"

"Um...you take over Papa." I said uncomfortably to Peter.

"Okay, Eddie. You and I are going to have a father-son talk about the birds and the bees later seeing as you're eventually going to be making it with my little pup back there someday." Peter said.

Edward drove to a cottage in rural Maine. He took the back roads so that we wouldn't have to stop at any toll booths and encounter any humans for Amanda's sake. We all went for a quick hunt then went into the cozy house. "This is where Amanda was supposed to go through her transformation. It belongs to Carlisle and Esme." Edward informed me and Peter.

We quickly sat on the sofa and Peter said, "Okay, baby girl, what is it that you need to get off of your chest?"

"I'm angry. I'm so angry at Jasper. He manipulated me into marrying him. Do you realize that I didn't even answer the minister when I said 'I do'. Jasper actually asked me if I wanted to cum. I said 'I do' because he'd been keeping me on edge all night."

"You can do that?" Edward asked stupidly.

"Edward! Are you even listening?"

"I'm sorry, Bella. Yes, I am listening. I have a question for you, though, did he tell you why he tricked you into marrying him?"

"Yes, he said that he couldn't handle just living together and that he wanted to make an honest woman out of me because that's the way he was raised. He also couldn't explain why he did what he did, just that something took hold of him and he was desperate that he would lose me. I also should point out that I told him that I wanted to wait two to four years before we got married."

"Why would you want to wait that long?" Peter asked curiously.

"I don't know. I just thought that after graduate school would be a nice time, that's all. The thing is, I don't mind that we got married in Las Vegas. I fucking hate ceremonies and pomp. I don't like parties or fanfare either. Edward knows, right?" I paused while Edward acknowledged me by nodding. "What I didn't appreciate was the way he did it. He should have worked harder at trying to persuade me, by explaining how he felt, instead of just being a dick about it and marrying me."

"What do you want to do about the marriage, it's legal and binding, isn't it?" Edward asked. "Did you want to file for an annulment or a divorce?"

"That's the thing. I don't. I've actually accepted the fact that he's my husband and that we're married. When he asked me to marry him when we were in Forks, I was ecstatic. I was completely excited about the prospect of being his wife. I just wanted to be engaged for a little while longer before actually getting married. So, no I don't want to get a divorce. I certainly don't want to have to go through another wedding again. I'm just furious about the way he did it. He completely disregarded my opinions." I sobbed. Edward ran his fingers through my hair and Peter rubbed my back in an effort to comfort me. Amanda snuggled into my chest.

"Baby girl, you need to hear what I have to say. You might get angry at me, but try and hold it in until after I'm done talking." I nodded to Peter, acknowledging him. "You have to understand that Jasper is from a completely different era than you. In his time, hell even in Edward's time, men and women courted each other then got married. Well, hell Edward, you explain this part to her—I'm a few decades younger than you are so things were different, and I'll talk about Jasper afterwards."

Edward sighed. "I'm a few decades younger than Jasper, but the rules of courtship were pretty much the same. You courted the girl, then only after you became engaged, were you allowed to go out on dates—usually with a chaperone. If it was just the two of you together, you had to ride in an open carriage in very public places. You were allowed to hold hands, but only if the girl's hands were gloved. If you failed to follow any of these rules, the woman—never the man—would be subjected to a lifetime of spinsterhood. Basically, the woman would be ruined for life."

"That's ridiculous! We're in a completely different time."

"That's the whole point Bella, I think what Peter is trying to say is that Jasper was fighting with his inner conscience the whole time he was with you and unmarried. As vampires, we have to move on with the times, but some things—like values that were ingrained in us from infancy, are harder to move on from. Hell, part of the reason why I could never give you or Amanda a proper kiss while we were dating is because I didn't want to defile either of you—even if I knew that society's rules on courtship had changed."

Edward inhaled a deep breath then continued. "Bella, when we were together, I really wanted to have sex with you—but I couldn't. I wasn't exactly honest with you, fear of hurting you wasn't the only reason why I couldn't make love to you, my values also held me back. I just couldn't ruin you before marriage. Like Jasper, I had every intention of making an honest woman of you after graduation, but then fate intervened. I think Jasper acted the way he did out of sheer desperation. You're stubborn, Bella, and you have a tendency not to listen to everything your partner says. I know this for a fact, so don't try to argue with me. I'm guessing you told Jasper that you wanted to wait two to four years before getting married without even giving him a chance to say how he felt. Relationships are a two way street, Bella, it's not all about you."

Fuck. Why the hell did he have to force me to face the truth? I slapped my hand to my forehead in realization. Oh my God! I'm such a selfish bitch! "Amanda, stop slapping your forehead" I chastised when I realized she was mimicking me. "Ouch! Ouch!"

"My turn, baby girl." Peter chuckled. "Let's talk about the Major. Now, you're probably wondering how he could have had wild sex with you if he had all those ancient values pounded into him. Well, the Major's a different person from Eddie here. First of all, when he was in Maria's army he could take whatever woman he wanted, whenever he wanted. They were sort of a perk for being high ranking in Maria's army. Remember how Vicky said she was changed for the sole purpose of servicing James? Well, Char was changed to service the Major."

"Char!" I gasped and threw my hand over my mouth.

"Super Tatas?" Asked Amanda.

"Yes, Super Tatas, little pup." Peter confirmed. I can't fucking believe that Peter taught our kid to call his mate Super Tatas. Holy fucking shit.

"I didn't know that about Char. How horrible!" I said.

"Listen Bella, it's all in the past. Jasper, Char, and I have discussed this hundreds of times. None of us had control over the situation and it actually brought the three of us closer together. That's why the three of us have no secrets between us. Bella, sex is something that Jasper was able to engage in without giving it a second thought. The first time you two had sex, you both probably were out looking for a good time, right?"

"Yeah, I actually had my fuckbuddy, Tommy, waiting for me at his apartment, but then you guys insisted on taking me to your place so that kind of fell through. So, I did the next best thing and attacked Jasper. It was weird though, somewhere along the line that night we discovered we were mates. It was the pull and the electricity. I never had that with anyone."

"So, Bella, what's this Tommy's last name?" Peter asked casually.

"Yes, Bella, I was just wondering if he lives in Boston?" Edward added.

"Umm...no...my lips are sealed. You can't go and kill him. He was before Jasper and I were mated. Great in the sack, though." I smiled and licked my lips thinking about some of the adventures I had with Tommy.

"Alright, pervy girl, stop musing about your kinky sex with the human boy. I need to keep going with my story." Peter stopped to think for a few seconds. "I think once his mating instincts kicked in, Jasper probably felt a little bad about taking you the way he did. I think one side of him wanted to honor the values he was taught and the other side of him wanted to claim you on the spot. Throughout your relationship, I know for a fact that Jasper was struggling to keep up with his new, modern 21st century girlfriend. You have to admit that he's done a lot of changing for ya, sugar. Since he's met you, he's learned to listen to your opinions, tried like the devil to become a little hipper, aw hell, he even trims his manbush for ya. What changes have you made for him Bella? The hard fact is, if he didn't already know you through Edward, Jasper would have let his inner vampire take control and changed you the first time you mated. After that, you would have just gone along with whatever he said, including marrying him. That's sort of what happened to Char. I was a fucking neanderthal with her until I started receiving counseling from Riley." Peter stated.

I never thought about any of this stuff. Edward and Peter sure gave me a lot to consider. Jasper was fighting his vampire instincts from the get go and he was trying to modernize himself at the same time. He never asked me to change in any way. The only thing he ever really wanted was for me to be happy. His baser instincts must have taken hold of him when he married me the way he did. He was clearly remorseful. I'd never seen my mate so downtrodden and dejected.

"So, Bella, have you decided what to do with Jasper?" Edward asked.

"I don't know. I still need to think a little more. I want to forgive him, but I'm still hurt by what he did. The fact is that I love him—body and soul. I really can't live without him, it's killing me to be this far from him now." I clutched my chest which felt like it was being crushed by a ton of bricks. "I guess I'm afraid to forgive him, what if he pulls this kind of shit again?"

"Bella, you love him. You admitted it yourself and you also said that you were ecstatic about the prospect of being his wife. Like it or not, it happened. You can either stay angry at him and let it fester inside of you or forgive him. I hate how he handled your wedding too, but I have a feeling he acted out of sheer desperation. I have a feeling that he's regretting his actions more than anything right now. Holding onto anger is never a good thing, my anger at myself for having left you in Forks led to my twisted opinions of you during the past five years. I don't want to see that happen to you, sis."

"Baby girl, let me impart some words of wisdom on you. 'Fear is the path to the darkside. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering'." Peter said.

"Wow! That's pretty deep Peter. Was it Aristotle or Sophocles that said that?"

"Yoda, Bella!" Edward and Peter both said simultaneously with exasperated looks on their faces.

"Oh." I whispered.

Peter shook his head and looked at Edward. "Star Wars marathon?"

"I believe so. Who knew she was this uninformed?" Edward replied.

"Hey, I wasn't even alive when the original movies came out and just a kid when they made the prequels." I defended myself.

We ended up watching all six Star Wars movies before heading back. I had done a lot of thinking and decided to take Edward's advice and not let my anger fester. We were in Edward's Volvo driving back to New Hampshire. "Thanks guys." I said to both of them. "I really appreciate you helping me through this."

"Anytime, baby girl." Peter smiled.

"We just want you to be happy Bella." Edward said as he pulled into the garage.

Jasper came outside to meet us. He looked awful. "Um...we'll leave you two alone." Peter said. He, Edward, and Amanda disappeared into the house.

Jasper dropped to his knees and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry Bella. I'm so sorry. I completely devalued you when I married you the way I did and I can never take it back. I can understand if you want a divorce. Just know that I love you. I did what I did because I just couldn't stand the thought of not being married to you so instead of asking you for permission, I just took what I wanted without giving any consideration to your thoughts and feelings. I'm a selfish asshole."

"Jasper, you were manipulative, deceitful, and you really hurt my feeling when you planned this whole wedding. Just tell me this, when did you come up with the idea."

"As soon as you told me that you wanted to wait a few years before getting married, I became desperate. I just couldn't fathom waiting that long. So, I started making plans and once they were formed, I just couldn't stop myself from going through with them. I was desperate Bella. I hated the fact that you weren't my wife. Everyday, from the time we were mated, I wanted to marry you. I felt horrible. Hell, I even married Alice before having sex with her. It bothered me to no end knowing that I had enough respect to marry her, yet you're my mate who means the world to me, and I didn't have the decency to marry you. Yeah, I know. I'm old fashioned, but I've been trying. Trying really hard to become the type of man you deserve. I guess I fucked it all up with my fuckery."

"Jasper." I took his chin in my hand so he was looking into my eyes. "I'm sorry that I didn't take your feelings into consideration. I know you tried to talk to me and that I didn't let you get a word in edgewise. I always skirted the issue of marriage and I did it purposely. For that, I apologize. I know you've been trying. You've actually made a hell of a lot more concessions for me than I have for you. Maybe this is one that I can make for you. It's not like we can change anything anyway. We're not going to get divorced only to get married again."

"Really, Bella? Are you sure? I'm going to spend the rest of my existence making it up to you. Do you want to have a real wedding? We can, you know. I'll do whatever it takes to earn your trust back again. I love you Bella, more than life itself."

"Um, no. I can tell you for sure that I don't want another wedding. I'm actually happy that I don't have to deal with that fuckery. How about we figure it out as we go along." I suggested.

Jasper stood up and pulled me into his arms. "Thank you." He said simply.

We walked hand in hand back into the house, where Jasper was greeted by a swift punch in the nose from Edward. "You fucking hurt her again and I'll make sure that I turn every bit of you into ash."

"I know, I'm.." Jasper was interrupted by a left hook from Peter.

"Do you know what baby girl went through? Edward and I are a united front on this, we don't give a fuck if you're our brother. You pull that shit again and you're cinder."

"I was about to say that I'm sorry. Truly, deeply sorry for my actions. I know I was an asshole." Jasper said repentantly.

**Riley's POV**

Bella was back, safe and sound, and I felt relieved. I was worried when she didn't come back from her hunt and Peter, Edward, and Amanda suddenly disappeared. Char received a text message from Peter saying that they were talking to Bella and they'd be back later. Meanwhile, Jasper had come back home looking like he had been put through the wringer. I took him on a quick hunt and talked to him, but only after beating the motherfucker to a pulp.

I was furious at the way he married her. He completely disregarded Bella's feelings and just took what he wanted. He admitted his wrongdoings and was truly remorseful. He married her because he loves her, truly, and was terrified that he was disrespecting her and Charlie by not marrying her. He apparently became desperate when Bella said she wanted to wait four years to get married and just took it upon himself to marry her without thinking of the consequences of his actions.

We all heard them talking in the garage right now. Bella had forgiven him and she seems to have thought everything through too. Jasper was truly remorseful, as well. They wanted their marriage to work. I could feel the honesty between them as they walked into the living room.

"Why the hell are you forgiving him so easily? The fucker tricked you into getting married?" Rose got up into Bella's face with a bitch glare and her hands on her hips.

"I forgive him because I've accepted the fact that we're married. I'm not going to divorce him just to get married again. Besides, it spares me from a lavish wedding ceremony. I hate those fucking things." Bella explained.

Wrong fucking thing to say. The women all narrowed their eyes at Bella. They had been planning a wedding for her all weekend. I got scared for my sister so I moved in front of her, so did Jasper, Laurent, Peter, Emmett, and Edward.

"Move out of the way boys. I need to have a word with my daughter now." Esme demanded. We weren't budging.

"Honey, put the riding crop down before you approach our baby." Carlisle recommended. "Here, why don't you just give it to me. I'll take it." Phew! Mom handed the riding crop over to Dad. We all moved out of Esme's way.

"Upstairs now, young lady! We are going to talk, right now, right this second! Move it!" Esme yelled at a terrified Bella who high-tailed it upstairs in an instant. We all looked up with worried expressions on our faces. We could hear Esme screaming at Bella about the importance of having a wedding ceremony, how the entire family was looking forward to it, how the girls had all been planning a ceremony for her, how Dad wanted to walk her down the aisle, etc. She was laying the guilt on thick, but Bella was holding her own too, all the while remaining calm.

"Mom, I really don't like big to-dos. I had one wedding and that's enough. I don't particularly want another one. It really isn't my thing."

"Think of how the girls would feel if you didn't have a real wedding, Bella, in which you say "I do" in front of your friends and family."

"Mom, Jasper and I already had a wedding ceremony. I distinctly remember saying 'I do' twice to Elvis."

"Elvis is not an appropriate minister! Young lady, you will get married in a church, in a white dress, if it's the last fucking thing I do on this earth. God damnit! Do you fucking hear me?"

"Language, mother." Bella chastised. "Besides, I wore a white dress for my wedding." We all started laughing.

"Isabella Marie Swan-Biers Cullen! You will treat me with the fucking respect I deserve right the fuck now!"

"It's Whitlock—I was never a Cullen!" Bella spat. She was pushing Esme's buttons and she knew it. Only Bella would have enough gumption to push mom.

"Carlisle! Come and talk to your daughter!" Mom called.

"Don't do it Dad, trust me on this, you'll push her away! You'll drive them both away!" Peter warned.

"Carlisle now!" Mom yelled.

Carlisle raised his hands in defeat and made his way upstairs. "Really, Esme, is all that swearing necessary?" We heard Carlisle asked.

"Carlisle Cullen. Isabella has you wrapped around her little finger. You always take her side. Now, I want a wedding and that's final!"

"Dear, I don't always take her side. It's every father's dream to give away their little girl. It would be nice to have our first father-daughter dance together too." Oh, Carlisle was good. Now, Bella was getting a double dose of guilt.

"It's my life and I should be able to choose whether or not I want a wedding. I'm 22 years old for God's sake." Bella tried reasoning with Esme.

"Isabella, you'll have a wedding. It's my dream for you. The girls are all excited. It's the least you can do for them and for me." Esme continued guilting her. "We've already started planning it. You'll break their hearts if you don't have the wedding."

"Alright, I give. You and the girls can have YOUR wedding. Nothing garish and I'm picking the dress so don't bother calling me with dress samples. I also do not need to see the flower samples, the decorations, and whatever the heck else you need for a wedding. This is YOUR wedding so I don't need to be part of the decision making process. While you and the girls are planning YOUR wedding, though, keep in mind that while I appreciate your wanting me to have a lavish ceremony, it is something that in my heart, I truly don't want or need. I plan on just showing up, saying my vows, and getting the fuck out."

"Language, Bella!" Carlisle and Esme both reprimanded.

"Sorry!" We could hear Bella stomping her feet as she made her way downstairs. She gave a pernicious glare to all the women downstairs and slammed the front door as she walked outside. "Fuck my life!" We heard her roar into the forest. Jasper took off behind her.

"Fuck!" Peter yelled, then looked at the girls. "Just fucking great! I hope you're all pleased with yourselves! You just created a rift that ain't gonna be repaired overnight. They ain't ever gonna live with us again."

"She really hates fanfare." I pointed out. "It's her life. You girls didn't have a right to make a decision on how she should get married. She was okay with how she got married and you girls had to push your wants onto her. I don't agree with the way she and Jasper did it, but they did and you can't take that away from them."

"Riley, they got married in a car!" Vicky pointed out.

"Yeah, so they did. That's just how it happened for them."

"He got her drunk and tricked her!" Charlotte pointed out.

"Yeah, and she forgave him. It's not for you to forgive."

"They had 'Burning Love' as a wedding song." Rosalie said scathingly.

"Again, it was their choice."

"You do realize that having this wedding would be like her eighteenth birthday party again." Edward pointed out. "She didn't want that either and Alice forced it upon her. You're all behaving like Alice."

"Alice—Psycho Bitch." Amanda said.

"Good girl." Several of us, including Edward, praised.

The women were all mortified by the comparison to Alice that Edward made. They were all stubborn, though, and refused to give in. I had to agree with Edward, he made a really good point.

Several hours later, we heard Jasper and Bella quietly make their way into their room via the balcony. We heard the shower run then shut off. The two of them quickly got dressed, hopped off of their balcony, then left in Jasper's car—probably for Boston. Garrett received a text message a few minutes later stating that the couple would meet him at Harvard at 10 am for orientation. Clearly, they were avoiding the family. Fuck! I didn't even get to hang out with Bella again.

_**Three evenings later, Bella's birthday...**_

"Any word from Jasper or Bella yet?" Carlisle asked anxiously. Everyone looked up at each other, hoping that someone had heard from them.

"I doubt you'll hear from them for a while." Emmett said. "You girls overstepped your boundaries. It was touch and go with them anyway. It was only because Bella was changed that they were staying with us in the first place. I doubt they'll be coming here anytime soon."

"This was exactly the reason why Bella didn't want to move in here in the first place." I supported Emmett's insightful observation. "She didn't want the family infringing on her personal life."

"None of you, especially you Esme, took the time to listen her. You all heard her saying that she didn't want a big wedding yet you kept insisting that it was your dream. It may be your dream, but clearly it's not hers." Eleazar chastised all of the women.

Mom looked away from Eleazar. She was clearly feeling the pain of being deliberately ignored by her daughter and son. She knew she was wrong for forcing the idea of a wedding on Bella, but refused to admit it.

"Every girl wants a big wedding." Rosalie scoffed. "It's their dream."

"Bella isn't you, Rosie. She's laid back and pretty low maintenance." Emmett pointed out.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I'm high maintenance? Emmett McCarty, so help me..." Rosie clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she glared angrily at him. He wasn't giving in on this though, he was pissed off at her for pushing Bella and Jasper away.

Just then, Garrett walked in the house. "How was school son? Did you learn anything new today?" Carmen asked.

"Yes, it was fine."

"Did you see Jasper and Bella?" Vicky asked.

"Yes."

"Just, yes? Did they say anything? It's Bella's birthday, you know. She would have been twenty-three today." Vicky was hoping for any news of her sister and brother in law.

"Not really. We went to our classes then met up later so they could help me on some of my assignments. They were very cordial and pleasant, as always." He's been giving us roughly the same answer for the last three days.

"Maybe you can ask them to call us." Irina suggested. "When you see them next, I mean."

"No, I'll not become involved in this. You ladies dug your own graves, you can dig yourselves out." Garrett replied.

Katie glared at her husband. "Garrett, the least you could do is assist us. All we want is for them to call us."

"How are we supposed to plan their wedding without them?" Rosie said. Several of the girls nodded in agreement.

"Send them a text message." I suggested.

"We did, we all did, to both of them. They refuse to reply to any of them." Vicky said to me.

"Well, then, you girls are all going to have to wait until they're ready to see you." I stated.

That was the hard truth for the girls and Carlisle. Carlisle was most likely being included with the girls for taking Esme's side regarding the wedding instead of sticking up for Bella. Bella and Jasper refused to reply to any messages—text, voice, or e-mail from them. They would respond to the rest of ours, but nothing to do with the wedding, visiting us, or the women. We men were all on the couple's side regarding the wedding. We felt that if they didn't want one, they shouldn't be subjected to one. Plans, of course, were still in full swing. The women refused to give up on the wedding.

I was kind of glad that Bella and Jasper were away from the house. They had their own healing to do and this wasn't the place to do it. The family would be in their business immediately and their issues would just be glazed over. On their own, however, Jasper and Bella would be forced to confront the trust issues head on. They would repair whatever damage their relationship had incurred much quicker and they would become all the more closer because of it.

The one thing bothering me was Peter's cryptic message that he blurted out to the women three days ago: "They ain't ever gonna live with us again!" Now, more than ever, I had a feeling that Jasper and Bella would live separate lives from the family. Even during the summer, before Bella's change, they were quite content simply being together. Neither of them could handle the lack of privacy that came with living in such a large household. Jasper and Bella needed much more privacy than the rest of us.

Vicky wasn't handling the separation too well, neither was Irina. Hell, Laurent and I weren't doing much better either. Bella was simply a part of our family and her growing up was something that none of us had anticipated. Carlisle and Esme could say all they wanted about being Bella's parents, but it was the four of us that came together to help raise her to be the woman she is today. We just didn't think our baby girl would ever leave the nest. At this point, all I could do was give her the privacy she needed and hope to God that she missed us too.

**I know that this chapter was a little more serious than my norm, but there were some important issues that needed to be addressed post haste. I'd love to hear what you're thinking. You know I'll always write back to you! XOXO**


	23. Chapter 23

**Oh boy! You were all out for female vampire heads after the last chapter! A huge reality check is coming for them. Thank you so much for all your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. You guys are the best! I think I'll send Garrett over to all of you!**

**This chapter contains references to sex, tuna, flirting, drinking games, and United States Marines!**

**This story is AU/OOC. Things will be wacky and over the top.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Alice's POV**

"Alice! Someone paid your bail. We need to get you processed for release. Let's go!" The prison guard opened the lock to let me out of the jail cell. Finally! Eight days! Eight days! That's how long it took my family to bail me out from jail. What point was there in making me wait so long?

"Goodbye, sweetie, my cunny is really gonna miss your tongue tornadoes." Bernice yelled out. The prison guard had the nerve to chuckle. It was horrific what I had to go through this past week so that the Volturi wouldn't come down to execute me. I had to perform cunnilingus on my prison cell mate's tuna tasting twat every night that I was here. I did it at vampire speed so that I could get it over with—that's why my cellmate coined the term "tongue tornado." On top of that, she insisted on reciprocating so I had to subject my poor poon to her digital manipulations afterwards. Bernice would become angry if I didn't have an orgasm so I had to force myself to cum. It was absolutely awful! It was better than being dead, though.

As soon as I was released, I took a cab back to the Beverly Hills Hotel where I was staying at prior to my arrest. My license was revoked, so I couldn't rent a car, and the police had seized my rental car and returned it to the company. Since the hotel hadn't heard from me in over a week, they cleared my room and shipped my luggage to my home address in Hanover, NH. I tried explaining that I was in an emergency situation, but they steadfastly refused to check me into another room. So, I loaded myself into a cab and headed for the airport.

At this point, I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to follow my visions precisely. Unfortunately, my extended stay in jail changed the outcome of my visions and I wouldn't be meeting my mate for another few weeks. I boarded a flight to Portland, Oregon and asked the cabbie to take me to a hotel. He dropped me off at a Motel 6. Ugh! This can't possibly be right, why would I have to stay at this crappy place? I better check. Nope. This is where I'm supposed to be.

After checking into my horrific room, I decided to go hunting. I was ravenous from not hunting for over a week. Normally, I would have been okay, but Bernice's forced orgasms took a lot out of me. I ended up taking down a pair of wolves and three deer. I felt much better after that. I returned to the room and took a shower. Great! There's no soap or shampoo and the towels are thin and itty-bitty. I also forgot that the only clothes that I have are the one's I'm wearing. I have to go shopping.

My visions told me that I had to ask at the front desk where I could go buy some clothing and essentials and go where she told me to, so I did. The attendant told me that the only thing close by was a Walmart. No way! Better check again. Yep, that's where I have to go. I'd never set foot in one of those stores. They were beneath me and I never had a need to go to one. I remember Bella Swan used to shop at them all the time. Figures.

I walked in and was greeted by a woman in a blue vest. "Welcome to Walmart. Would you like a smiley face sticker little boy?"

"Do I look like a little boy to you?" I sneered.

"Bitch." She muttered under her breath. What is it with everyone calling me bitch these days. Peter repeatedly referred to me as bitch instead of using my given name and then, Amanda, had the nerve to call me a bitch. Bella Swan has definitely overstepped her boundaries this time. How dare she influence my best friend like that.

I grabbed a shopping cart and went immediately to the clothing section. Oh God—please, no. Not these clothes. They're not even silk. Ew! I didn't even know that Miley Cyrus had her own clothing line. I searched and searched through my visions, but no matter what, it seemed as though I would be shopping here for the next few weeks. I'd better get used to it.

_**Three Weeks Later...**_

I'm so excited! I get to meet my mate today. These past few weeks just dragged by. I was so bored that I redecorated my entire motel room with items from Walmart. I even repainted the walls, changed the drapes, and put in area rugs to give the room a more homey feeling. I've gotten used to Walmart—it's not so bad once you become accustomed to it. There are shopping malls with nicer stores in Portland, but for some reason, I saw in my visions that if I set foot in any of them, I would never meet my mate. I wasn't willing to go for my entire existence without a mate. I still don't know who he is. All I know is that I go shopping at Walmart at 7pm and I run into him while he's buying some underwear for himself.

I've been roaming around the men's underwear section for the last hour. I didn't want to look like a fool so I re-organized the entire section so that nothing was out of place. I even did the socks since I had time on my hands. Oh my. That has to be him. Tall, dark, and handsome was headed straight for me. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the Lysol? My wife asked me to pick up a can for her."

Wife? This probably isn't my mate. Pity. He looks absolutely delectable. "It's in the cleaning products section across the store, past the greeting cards." I pointed to the area where it was located..

"Thanks." He walked away without even a glance back.

"Alice? Alice Cullen, is that you?" A voice said from behind me. I slowly turned around with a seductive smile on my face. "It is you! How are you?"

Oh God! Not him—please not him. I did a quick search of my visions. Noooo! It's either him or no one for the rest of my existence. What should I do?

**Jasper's POV**

It's been almost three weeks since my royal fuck-up in Las Vegas and a touch and go one at that. Bella and I have been working on trust and control issues and, fuck me, if we didn't have a bundle. We each had our own issues and separate ones with each other and with the Cullens. On top of that, I was on a Bella imposed sexual hiatus. Last week, when I explained to her that I needed a release, she threw me a bottle of lube and told me to go on You Porn. I deserved it after the shit I pulled with the wedding, though.

My huge trust issues stemmed more from the years I was with Alice, rather than the time I was with Maria. With Maria, I had accepted the fact that I had no control over the situation I was put in and that I did what I had to do in order to survive. With Alice, though, I had trusted her when I initially met her and when she said that she loved me with every fiber of her being. It was after I peeled away her sweet outer layer and discovered her true selfish nature that I let my manipulative side come out.

For the first twenty years of our marriage, everything was peachy. Alice appeared to be the perfect wife, although the sex was absolutely ghastly. That woman just laid on her back and bent her knees up—straight missionary. Anyway, we were living in the tiny town of East Glacier Park Village, Montana because I had slipped a few weeks before when we were living outside of Toronto, Canada. I had drained one of the students at the high school we were attending because her scent was like nothing I'd ever smelled before. Years later, I came to the conclusion that the girl was my singer. Alice was outraged because there was absolutely no shopping to be found in or near the small town we were living in. She was embarrassed that I had slipped up and she went on a rampage, belittling everything she could about me. She yelled about everything she hated about me: my scars, the fact that I was a part of the Southern Vampire Wars, the fact that I was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, the fact that my human family wasn't wealthy, and the fact that I had such poor control of my bloodlust. That's when I realized that Alice had been lying to me all along. She didn't love me at all.

After that realization set in, self preservation kicked in. What I should have done was divorce her immediately, instead I was consumed with getting around Alice's visions and I did it well. I personally thanked whatever god was out there that I had enough sense to not tell Alice about my personal finances. I always knew that I would only share my assets with my true mate. We both knew from the beginning that we weren't mates and that we would be companions for many years. I didn't want to get married, but Alice insisted that she saw in a vision that we would be married. On top of that, I didn't want to disrespect her by not marrying her before having sex with her so we got married. It was a grand to-do put together by Esme and Rose. I thought it was completely unnecessary, but hey she wanted it and at the time, I thought I loved her.

Years passed and Alice and I grew further and further apart. Our distance from each other peaked when Edward met Bella. Alice was constantly away, engrossed in her visions. When she was home, she'd spend it with Bella or Edward. Advising them, making suggestions, grooming them, and most importantly, keeping me away from Bella. Suddenly, as Bella's eighteenth birthday approached, she was hell bent on throwing a party for her. Bella protested, even Edward did, but Alice insisted that it was what she saw in her visions. When I nearly took a bite out of Bella during the party, I could swear that I saw a smile on Alice's face. Everything moved quickly from that point. We got a divorce, I took off for Char and Peter's, and then five years later I ran into Bella.

Bella—she was everything to me. Never in my entire existence did I think I would meet someone that I loved with my entire being. So, why did I manipulate her and marry her the way I did? That was the worst transgression that I'd ever made in my life. Bella and I talked and we realized that I had many Alice issues that I hadn't dealt with. I had been manipulated my entire time with her—it didn't matter that I had gotten around her visions, I was still being controlled. Bella suggested that maybe I married her in Vegas the way I did out of fear of losing control of myself like I did with Alice. That was actually the most rational explanation we could come up with.

Bella admitted that she still had some lingering issues from growing up with a flighty Renee and from Edward and the Cullens abandoning her. She had a tendency not to want to let people get too close to her. Bella had grown up taking care of Renee. Although Charlie sent more than enough child support, Renee would go out and spend everything as soon as she got the check. Bella handled the bills from the time she was a little girl. She told me about how she'd ride her bicycle two miles to the grocery store so she could pay the light bill or the phone bill with cash she earned babysitting from the time she was twelve. She started doing that because she was sick of the light company turning the power off. As soon as she turned fourteen, she worked at the local McDonald's and kept the babysitting job while attending high school. She never had any friends and couldn't participate in any extracurricular school activities because she was constantly working or doing homework.

When Bella moved to Forks, she finally had some free time. Charlie provided the parental security she never had, although he was rarely home because he was always working. She got a part time job at Newton's Olympic Outfitters to pay for gassing up her truck and save what she could for college. She also made her very first friends in the form of Alice, Edward, and Emmett. She never got to know me and Rose well enough in order to form any sort of relationship with us, though.

Whenever she was at our house in Forks, Esme and Carlisle coddled her as if she were their own daughter. For the first time, Bella felt as if she had a loving mother and father. With Emmett she found the older brother that she had always wanted. Alice was her best friend and Edward was the boyfriend of her dreams. Edward had promised her eternity as had Alice, then the birthday party happened and I tried to eat Bella. Oddly enough, Bella could swear that she saw Alice smiling after the incident happened too. A few days later, she was abandoned like yesterday's trash with no reminders except for an empty house and some callous words from Edward.

Fortunately, Riley and Vicky were there to pick up the pieces. They nurtured her, took care of her, and did everything that should have been done when she was a little girl. After Charlie and Renee died, Bella, once again, felt abandoned. She also felt betrayed by Jacob Black, someone she had considered to be a close friend. By the time the three of them, plus Irina and Laurent, had moved to Boston, Bella had a multitude of issues stemming from her childhood and abandonment that had to be painstakingly peeled away, layer by layer, by Riley.

During college, she dated two guys. One guy, Blake was a control freak that allowed her absolutely no freedom to be herself. He wanted to mold her into the perfect little political wife. They broke up a few months later, but Bella this time had issues with control. She admitted to having trouble with people making decisions for her or even with her after that asshole.

The second guy she dated was Tommy. They had a more physical relationship with absolutely no strings attached. Bella said that he was a fun guy to hang out with, but definitely not relationship material. She knew early on that he was someone she could never depend on. He was just what she needed after Blake the Control Freak.

After we became a couple, Bella said that she had a ton of trouble finding a balance between the instinctual possessiveness that I had and the independence that she craved. Being apart was simply not an option because the mating pain was killing the both of us. Somewhere along the line, we had both fallen in love with each other. By time she was changed, she was content and ready for an eternity with me and hoping that eventually, we'd get married. She just didn't expect me to pull the stunt I did—that hurt her more than anything. While she had forgiven me, we both knew that we had to work through our issues in order to make any progress. So, this is where we were at now. We were definitely making progress.

Edward had mentioned to Bella that she had a tendency to be a bit stubborn and selfish. I told her that I agreed with him—to an extent, but I didn't think she was doing it intentionally. After finally hearing all that's transpired in her life, I told her that I think part of the reason why she's so focused on herself is out of fear of letting anyone in. Everyone from her own mother to her supposed best friend betrayed her in some way and that taught her that she should depend on herself and herself only. I said that she'd need to open up more to me if our marriage was going to work. I also told her that depending on others sometimes is not necessarily a bad thing. I have to admit that Bella's a trooper. She's really been listening to what I had to say more and the two of us have been making decisions together.

One decision that we came to was a huge one regarding our relationship with the family. We both didn't want to go through the hassle of a big wedding. Bella, apparently, was deeply offended by Esme and the girls. She didn't like how they attacked me and she didn't appreciate the fact that they were forcing a big, fancy wedding on us. We both agreed that we would be straight up with the family and tell them that we would no longer be residing with them full time. While we'd always live within running distance to them, we wanted to live our own lives without the intrusiveness of a big family. We were leaving the nest, so to speak.

Bella and I were adamant about setting boundaries with the family too. We wanted to make sure that they couldn't just stop by and visit whenever the hell they wanted to. We were going to tell them that they need to call first and respect our wishes if we weren't up for visitors. In turn, we'd do the same when visiting their homes.

We also decided to have a small ceremony—a reaffirmation of our wedding vows in the presence of the family. Nothing fancy, no flowers, just a simple vow renewal with Garrett reading them to us. We had gotten extremely close to Garrett these past few weeks. He was a daily visitor in our home and he even helped us work through some of the emotional turmoil that the two of us were experiencing. He was an outside observer with less of an emotional attachment to us so he was able to tell us what his unbiased observations of us were. We were truly grateful for Garrett.

"Hey, Bella!" I called.

"What's up?"

"I can't find the other side to these socks. I swear I threw them in the dryer."

"Check in between the sheets. Sometimes they get tangled up in there." She suggested.

"Got 'em!" I exclaimed. I never thought that I'd get so excited with something as simple as finding the other side to my socks. Bella had recently taught me how to do laundry. She said that I had to participate in household chores instead of leaving it all up to her. I agreed. It's not like I was out in the fields harvesting all the crops like my Daddy was when I was a little boy.

"Jasper!" Bella called from upstairs. "Can you come help me with something in the bedroom?"

I ran upstairs to help her with what she needed. I opened the bedroom door and my eyes were treated with a glorious sight that I hadn't seen in weeks: Bella was stark naked on top of our bed smiling with a come hither look in her eyes. I was out of my clothes and buried deep inside of my mate in a flash.

"I missed you, babe." I whispered, kissing my wife.

"I missed you too, Jasper." She replied.

I knew without a doubt that things were definitely on the mend.

**Esme's POV**

"Esme, maybe it's time we face the truth and admit that we were wrong in trying to force a wedding on Bella." Carmen said sadly.

"She'll come around." I said stubbornly. Carmen and I were in New York City for the weekend taking a much needed break from the chaos at home. It's been over three weeks since Bella and I argued and we haven't seen or spoken to her or Jasper ever since. Plans for the wedding were in full swing, but with the bride and groom completely detached from our family, I wasn't even sure if it was worth the effort.

Jasper and Bella, in no uncertain terms, had made it clear that they do not want a wedding. Neither of them came to visit anymore and if I, Carlisle, or any of the girls, tried to contact them they refused to respond. The men, minus Carlisle, were able to maintain contact with the couple. Garrett, of course, saw them daily at college. Other than him, the other boys stayed connected by phone, email, and text messages. Much to Carlisle's dismay, both Jasper and Bella were looking towards Eleazar as more of a father figure. He even met them in Boston twice to talk.

We had just come from the theatre and were heading towards Central Park for a little stroll. "Amanda seems to be coming along." Carmen commented.

"Yes, Peter's done a wonderful job with her. She misses Bella tremendously though. Apparently, Bella's been sending her video messages everyday through Garrett. She also sent her a cell phone so they could chat everyday. She can talk now, so that's a great help."

"Look at that couple dancing Esme. Ah...to be young and in love." Carmen mused. At a distance, by the pond, we could see a couple dancing in the moonlight in their bare feet. The woman was tinkling with laughter while the man twirled her. There was no music, they were simply swaying to their own beat, holding each other, occasionally stopping for a kiss, both of them smiling.

"Let's stop at those trees and watch them for a while." I smiled. "They look so happy and in love." I remember when Carlisle and I were first married. We were so in love that we didn't have a care in the world as long as we could be together. As we ensconced ourselves in between the two trees, we both gasped and covered our own mouths. The dancing couple was Bella and Jasper.

After a few minutes, the couple stopped dancing. They slid their shoes back on and took off hand in hand towards the busy streets of Manhattan. Carmen and I immediately trailed them at a distance. They walked several blocks and stopped in front of a beautiful brownstone mansion located on a fashionable Upper East Side residential street. Jasper opened the door quickly with a key and the two of them disappeared inside.

Carmen and I looked quizzically at each other. Why would they enter this mansion? Who owned it? By the looks of it, it was a single family home about five stories high. Something like this would be valued at around 20 million dollars, minimum. About five minutes later, Jasper came out holding a garbage bin, followed by Bella with a recycling bin. They put the bins out on the curb and made their way back inside, locking the door behind them. "Carmen, you don't suppose they live here, do they?"

"It sure looks like it to me, sister. Let's go ring the doorbell." She encouraged.

"We would be intruding on their privacy, clearly they don't want to see us. It looks like they've made their own lives." I said sadly.

"Esme, they can't keep avoiding us and we can't keep avoiding them. We need to apologize for our actions. We were clearly in the wrong and it's time we both admitted it to them. Did you see how happy and in love they were Esme? How can their wedding have been wrong if they are so content? Personally, I've never seen a couple filled with more joy than Jasper and Bella in my entire existence. Have you?"

"No, I haven't." I admitted. The truth was that I was pushing away my daughter and son with my stubbornness.

"Esme, if we keep pushing them away, we'll lose them forever. Are you prepared for that eventuality?" Carmen was telling me the hard truth. No, no I wasn't prepared to go on my entire existence without two of my children. Bella even brought Edward back to me somehow. Yet, I was pigheaded about something as ridiculous as a wedding ceremony. Carmen continued talking. "Do what you will, but I, for one, refuse to go on with this charade any longer. I will not lose my niece and nephew."

"I agree Carmen. It's time for me to suck it up and apologize. Let's go."

As we walked up the stairs to the front door, we could hear country music playing inside and Jasper and Bella chatting away. I rang the doorbell. We heard feet shuffling, then Jasper called out "Who is it?"

"It's your aunt and mother." Carmen answered. We heard a deep sigh coming from the other side of the door. Jasper opened the door.

"How can I help you ladies?" Jasper said with a frown.

"Hello son." I said. "I was wondering if your aunt and I could come in to talk to you and Bella."

"Listen, maybe we could do this another time. My wife and I are pretty busy, Esme." I flinched when Jasper didn't acknowledge me as his mother.

"Jasper please!" I begged. "I want to apologize. I truly am sorry for my behavior a few weeks ago. I cannot, no, I will not lose my son and daughter because of my stubborn behavior."

"Let's hear them out, hon." Bella approached the front door and stroked Jasper's arm. He grimaced and held the door open to let us in.

"I'm afraid we can't offer you ladies any chairs. As you can see, the house is a work in progress." Jasper said as he closed the door. "May I ask how you found us?

Carmen was the first to speak. "It was a fluke really. Your mother and I were walking in Central Park when we saw you dancing. When you left, we followed you. We had every intention of catching up to you and apologizing, but you disappeared into your house. It's very nice, by the way, did you just purchase it?"

"No, it's been mine since 1949." Jasper stated.

"Jasper, Bella. I'm here to apologize for trying to force a wedding on you. It's quite evident that you both don't want one and I'm sorry that I tried to push my desires onto you. Bella, you were calmly trying to tell me that you really didn't want a wedding. I didn't listen to you at all. In fact, I flew into an unnecessary rage because I wasn't getting what I wanted. I'm very sorry." I lost control and sobbed.

"I apologize for my part too." Carmen said crying. "I was just upset because I wanted to see you two get married and you went and did it on your own. You're both adults and are free to make your own decisions, yet I couldn't accept the fact that you got married without the family present as witnesses."

Jasper and Bella looked at each other and nodded. It was as if they were silently communicating with each other. "Thank you both for apologizing." Bella said. "Jasper and I would like to apologize for ignoring the family for so long rather than talking to you about how we felt. We've been talking and we'd like to hold a small ceremony to say our vows in front of the family. We understand how you all must have felt, not being able to see us get married. Frankly, I don't remember much about the ceremony we had in Las Vegas either so reaffirming our vows is something that I wouldn't mind doing."

"Oh, Bella, thank you!" I cried. She pulled me into her arms to comfort me. Jasper grabbed us and Carmen and held all three of us in his strong arms.

After we all calmed down, Bella spoke again. "Neither Jasper nor I want a big ceremony at all. We just want a small gathering with Garrett reading us our vows and just the family in attendance. I'm just going to wear the white dress that I wore at my wedding in Las Vegas and Jasper's going to wear his suit. No bridesmaids, no reception, no additional guests. Just the family."

"I can live with that." I said with a smile.

"Okay and if you really want to plan a huge wedding, Vicky's always wanted one. She and Riley couldn't afford one so they just said their vows in front of the Justice of Peace in Forks with only me and Charlie in attendance." Bella gave me a tip.

"I know Char's always wanted one too. She and Pete got hitched at a titty bar in Tijuana, Mexico a long time ago. I'm not even sure it was legal." Jasper said.

"The girls plans don't have to go to waste! They can have a double wedding!" I exclaimed.

"See, you both have lots of weddings to plan." Bella assured us.

"So, tell us about your house here. It's quite beautiful." I looked around and it looked like it was around a hundred years old. It needed a lot of work though.

"As I was saying, I purchased the house in 1949 on a whim. Alice was shopping at Macy's and I was completely bored so I took a walk. I saw a "For Sale" sign in the front window. The widow who owned it wanted to move to a warmer climate. I purchased it for eighty thousand dollars cash back then. I never told Alice or anyone else about it. You ladies are actually the first to know about it, though we'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourselves." Jasper requested nicely.

I suddenly became worried. Was I too late? Were my son and daughter planning on living apart from us? "What's wrong, Esme?" Jasper asked. "I can feel your anxiety and sorrow."

"Are you two planning on living here, away from us?" I asked.

"No, not here. This is a project for us. We want to see if we can bring the house up to date and up to code. We'll need to call a plumber and an electrician though. The pipes are rusted out and the wiring is too outdated. I believe the house was built in 1916 and I'm only the second owner. Unfortunately, I let this place go because I couldn't really make any decisions about it while I was married to Malice." Jasper said.

"Oh, I became a little worried there. You'll be moving back home with us, then?" I asked.

Jasper and Bella both looked at each other again. Oh no, my worst fears were coming true. I cringed at the thought. "Esme, you know we both love ya, right?"

I nodded, unable to speak. "Bella and I aren't comfortable living full time with so many people. To tell the truth, we have our own little place in Cambridge. We're happy living there together, just the two of us. We wouldn't mind staying with you in Amherst over the weekends, but honestly it would be too overwhelming for us to live full time with all of you. Neither of us can handle the intrusiveness of all of our family members."

"I understand." I whispered. I was heartbroken. I couldn't help, but think that I pushed them away by being so overbearing.

"Esme, it's not your fault. It's Jasper and I who need privacy. Jasper's always needed a lot of calm so he's not bombarded with emotions and I was already feeling overwhelmed when I was living with Riley, Victoria, Laurent, and Irina. We promise to visit a lot more than we did before my change and we'll never live too far from you. I miss seeing all of you too." Bella tried to soothe my now sobbing form. She lifted my chin with her thumb so I was looking in her eyes. "I still need you."

I pulled her into a hug at hearing that. My baby girl still needs me. She knew just the right words to say to make me feel better. "Don't stay away all the time. Do you both hear me?" I chastised.

"Yes, Esme." They both replied.

"Now, tell me what you've done so far. I may be able to give you some advice." I said. After all, this was my area of expertise and they looked like they were in way over their heads. Jasper and Bella gave me and Carmen the grand tour. It was a gorgeous mansion—so rare in New York City. If Jasper hadn't purchased this place when he did, it would have definitely been turned into a co-op with several apartments.

"Well, I hate to say this, but the first thing you both need to do before you do anymore work is to figure out if you want to keep the layout or not. Do you have the original blueprints? I can take a look at them for you and help you come up with a plan."

Jasper handed them to me. "Phew! To be honest, we were in over our heads. We couldn't make sense out of those things no matter which way we looked at them. Maybe you can help us come up with a good design. Oh, and um...we need one of the floors to contain a jacuzzi pool and a tree—not a live one, of course. It has to be big enough to swing from. That's mandatory."

A jacuzzi pool and a tree? Odd requests. The only jacuzzi pool I've ever seen was at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in that ridiculous suite with the round, rotating bed that Carlisle insisted on staying at. It did have a nice bathroom, though. I actually modeled Jasper and Bella's bathroom in Amherst after that one. "Okay, I'll work on it this week. Why don't you both come to my office on Wednesday evening and I'll have a rough design worked out for you by then. I promise I won't tell anyone. Mum's the word." I was giddy with happiness. This was one thing that I could do for them. Redesigning this house would be a hundred times more satisfying than planning a wedding. Plus, it could be my wedding gift to them.

"I won't say a thing either." Carmen promised.

"Thank you." They both said.

"Well, I think it's time we headed back to our hotel." I didn't want to leave them, but I knew they needed their privacy.

"Hang on a sec. We'll come with you, we need to check into a hotel anyway. It's way too dusty in here. There's about sixty years worth of dust and cobwebs accumulated in here." Jasper said. "I think I'm gonna need to hire a cleaning service."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad when you can see all the dust mites floating in the air." Bella agreed. "Sometimes, I'm not so sure if this vampire vision is such a good thing."

Jasper grabbed their overnight bag and locked up the house. We then walked the few blocks to the hotel in a peaceful silence, content that we had cleared our differences and looking ahead to a brighter future together as a family. Now, where the heck was I going to find an artificial tree big enough to swing from?

**Tanya's POV**

It was a little over a week before Christmas and Bella, Char, and I were out shopping for gifts. We decided to go to the Natick Mall in Natick, Massachusetts because it was huge and had a whole bunch of stores for us to peruse in. We had all apologized to Bella and Jasper for trying to force a wedding on them. They accepted our apology and even made a concession by allowing us to plan an intimate reading of the vows with just the family. The women moved on to planning a lavish double wedding for Victoria and Charlotte. The two of them were giddy with excitement. The odd thing is, all this wedding talk had me pondering my relationship with Rex. While both of us were happily mated, neither one of us had much interest in marrying each other. We were quite content with the way things were. Of course, Carmen and my sisters kept bringing up the question of marriage and the two of us were always evasive. We could both relate to Bella and Jasper not wanting a big hoopla and I felt really bad for being part of the team to want to force a wedding upon them now.

We were walking in the mall, when we saw a table set up that read Toys for Tots. "What's that and how come there are two gorgeous men in uniform manning the station?" I asked.

"Oh, those are Marines. They run Toys for Tots yearly in order to gather enough funds and toys to help needy children so they don't have to go without presents at Christmas." Bella explained. "Oh fuck me. Char!"

"Hello." Char breathed. "What are your names?"

"I'm Lance Corporal Steven Walker and this is Private First Class Josh Sullivan, ma'am."

Oh my, my, my. These men were absolutely delectable. Good Lord, that Private looks like he's packing some. Bella and I were both standing there awestruck at the handsome young men.

"Please excuse my sisters. They've just never seen real men in uniform before. I'm Charlotte, by the way." She slunk her hand out for the Marines to shake.

Why that sneaky, little witch. She just introduced herself at Bella and my expense.

"So, how can we help the children?" Char asked sweetly.

"Well, ma'am, you could either drop off an unwrapped toy in the drop box or write a check to Toys for Tots for any amount." The Private explained.

"What can you do for us?" Char got up really close to the Corporal and ran her fingertips down the man's chest and stopped right at his waistband.

"Jesus Christ, Char, keep your shit in check. I can smell your arousal permeating the mall." Bella whispered at vampire speed so only we could here.

Char continued flirting. She was now sitting on the table top with her legs crossed, winking at the two Marines who were awestruck by the beautiful, blonde woman who had taken an interest in them.

"Ma'am, we finish our shift in an hour. It would be our pleasure to take the three of you ladies out for drinks." Corporal Walker said.

"Of course, where should we meet you big, strong men?" Char asked demurely.

"How about right here in an hour?" The Private Sullivan suggested.

"We'll be here. In the meantime, let us make a small donation." Char fished her checkbook out of her purse.

We each wrote them checks for fifty thousand dollars. The Marines were floored. "It's a wonderful cause." Bella mentioned in passing before walking away and turning to me and Char. "We are so going to hell! Jasper thinks I'm only Christmas shopping. He's going to flip out when he finds out I went out for drinks with Marines. I think I'd better just run home. You two have fun."

Hell no! Jasper was fucking on her like white on rice. Poor Bella was overprotected not only by him, but by her brothers as well—including my Rex and Peter. Bella drove to Walmart last week to grab some shampoo and Rex followed her there on foot saying that there were men that shopped there that might look at her. Char and I both grabbed Bella's hand. "No Bella! It's time the three of us had a bit of fun. We're just going out for drinks—not cheating on them. Besides, imagine what Jasper, Rex, and Peter would say if you suddenly showed up at home without us. We'd be the ones to get in trouble." I said.

"Okay, I guess one drink won't hurt us. I'm done with shopping for today anyway. All I needed to do was grab a few more lightsabers for Amanda and Peter. Do you realize that ever since we watched the Star Wars marathon, the two of them have gone through a hundred toy light sabers?"

"No kidding." Char agreed. "They're both always dressing in Jedi costumes and role playing. At least Amanda can talk now. She still calls me Super Tatas though."

"Char, she calls me Yummy Punani. I swear, when I get my hands on your husband..." I seethed. Peter had Amanda calling most of us by screwed up nicknames. Char and mine were, by far, the worst and poor Vicky too—whenever she walked by, Amanda would start singing Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby Got Back."

Three hours later, it was midnight and we were sitting in a pub called Owen O' Leary's having drinks with the two Marines and their eight soldier friends. Char and Bella were good and sloshed and I wasn't faring much better. We definitely wouldn't be driving home tonight. "Hey, you girls should do titty shots!" Private Sullivan suggested.

"Oh, sure!" Char slurred. "What do we do, flash you or something?" Char moved to lift up her shirt, the men were mesmerized in anticipation. Bella quickly grabbed hold of Char so her shirt would stay down.

"Char, he wants us to drink shots off of each other's boobs." Bella whispered.

"Oh! How fun!" Char exclaimed. "Show me how Bella. Come on, Jasper's not here."

Bella looked around warily then smiled. "Well, I was the best at this during college." She stuck a shot glass in between Char's tits. "Okay, push your boobs together. Ready?"

Char nodded that she was. The Marines started counting down, "Three...Two...One!"

Bella put her lips around the shot glass and inhaled the shot of Patron in one go. The Marines exploded in applause. Oh, this looked like so much fun. My turn!

"Char throw another shot in there. I want a turn!" I squealed. I mimicked Bella and did the same thing. The Marines cheered again.

We each took turns doing titty shots off of each other. Bella was up again, I ran my tongue down from her neck to her cleavage, and just when I latched on to the shot glass in between her breasts, I heard Peter's menacing voice. "Enjoying yourself ladies?"

I gulped the shot down in one go knowing that I definitely was going to need it. "Rexy, Petey, Jasper! We were just about to head home, you didn't have to come get us." I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. The three of them had scowls on their faces.

Rex turned to the Marines and in a commanding voice that I'd never heard before he asked. "Lance Corporal Walker! Front and center now!" How the hell did he know his name? Oh, name tag.

"Explain what you're doing here with these privates and our women?"

"Sir..." The Corporal was interrupted.

"That's Sergeant Major to you! Do I look like a fucking sir to you? Are we not Marines, soldier?" Rex's commanding voice boomed.

"Yes, Sergeant Major!" All the Marines instantly got on their feet and saluted my Rex. Holy shit, my panties are drenched!

"Do I have to ask my question twice Marine?" Rex growled.

"No, Sergeant Major!" Corporal Walker answered immediately. "We met the women at the mall while running the Toys for Tots table. They donated money and we invited them out for drinks!"

Rex nodded once, then yelled. "Get your sorry asses back to the base soldiers and stop fucking around! Move it, move it, move it!"

"Yes, Sergeant Major!" All the Marines answered him and saluted Rex once more.

Just as they were about to turn to leave, Jasper glared at them and growled one word. "Run."

The Marines shot out of the bar faster than lightening. The few, the proud, the Marines indeed. Nice of them to defend our asses.

As soon as the soldiers ran, our mates were whooping and giving each other high-fives like the egotistical neanderthals they were. "You know, that was pretty mean of you to scare those poor boys." I said to them.

"Hey, they're soldiers. They shouldn't be fucking around at a bar with our women. They should be defending our country. Now what are you girls doing here?" Rex questioned.

"We're having drinks. What does it look like we were doing?" Char said.

"It sure didn't look like it to me, Char. It looked like..." Peter paused to take in the sight of Jasper who was staring at his mate with pitch black, smoldering eyes. "Major, are you on our side or what?"

No answer. Jasper couldn't take his eyes off of Bella who was currently inserting a shot glass full of Patron in her cleavage and motioning him to come to her. Jasper stalked over with a smile and looked intensely into Bella's eyes, he kissed her passionately and fondled her breasts before downing the shot of tequila. "You taste like Char and Tanya." He observed.

"Well, of course I do. They've been licking my neck and cleavage all night." Bella pointed out.

"That's it!" Rex called the cocktail waitress over. "Excuse me, cutie."

"Yes, how can I help you?" She was mesmerized by Rex's smoldering good looks and instantly aroused.

"Can you clear these shot glasses away and bring us clean ones plus two new bottles of Patron please?"

Rex winked at her.

"Right away. Can I get you and your friends anything else?" She looked from Rex to Peter to Jasper—licking her lips, completely ignoring us girls.

"Just go get the fucking drinks!" Bella growled. The waitress's eyes bulged in fear and she ran back to the bar to place the order almost tripping on the carpet along the way.

"Hey, you didn't have to yell at her. She was sweet." Rex admonished.

"Uh-huh, and you didn't have to yell at those Marines. They were harmless." Bella countered.

The waitress came back with the drinks. She dealt solely with the men, choosing to make like we girls weren't even there. She wouldn't stop flirting with them. Fucking ho!

As soon as the slutty waitress left, Rex filled a shot glass and placed it in the apex of his thighs and wagged his eyebrows. "I want a blow job. Which one of you beautiful ladies is up first."

Holy fuck. I dropped to my knees in front of my mate and downed the shot in one go. Rex filled another one and Char followed suit.

"Uh-uh, girls. That's not how you do those." Bella smirked. "Watch and learn from the pro."

Rex placed another glass at his crotch. Bella ran her tongue from his knee to the shot glass while she ran her hands down his chest before grabbing hold of the shot glass with her full lips. She kept her eyes trained on Rex's the whole time. "Now that's how you give a proper blow job!" My mate applauded while Jasper growled and pulled Bella onto his lap.

"Bella, where the hell did you learn this stuff?" I asked. "You knew how to do titty shots too!"

"College. Let's just say I took Riley's advice and enjoyed myself—maybe a wee bit too much." She chuckled as she climbed off of Jasper's lap.

Jasper and Peter grabbed shot glasses. "Our turn!"

The six of us took turns doing titty shots and blow jobs. Eight bottles of Patron later, we were all stumbling into the parking lot. I had no idea how we convinced the bar to even sell us that much liquor. "Um...there's no way any of us are driving home." I pointed out. "Should we just run home."

"Yeah, but we have all the shopping in the bed of Char's truck." Bella said. "Oh and don't call Riley cause he'll lecture you until the sun comes up."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Jasper said brightly. I'll disable the truck and we'll call AAA and have them tow it to the house. Then we can just run home."

"That might work! Let's do it." Peter called AAA while Jasper pulled the spark plugs out of the truck. Forty minutes later the tow truck showed up. We had Char's truck towed to our house in Amherst instead of the Cullen home because Amanda was there and we didn't want her to eat the tow truck driver.

We did a half run, half walk to Amherst—chatting on the way. "So, how's the Edward training going?" Bella asked.

"Well, he masturbates now. Peter told him what to do and bought him a couple of nudie magazines." Char said. "He still has no control. I had him gagged and tied up on his bed the other day while I sat in his room naked just chatting to him and he came five times. I didn't even have to touch him. We're trying to preserve his virginity so it's a slow process."

"He is making progress, though. He no longer screams Bella's name when he cums. Now he just screams 'Bel...' I think he's trying." I pointed out.

"That might have something to do with the gag we have on him all the time. It might be muffling the sound." Char observed.

"I was thinking." Rex suggested. "Maybe we can watch some porn with him. Kind of have a guys night in. We'll let him ask any questions he may have. Do you think that might work?"

"Sure, we'll try anything at this point. I'll ask the parents to watch Amanda—that way the girls and I could go see that Cowboy at Climax. Tomorrow's Saturday so he'll be performing." Char said with an excited look in her eyes.

"Okay, scratch that shit. Porn can wait. He'll probably shoot his load all over the TV anyway. There's no way in hell the three of you are going to Climax!" Rex yelled into the forest.

"Why not? My friends and I came to see you for Megan's bachelorette party." Bella said. "What's the difference?"

"The difference is that I'm not the one dancing and who knows what kind of freak this guy who claims to be a cowboy is. Fucking loser."

"Jealous, Rex?" Bella questioned.

"You know what? Fuck it! We're all going to Climax tomorrow night and we're taking Eddie with us. There are women performing too on Saturday night. What do you say guys?" My mate's idea was absolutely horrific.

"I'm in, it'll do Edward good to have a pair of live, jiggling human titties thrust in his face." Jasper said. Besides, I want to see what the big deal is about this poser cowboy anyway."

"Pfft! No shit! Apparently, the asshole is claiming to be a real live Texan and shit. He probably has a fake accent." Peter piped in jealously.

"That's great that you guys want to tag along and all, but Rex—won't they recognize you?" I pointed out.

"Nope! You girls are going to bleach my hair blonde. They won't be able to tell who I am with that and my golden eyes." Rex declared smugly.

"Besides, ain't no way in hell you girls are going to hit a strip club without us. If you want to watch strippers, then you're gonna do it with your mates. Call it a compromise, if you will." Jasper declared.

"Yeah and tonight's a prime example, you girls go shopping on your own and you let yourselves get picked up by a bunch of Marines." Peter said. There was no way that I was going to say that Char was actually the one to pick up the Marines. No way. Besides, they were fun.

"How did you guys know where to find us?" Bella asked curiously.

"Well, the mall closed at 9pm and when it was 11pm and you girls still weren't home, we became worried. None of you even bothered picking up your cells." Jasper pointed out. "Anyway, the last place you were at was the Natick Mall so we started running there when we caught your scents at the bar along the way."

"Aww...that was sweet of you boys." Char snuggled into Peter's chest.

He smacked her playfully on her bottom. "Naughty girl. Next time call, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed. "So, Climax tomorrow night?"

"Hell yeah!" Rex cheered.

"Climax it is, then." I sighed. Climax with our overbearing, jealous mates. This should be an interesting experience, to say the least.

**So, what did you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts. You know I love hearing from you and I promise to write back as always. XOXO**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you so much for all your awesome reviews, faves, and alerts. I enjoy hearing from all of you-some of you are hilarious! Rex the Sex will be your private dancer for an evening!**

**On a weird, personal note, mama4dukes was Christmas shopping when she encountered an entire family wearing cloaks this evening. No joke! I felt like such a muggle...oh yeah, I am a muggle. Anyway, the mom, dad, daughter, and son each donned cloaks a la Harry Potter or the Volturi. Will someone please explain to me why these cloak covered humans (?) were shopping at a mall on the south shore of Massachusetts? I'm a bit perplexed-snuggies I can try to understand, but cloaks?**

**This chapter contains stripping and togas, but no cloaks.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Rex's POV**

My hair's all bleached and with my golden eyes, I look like a new man. Still good looking though. The parents were all over at the Cullens watching Amanda so that we kids could have a little break. I think they wanted to teach her to be a little more reserved to be honest. Amanda was one strange vampire, she calls most of us by nicknames drilled into her by Peter. I'm Big Major and Jasper is Little Major. Funny. Bella has Amanda reciting Wuthering Heights by heart now. I think she did it as payback for her having burnt all of her books while she was still human. She and Edward are working on getting her to memorize the Harry Potter series now. It's like having a walking audiobook, they both said. Oddly enough, they've banned the Bible from her reading repertoire.

These past few months have been hectic. I was shocked when my change happened—hell, I was surprised. When I woke up, I didn't even know that I had died and was no longer human. That dinner I had with Tanya, Jasper, and Bella was my last meal. Thank God, we went for gelatos in the North End afterwards. That was my last one too. I really miss human food.

Being a vampire suits me just fine. I love my new family and my mate even more. Tanya was everything to me. She and I were totally tuned in to each other. She also knew exactly what I liked in bed. The sex was mind blowing. The other thing that Tanya didn't mind doing was swapping. We swapped partners with Charlotte and Peter at least once a week and sometimes with Kate and Garrett too. It kept things interesting for us.

Tanya and I were closest to Bella and Jasper. Jasper was the brother I never had. He even gave me his name when he changed me. I was now Rex Whitlock. Pretty cool, if you ask me. He and I were always coming up with war strategies and the like together with Garrett. Next year, we're going to Virginia to Colonial Williamsburg to see the recreated revolutionary war town with it's reenactments . We were so psyched. Tanya and Katie were totally not into it, but Bella was like a kid in a candy store. She's a serious history buff. Anyway, Tanya goes anywhere that Bella goes and Katie goes where Garrett goes so it was an easy sell after that.

Now, it might be because Jasper changed me, I don't know why. I felt uber protective about Bella. She was my kid sis through and through. Last weekend, I freaked out when she went to Walmart by herself to pick up a few things. Jasper was out hunting with Vicky so, for some reason, I thought it was my duty to follow her. I ran all the way there and finally caught up with her truck. She was curious as to why I was there so I lied and told her that I needed a few things too and would she mind giving me a ride home. I ended up picking up a stick of deodorant and some shampoo. Bella pointed out that vampires don't need deodorant. I told her that I knew that and that this was something I wanted to try out on Amanda. After that, we ended up picking up every single brand of deodorant in the hopes of finding one to mask Amanda's stink. Wouldn't you know it? We actually found one that worked. Now Amanda smells a little bit like Lysol and moth balls and a lot like Old Spice. See? Lying isn't always a bad thing sometimes it leads to new discoveries.

"You look fucked up!" Jasper commented at my new hair color. "Your hair doesn't match your eyebrows."

"Hey, this shit's only so we can go to Climax. I'm doing it for the girls."

"Um, I don't remember any of us asking you guys to come along." Bella pointed out.

"Touche." I said.

We were running to Climax. It would be quicker than driving and after last night, we didn't want to have to worry about having any vehicles in town, in case we drank too much. Rosalie gave us hell already for yanking the spark plugs out. Apparently, Jasper did something to screw up the connections and now it was going to be a huge job for her to repair. She went on a tirade and screamed at us for an hour straight. She especially came down hard on Peter for letting Jasper touch the truck. "You know how he makes like he knows what he's doing, but he really has no idea. You were there—you're good with engines. I just can't understand why you let him touch it!" Man oh man, the woman brings bitch to a new level.

"Hey, Eddie, are you gonna be able to hold it in tonight?" Peter asked mid-run.

"Yes, I think so. I took precautions just to be safe." He replied.

"What kind of precautions?" I asked, curiously.

"Um...I masturbated ten times."

Did Edward just say he jerked off ten times? His dicks gonna shrivel up and fall off.

"Ten times! Dude, are you okay? I mean, that seems like a lot." Emmett seemed really concerned.

"Well, I didn't want to embarrass myself like the last time, so I had to. I figured that if I got everything out, there wouldn't be anything left in me to expel." Edward said matter of factly.

Out of the blue, Bella suddenly said. "I'm curious. Can vampires get carpal tunnel syndrome from repetitive motion?"

We all burst out laughing—even Edward. Carpal tunnel syndrome? Only Bella would think of such a human condition. The run flew by after that and soon we found ourselves at the outskirts of Boston and we were able to a hop a train from there.

We walked into Climax and tipped Kirk, the manager, to get us a table in front of the stage. He didn't recognize me at all. Good, my disguise was working. We had a huge group with Edward, Rose, Emmett, Vicky, Riley, Char, Peter, Bella, Jasper, Irina, Laurent, Katie, Garrett, Tanya and me—we numbered fifteen. I think Kirk saw dollar signs flashing in front of his eyes—greedy bastard. I recognized most of the employees and found it hard not to greet them, but I couldn't risk blowing my cover. I was supposed to be dead for God's sake. I mean really dead, not technically dead.

We were sitting at the table waiting for our orders to be taken. The women were sitting on one side while the men sat on the other. What the hell was this? Segregation by sex? Are we suddenly back in the dark ages?

Jenny, the cocktail waitress came to take our order. The women were pissed off, they wanted one of the loin cloth clad waiters to take their order. I suspected that Jenny and Jason were going to be trading off—which was usually the case when there was a mixed group like ours. We quickly placed our orders. Just as I suspected, Jason came along to help Jenny bring our drinks and in Char's case, her cock pop.

"So, Eddie, how are you doing?" I asked. Edward had relaxed considerably since Amanda's change. I think learning how to masturbate really helped him.

"Huh?" He muttered. He was currently staring at Jenny's tits in complete awe. He looked wide eyed with wonder. I heard about his last trip here, that was when Carlisle got in my face and yelled at me in the middle of my performance for trying to nuzzle Bella's tits. Apparently, Edward was a lot more uptight then and kept complaining about the strippers. Now he looked like a little boy staring at his first live naked girl.

Suddenly, two guys approached our table. Hang on! I remember them, they were two of my best tippers when I used to work here. "Santa! Yoda! It's so great seeing you guys."

"Hey, Randy! How's it going?" Peter said.

"Wonderful—we're still role playing, you know. The sex has been fantastic. Oh, hello Major Junior and Buzz Lightyear and the two straight guys." Randy greeted.

"I see you have some new boys with you. My name is Kenny and that's my partner Randy." He brought his hand out to shake mine.

"Use an alias, you're supposed to be dead." Jasper whispered so only I could hear.

Oh shit! That's right. Damn it! I can't think of one. "Um...my name is Cullen Denali nice to meet you." Everyone at the table were stifling their laughter.

"No, honey, your stage name. I don't care about your real name. What's your stripper name?" Kenny asked.

"Not the Major, he's dead too." Jasper reminded me.

"He's the Mayonnaise Man." Peter announced.

"Oh, honey, you should never, ever put your sexual preferences in your stage name. I can tell you're still a greenhorn." Kenny pulled up a chair. "I can help you come up with a better name before they have you performing. We can do Major Junior and Buzz Lightyear's names while we're at it. Their names are just as horrific. Oh and Major Junior, it would be very poor taste for you to continue using the name The Major in light of the recent passing of the real Major."

Everyone was chuckling at our table. "I'm so sorry, we've been ignoring you. What's your name, sweetheart?" Randy asked Edward.

Edward was unusually relaxed, stood up and walked around the table to Bella. "I'm Edward. I'm straight and this is my girlfriend Bella." He picked Bella up and sat on her chair, placing her on his lap. This action elicited a growl from Jasper.

"Ooh! Now that's sexy. We need to incorporate that growl into your act, Major Junior." Randy said to Jasper. "By the way, Edward, there's absolutely no way you're straight. Not with the way you dress and talk. I don't believe you."

"Wait! What do you mean by the way I dress and talk?"

"Well, come on those are Hugo Boss Slim Fit Pants with a slight low rise and you've paired it impeccably with a starched Armani Exchange Diamond Burnout Shirt. Oh, and those Gucci loafers are to die for. Plus your hair is perfectly coiffed into sex hair. We all need to watch and learn from you." Randy said. "Now be honest. Is Bella your beard?"

Rosalie who was sitting next to Bella grabbed her from a mortified Edward and plopped her face down so her stomach was on her lap. She spanked Bella's ass and said. "Didn't I tell you that I didn't want you pretending to be his girlfriend anymore bitch? You're mine—now show me that you understand that."

Bella looked at Rose remorsefully. "I'm sorry mistress. I only belong to you. You can punish me more later." She then nuzzled Rose's neck leaving all of us men looking stunned. They, then, both looked up at us with smug smiles.

"Well, we need to get going. Our friends just arrived." Kenny said. "We'll work on your names later. Oh and look out for The Cowboy. Oh God! He is completely droolworthy. The last time I saw him I nearly came in my pants!" For some reason, we all turned to look at Edward when we heard that.

As soon as Kenny and Randy left to go sit with their friends, Emmett blurted out to Rose and Bella, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Oh, we were role playing." Bella said.

"Role playing? You two aren't together, are you?" Emmett asked innocently.

"No, why would you think that?" Rose asked.

"It's just that you two looked so comfortable together." Emmett admitted.

Bella and Rose both started laughing. "Emmett, what you just witnessed was our Provincetown alter egos. You know, the one we used at the Lonely Barmaid." Rose assured her mate.

"Oh, so you're not...Phew! I thought you were leaving me for Bella." Emmett let out a huge sigh of relief and Rose went to sit on Emmett's lap. At the same time, Jasper made his way over to Bella and plopped her on his lap and started kissing her neck.

I was curious, so I asked Peter, "What did those guys mean by not putting my sexual preferences out there when you called me Mayonnaise Man?" By the looks of it, everyone else was curious too, except for Bella and Riley who were both clutching their stomachs laughing.

"I don't know what those guys meant either." Peter admitted. Bella and Riley were now howling.

"A Mayonnaise Man is a gay male that likes to finish on top of his partner then enjoy the fruits of his labor by spreading his mayo between them." Riley chuckled.

"That's fucking sick man!" I blurted out. "Why the hell did you give me that stripper name? I demand a better one!"

"I don't know, I looked at your hair and it looks like the color of mayo so I just called you Mayonnaise Man." Peter said. Just my luck. Peter comes up with a name and it happens to be some kind of freaky sex act.

"Who's that?" Edward asked, pointing to the dancer on stage.

"Oh, that's Bambi. Come on guys, let's go show Eddie here how to tip a stripper." I suggested.

"Remember your control, Edward." Char yelled as we left for the stage.

"Okay, Eddie, hold the twenty up and when she sees it you either slip it in the elastic of her thong or in her bra strap if she still has it on." I instructed.

"I have to touch her? What if I...you know?" Edward looked absolutely bewildered.

"Here, watch Garrett first." Bambi spanked her own ass and bent forward at the waist while Garrett and Peter both slipped twenties into the elastic of her thong. Edward stared open mouthed at the whole scene. He tried to go back to the table, but Jasper and Emmett had a firm hold on him and sent him back in front of Bambi.

"Here, wave this in front of your face." Jasper handed Eddie an twenty.

Bambi leaned down so her breasts were directly within Edward's line of sight. Edward started panting.

"Alright, now slip the twenty in her bra strap." Jasper commanded. Edward's hand wouldn't move.

"Aww...do we have a cherry boy here?" Bambi looked thoughtfully at Eddie. "Don't worry, baby, I won't bite."

Edward stood stock still and wide eyed in front of Bambi. Laurent reached over and guided Edward's hand towards Bambi's bra strap. Edward finally mustered the courage to slip the twenty under the strap. He quickly retreated his hand into his pocket.

"Thank you." Bambi said sweetly and kissed Edward on the cheek. Edward gulped. Bambi went back to dancing seductively. After her dance, we went back to the table where the girls all gave Eddie a round of applause.

"You did it!' Tanya cheered.

We went back to just hanging out and chatting. Suddenly, from a distance, we heard voices call out, "Bella!"

We all looked up. Bella's jaw dropped. "Shit!" Bella muttered.

A young blonde dude that looked like he came straight out of the Abercrombie and Fitch ads came stalking up to our table. "God, Sugar Lips, I didn't think I'd ever see you again. Where've you been? I tried calling you, but your phone wasn't in service. I went to your apartment, but you had moved."

Sugar Lips? Who the fuck is this loser? Was Bella banging him or something? I looked around our table and all the guys had menacing scowls on their faces while the girls looked intrigued. Char was licking her lips.

"You must be Tommy." Edward stated.

"Yeah, that's right." Tommy confirmed. Jasper and Peter both growled.

"Settle down, he's harmless." Riley whispered so only we could hear. "Hey, Tommy. How've you been? What have you been up to? Were you able to find a job after graduation?"

"Good, thanks. I'm working in advertising now. I just closed on a huge account so I'm celebrating." Tommy said.

"Hey, good for you." Riley congratulated.

"So, Sugar Lips, you want to come hang with us. The old gang is here. Maybe you and I could get together after we pound back a few. We always have a blast, don't we baby?"

Hell no! Jasper, Edward, Peter, Emmett, Garrett, and I all stood up instantly.

"Um guys, you can all sit." Bella said. "Tommy, I'm married."

"You're married? To whom? When the hell did this happen?"

"A few months ago. We eloped. This is my husband, Jasper."

"Nice to meet you." Tommy extended his hand to Jasper which he shook. "You've got a great girl here."

"I know." Jasper stated simply.

"I'll tell you what, Tommy. I'll come and say hello to everyone in a bit, okay? Are Megan and Kelly here too?" Bella asked.

"Yep, so are Brian, Scott, Ashley, and Jeff." Tommy confirmed.

"Okay, I'll see you guys in a bit."

Tommy walked back to his table, no doubt to break the news that Bella was married.

"You better fucking dish right now, girl!" Charlotte said. "That guy is hot..H-O-T..hot!"

"No, shit! How long were you fucking him?" Rose asked.

"Ahem!" Peter cleared his throat. "We're still here ladies—you know, your mates."

"Yeah, yeah, we know you're our mates. It's not like we're gonna go and jump the guy. We just want to hear all the dirty details." Tanya said. "That is a human sex on legs."

"There really isn't anything to tell. He's my ex-boyfriend. We broke up a couple of years ago. That's all." Bella said.

"Uh-huh, sure you did. It didn't seem like it to me sis." Rose said.

"Besides," Char added, "that's the type of guy you hang on to for fringe benefits. He's completely fuckworthy."

Bella stared at her drink then looked down at her feet. In fact, she was looking anywhere, but at us.

"Oh my God! You were banging him after you broke up with him!" My wife stated.

"Bella!" Vicky said. "Is that where you were whenever you said you were sleeping over at Kelly's?"

"It's all in the past." Bella said. "Besides, I don't see how it's any of your business."

"Bella!" Two chirpy female voices approached the table. It was Megan and Kelly from the wedding.

"So, let's meet him. Where's your husband? Tommy's all depressed that he didn't get one last fuck in before you tied the knot, by the way."

"Megan, Kelly." Bella stood up to give her friends a hug.

"You feel so cold. Are you coming down with something?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, I'm just getting over the flu." Bella coughed. We all sniggered. "Um this is my husband, Jasper. You met him at Megan's reception."

"Oh, yeah. Hey, you have to thank your father for footing the liquor bill. That was completely unnecessary." Megan said.

"No problem, sugar." Jasper drawled. We could smell both girls instant arousal at hearing Jasper's accent.

"So you eloped? When did this happen? Why the fuck didn't you tell us? You know we tried calling, but your cell was disconnected." Kelly said to Bella.

"Oh...um, sorry about that. I switched over to Jasper's plan and for some reason I couldn't port my old number over. I lost all my contacts then too." Bella lied—efficiently, I should add.

"Well, come on! We're playing beer pong like when we were in college." Megan said excitedly.

"We'll play! We like Bella's college games." Char and Tanya both stood up, grabbed Bella by the arm and pushed her towards her friends' table with Rose following close behind.

"You guys gonna just sit here and let them loose or are we joining in?" Jasper asked.

In an instant, we were following our mates. Peter grabbed Edward and tugged him along with us.

Bella's friends were all animals. The girls and the guys both partied hard. It was guys against girls and the guys were winning. All the vampires had to miss sometimes to make it seem like we're human. Edward was actually socializing and having fun.

Somewhere along the line, we moved on from beer pong to tequila pong. The humans were all completely inebriated. Edward, who had never touched liquor before in his life, was completely drunk. The rest of us were totally unaffected by the small amount.

"You have really nice breasts. Can I see them naked?" Edward slurred to Bella. Bella slapped her forehead. Edward was currently ogling Bella's cleavage.

"She does, doesn't she?" Tommy said, joining Edward. "She can do amazing things with them."

Emmett and I were holding Jasper down because he looked like he was going to claw apart the entire club starting with Tommy. A low, rumbling growl escaped from his chest. The human women instantly became aroused.

"So Tanya, did you ever go out with that Rex guy?" Kelly asked. "Can you believe what happened to him—so tragic."

"I went out on a date with him. He was really no big deal though. Kind of boorish, if you ask me." Tanya said, smirking at me. "It's too bad about his accident." Wait! Wait! No big deal? What the hell, woman? I died for you on our one date.

"Really? It was kind of nice how he ripped his shirt off to wrap my ankle at the reception, but then when you think about it—he was also kind of rude. I mean he disappeared all night to talk to you. You could tell the guy was a total player." Kelly said.

"Did you girls think about the fact that he's probably a flamer. All strippers are. Think about it. You can't be that perfect." Megan added.

"Oh my God! You're right. Rex was probably batting for the other team. In fact, I heard he was dating one of the waiters at the club." Char grinned maliciously at me.

"Yeah, apparently they were supposed to get married in August." Rose played along. "I heard it from one of my clients."

Jasper was laughing and he projected his humor throughout the club. The entire club was laughing. Even I was and I was actually pretty pissed off.

"Reign it in!" Peter admonished Jasper. None of us noticed that Tanya had disappeared for a few minutes. She returned to the table with a huge smile on her face.

The loin cloth clad waiter came back to the table with a tray. "Cock Pops for the women, courtesy of Miss Tanya." He said. "Jack Daniels for the men."

She didn't? She did. That sly devil.

All the girls were licking and sucking their Cock Pops as if it were the real thing. My mate, Bella, Char, Rose, and Megan were doing it while staring into their husbands' eyes. Jasper, Emmett, and Peter's orbs were coal black. The men could no longer concentrate on throwing the ping pong balls straight and kept missing. We were going to lose this match.

All of a sudden, I felt a wave of lust wash over me. Shit! Jasper was projecting. The entire club seemed to be locked in some kind of erotic frenzy. I looked over to our table and saw that Irina was under the table giving Laurent a blow while Garrett and Katie were furiously kissing and groping each other. Riley had Vicky splayed flat on her back across the table, he was about to rip her clothes off and claim her. Edward was gone—he had pulled a chair up in front of the female stripper's stage and was currently enjoying his first lap dance from Bambi who was dangerously close to breaking that no touching rule.

"Jasper, you're projecting." I whispered. "Riley's gonna claim Vicky any second now. Look—he just ripped her thong off and his pants are already undone.

"Fuck! Sorry!" He said just as Bella smiled and took a big bite out of her Cock Pop.

"Ouch! Don't do that!" I said, cringing at the image that made my dick shrivel. "We men have sensitive parts."

An announcement could be heard over the speakers. "Alright Ladies. The man of the hour is up. You've all been waiting for him. Give it up for The Cowboy!" Faster than lightening, all the women—human and vampire disappeared, leaving us men sitting around twiddling our thumbs.

"What the hell's the big deal about this guy?" Tommy said as the female population exploded in cheers for the dude that called himself the Cowboy.

"Shit, I don't know. Let's go get a closer look." I suggested. We all went to see what the big deal was.

Char had climbed up on the stage and had a hundred dollar bill fisted in each hand and one shoved in between her tits. I knew for a fact that there was no way the Cowboy was going to throw Char off the stage. I was him at one point. The three hundred bucks that Char was offering up would probably cover a quarter of his rent or take care of a car payment. He wasn't going to let that go so easily.

"Get the fuck down here woman!" Peter growled. "What the fuck is the big deal about this guy? Char, I'm more of a cowboy than he is. Who the hell dances to 'Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy'? That's so fucking cliché. Couldn't he be more original?"

"Peter, shut the fuck up and go watch the female strippers. You're ruining it for us!" Vicky admonished.

"No shit, we're just watching our fantasy male for the duration of one song. Jesus. It's not like we're going to screw him or anything!" Katie zapped Peter with her pinky, making him yelp.

The Cowboy was decent—not as good as me, but he could hold his own. I bet if I still wo...what the fuck is my mate doing up on stage? Holy hell, she and Char are sandwiching him. Get your fucking paws off of my women—that's right, my women. Only Peter and I get to touch those two works of art. Did my mate just spank his ass? Damn it, Tanya, get off the fucking stage. What part of mine doesn't she understand? That's it, I'm fucking asking her to marry me. I know what I said about marriage being just a piece of paper, but lately I've been pondering the idea more and more. I can't take this shit anymore. My woman runs around like a loose cannon all over New England. I wonder if Bella and Jasper would be willing to stand up for us?

I backed away from the stage and watched from afar. I felt warm fingers clasp around my hand—it was Bella. She was looking up at me smiling so I gave her a little hug. "Why aren't you up by the stage with the rest of the women?" I asked.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "He's not that great. You had way more skill. All this guy does is gyrate. Plus he puts too much oil on. Blech!"

Yeah, he did look like he bathed in a vat of oil. "He seems pretty popular." I said.

"Nah, he's nothing compared to you. The whole place used to go nuts whenever you were on stage. You just had this way about you that drew everyone in. The Cowboy doesn't have The Major's charisma. Plus, you're beaucoup hotter than he is." Bella winked.

Just hearing Bella's words made me feel better already. She and I had been close since my awakening. For a while there, she was the only one that could approach me without my power affecting her. She was also the only one that Tanya would allow near me. She trusted Bella implicitly.

"Come on, let's go dance." I pulled Bella with me onto the dance floor. Edward soon joined us and the three of us were having a grand ol' time. Edward was surprisingly light on his feet. Bella explained that Edward had always had rhythm and loved to dance. She was the one that hated to dance. In fact, Edward had to force her to go to the prom. It was only after she moved in with Riley, Vicky, Laurent, and Irina that she started to enjoy dancing. They danced in their apartment all the time so they could keep Vicky's mind off of her bloodlust. Eventually, Bella found that the dancing was helping her with her balance, so she kept up with it.

Rosalie joined us on the dance floor a few minutes later. Everyone else was sitting back at our original table chatting. Some of Bella's human friends, including that guy Tommy, bumped into us on the dance floor and we ended up being a pretty big group.

I don't know what made me do it, but I hopped up onto the bar, pulling Bella up along with me and started dancing. Edward and Rose hopped up too—so did Bella's friends Tommy and Kelly. We were dancing up a storm on the bar and having a blast. The women soon hopped down and it was just me, Edward, and Tommy.

"Come on, let's show these women what real men look like." Tommy suggested.

"Hell yeah!" Edward cheered.

"Stop it! Get the fuck off the bar guys!" I heard Bella admonish. "The bartender looks pissed."

"Aw...come on Sugar Lips, you used to never be so uptight." Tommy said.

"Yeah, baby, we're just having some fun." Edward supported his new best friend.

"Eddie, man, you sure know how to party. We should crash a wedding next weekend. You in?"

"Fuck yeah!" Drunkward high fived Tommy then turned to me. "Come on, Re...Mayo Man, show us how it's done. Don't let that fucking loser Cowboy outdo you."

That did it. Something made me snap. The music switched to AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" and I was off. I moved in between Bella's two exes and started showing everyone at the club how it was done. Damn it—I missed this. The women in the club seemed to migrate our way and before you knew it—Brad the Cop had lost most of his audience to us. Good for him, the guy was always an egotistical piece of shit that treated women like dirt anyway.

"Alright, guys, on the count of three I want you to rip your shirts off...ready? One...Two...Three!" We all ripped our shirts off and the entire club exploded in thundering applause. Suddenly, women were waving cash at us, but the three of us didn't take any. When they realized this, they started waving their panties at us. Someone waved a gigantic bra at us—whoever it was had huge tits.

"Char! Put your fucking bra back on!" I heard Peter yell.

"Oh God, Kenny! Mayonnaise Man just made me cum in my pants." Randy gushed.

"Hey, do you think that sweetie Eddie might want to come home with us?" Kenny asked.

The song was reaching it's climax. The three of us were still bumping and grinding to the cheers of all the women in the club.

"This is it guys—time for the finale. Rip your pants off, okay?" I told my two partners in crime. On the count of three, Eddie and I ripped our pants off. Unfortunately, Tommy—being human, didn't have the strength to rip his pants off so he just let his fall to the ground.

"Hey, how did you guys do that?" Tommy asked.

"Uh...we workout." I lied.

"Shit, I've got to bump up my training. I'm getting weak." Tommy mused.

Bella and Jasper rushed up to us. "We need to get out of here guys. You and Edward are in your boxers and this dude," Jasper pointed to Tommy with a scowl, "is shirtless."

Yeah, probably a good idea. I noticed Kirk, the greedy manager making a beeline straight for us. "Hello, my name is Kirk, I'm the manager here. I noticed your little performance on the bar. Let me be straight with you right off the bat. I'd like to offer you jobs here as dancers. I think you'd do very well here, you're obviously not shy."

The three of us all made our excuses, but Kirk insisted we take his business card and think about it. He then turned to Bella. "I think you'd do well on stage too beautiful. The men obviously like you and I think you'd make a ton in tips. Maybe we can set up a private audition for you?" He held his business card out while eyeing Bella up and down as if she were a piece of meat.

Private audition? That motherfucking grease bucket! Eddie and I immediately flanked Jasper who had put Bella behind him where Riley and Laurent both had a protective around her. Her former fuckbuddy Tommy and his friends Brian, Scott, and Jeff surrounded Kirk, ready to lay the smackdown on him.

Jasper got right in Kirk's face. "Quit eye-fucking my wife before I rip you a new one, you slimy piece of shit!" Kirk gulped, started shaking, and actually ran from us towards his office.

"Dude! That was awesome! You scared the fuck out of that asshole!" Tommy cheered and high-fived Jasper. Meanwhile, I had about a hundred women surrounding me, trying to hand me their numbers. Eddie and Tommy were doing pretty well themselves.

Tanya was getting pissed off about all the women trying to pick me up. Bella actually set her straight and told her that if she couldn't handle the attention I was getting then maybe she should consider paying a bit more attention to me. I'll have to thank her later.

We said our goodbyes to Bella's friends, promising to keep in touch, and headed home after that. The others surrounded Edward and me until we got to an area secluded enough for us to start running. Jasper and Bella went their separate ways promising to see us tomorrow. Lucky fuckers. I wish Tanya and I had our own pad to call home.

Before she left, Bella gave me a hug and said. "You've still got it, Major."

"Yeah, I guess I do." I smiled, she winked, and headed away from us with her mate. She's right, I've still got it.

**Amanda's POV**

This was really boring. I was sitting in the living room with Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar, and Carmen and watching movies. Usually, I love movies, but they were watching a really old, boring black and white one. Usually when Petey Papa and Belly Mama watch movies with me, they pick really good ones. We watch Star Wars a lot, of course, but my favorites are American Pie, Animal House, and Van Wilder. Petey Papa told me that I can't tell Belly Mama that we watched those. He had way better taste in movies than everyone else in the family. Belly Mama wasn't so bad, she watched Grease and Sixteen Candles with me. Afterwards, we started singing along to all the songs in Grease. That was fun. Little Major usually watches the Rush Hour movies with me. They're really funny. Emmy and I sat through all three High School Musical movies together. He even bought me the soundtracks.

I wonder if I'll ever get to go to high school? I'd like to be a cheerleader. I also want to go to the prom. High School just seems like a great place. I should ask Vicky about it because she works at a high school. Apparently, when I was a human, I never got to go to school except for college because my parents homeschooled me. Vicky is homeschooling me now, but it's only because of my bloodlust. I really hope I can go to school soon.

When are they coming home? I know that Belly Mama said she and Little Major wouldn't be home until tomorrow, but Petey Papa and Edward Mate should be home soon. I really wish I could have gone with them, but they said that I was still dangerous because of my bloodlust. Belly Mama promised me that as soon as my bloodlust was under control, she would take me to the theatre to see Grease. I really love Belly Mama—she's so nice and she takes good care of me.

I've been a vampire for almost four months now. I don't remember a single thing about my human life. I didn't even know that my name was Amanda. From what everyone tells me, I wasn't a very nice human girl. If that's the case, I really don't want to know about the human me. She can stay dead as far as I'm concerned.

Supposedly, I'm Edward Mate's wife. It feels so weird knowing that I'm someone's wife. I noticed that we don't do stuff that husbands and wives normally do. I know that he wants to and I think I do too, but I think I need to get to know him better. I just feel like we should date or something. Besides, I feel way too young to be married. Belly Mama said that I should wait until I'm ready. She said that I should never do anything just because a man tells me to and that I need to learn to start thinking for myself. She also said that she'd always be there for me. So did Petey Papa. Belly Mama showed me how to use the cell phone, so now I can call her anytime. I can also talk to her over the computer. Emmy should me how to surf the net and do all sorts of stuff on it.

Oh, they're home. "Honey, I'm home!" Edward Mate yelled as he walked into the house. Ew! He smells really funny. I ran to Petey Papa who held me by his side.

Edward Mate stalked towards me, grabbed me, and kissed me with his tongue. Um...it felt nice, but he's acting really weird. Petey Papa pushed me behind him. "Hey, give me back my mate!" Edward Mate demanded.

"Hell no! You're drunk Edward, you need to sober up." Petey Papa said. He always protected me from danger, so did Belly Mama.

"Hey, Amanda! Do you want to dance. We can dance to AC/DC! 'Shoot to thrill, play to kill, too many women...'" Edward Mate was on the dining table swinging his hips.

"EDWARD MASEN! GET DOWN FROM THE DINING TABLE NOW!" Esme roared. She really scared me. I don't like how she was really mean to Belly Mama and Little Major. I don't really like spending time with her. Belly Mama is so much nicer—she doesn't tell me what to do.

Edward Mate laid down on the dining table and placed little glasses all over his body. "Who wants to do body shots off of me?"

"Edward, we're done partying for the night." Riley said. "You need to put some clothes on."

"I want to party some more." He whined. "Maybe Tommy wants to hang out or something."

"Who's Tommy?" Carlisle asked.

"He's my new best friend. He's also Bella's former fuckbuddy." Edward Mate explained.

"What fuckbuddy? Why the hell would my daughter have a fuckbuddy. Someone better explain things to me now!" Carlisle seemed pretty upset.

I didn't know what the big deal with. They have fuckbuddies in the movies all the time. They seem like a pretty good idea.

"Um...Dad, Bella wasn't exactly a virgin when she met Jasper." Riley explained.

"What?" Carlisle blurted out. "How could that be?"

"Oh, come on Dad! We were gone for five crucial years of her life. There was no way she was going to stay a virgin. She would have fucked Edward in Forks if he weren't such a pansy." Rose pointed out.

"I'm disappointed in you for not preventing it, son." Carlisle seemed really angry at Riley.

"Oh, believe me, I wanted to rip Blake's head off too. He was a pretentious ass." Riley said.

"Blake? I thought you said his name was Tommy?" Carlisle had a bewildered expression on his face.

"Tommy was after Blake. Tommy was much more fun." Vicky explained with a dreamy look on her face. "Better looking too—he has chiseled abs and all."

"Enough talk about Bella. I want to party. Maybe I can run to a college campus and find a toga party to go to." Edward Mate pondered.

A toga party? I saw that in Animal House. Ooh! I want to go to one. I ran to the linen closet and grabbed some sheets. I quickly tied one on me and brought one out to Edward Mate. "Toga?" I offered, holding the sheet out to him.

Edward Mate jumped off the table and wrapped the toga around him. "Toga, toga, toga!" We both chanted.

Maybe Amanda needs to have a little fun, I heard Petey Papa say. Before I knew it, everyone except for the dull parents were dressed in togas and dancing in the living room.

"This was a great idea, Amanda!" Irina said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, really. I love dancing. Come on, I'll teach you." Irina pulled me into a hug before teaching me how to dance. "I taught Belly Mama how to dance too."

I felt really good because I had finally done something to make everyone happy. I wished Belly Mama, Little Major, Sweet Punani, Big Major, Zapper, and the War Horse were here though. Maybe we can have another toga party again sometime soon.

**So, did you like hearing from Rex and Amanda? What did you think of Drunkward? Let me know. I love hearing from you and I'll always write back. Happy Christmas to all who celebrate! **


	25. Chapter 25

**You guys are absolutely the best! I loved hearing from you. I'm glad that you enjoyed Rex and Amanda's POVs, they were, by far, the most requested from my readers. Thank you for all your reviews, faves, and alerts. Jasper will come take down your Christmas lights for you, but you do so at your own risk.**

**This chapter contains sex, lust projection, a discussion about warm apple pie, and a vampire who thinks he can, but really can't.**

**This story is AU/OOC**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+only please.**

** Bella's POV**

"Jasper, don't you think you're overdoing it with the Christmas lights?" I yelled up to my mate. "Our house looks like a fucking airport landing strip."

"Babe, this is fun. Who knew these lights would be so easy to put up?"

Jasper had gone absolutely over the deep end with the Christmas decorations. Our house looked like the North Pole on anabolic steroids.

Jasper, why are you putting lights up across the roof?"

"I just want our house to stand out. Besides, it'll make it easier for Santa to see."

"Yeah sure, he and the reindeer will probably be blinded by the lights and crash the sleigh straight into our house." I said sarcastically. "You'll ruin Christmas for all the kids."

"Yeah, but at least he won't miss our house." Jasper jumped off the roof and kissed me. "Come on, let's go."

"To where?" I asked.

"Target—I need more lights and I want to grab that giant blow up snowman for the front yard. Besides, we still have to pick up presents for everyone."

I rolled my eyes and hopped into my new truck, resigned. Christmas was on Saturday and with finals, neither of us had been able to do much shopping.

"Which Target are you driving to Jasper?" I asked.

"South Bay Plaza—it's close and there's a Marshalls and a Home Depot too." He said.

"Why do we need to go to Home Depot?"

"Oh, um...we need a new window." Jasper said nonchalantly.

"A new window? Why? The previous owners installed new windows before we moved in." I pointed out.

"Yeah, I know that Bella. I might have put too much power behind the hammer when I was hanging up the lights by our bedroom window. I kind of took out the window plus the sill and the jamb."

I must have had an exasperated look on my face because, next thing you know, Jasper said, "Aw, don't look at me like that, babe. We just have to put a new window up. It'll be a piece of cake." He snapped his fingers.

"Uh-huh." I said doubtfully. The last time Jasper tried to repair something it ended up costing us a contractor and plumber who were both too willing to install a new bathroom for us. We had destroyed some of the tiles during a wild session of shower sex. My mate insisted that he'd have no problems putting in new tiles. After a quick trip to Home Depot, he got straight to work and an hour later the tiles were in on that side of the wall, but the entire plumbing was dismantled and there was water spurting everywhere. "I was just making a minor adjustment." He had said.

Jasper quickly grabbed more lights at Target and then we hit Marshalls for some gifts. "Jasper, I think we're going to have to go to somewhere else. I don't think we can find presents for everyone here." I said.

"How about we go tomorrow? It'll be Monday morning so it'll be less crowded and easier to shop."

"Sounds good."

We got to Home Depot and the kind associate showed us all the different windows they had. Jasper explained the damage and he advised we use their window installation services because it wasn't as easy a job as it seemed.

"Jasper, maybe we should take his advice and have them do it. It seems like a huge job. They can be at our house tomorrow." I suggested.

"Nah, I've got this. We don't need to spend a hundred bucks on their installation services. The guy's just giving you a sales pitch anyway." My husband insisted. "I'll just slap it in today, we won't have to wait until tomorrow."

"Are you sure you can handle this?" I asked.

"Windows haven't changed that much since I was a kid. I had to help my Daddy put one in once when I was seven because I took the window out with a rock."

"Jasper, please!" I begged.

"Don't worry about it babe. Really, I can do this."

_**Two hours later...**_

"Bella!" I heard my mate yelling for me.

"What is it?" I gasped and covered my mouth as I came upon the gaping hole on the side of the house. "What the fuck happened?"

"I think the jerk at Home Depot sold us the wrong size window."

"Jasper, that opening wasn't that big when you started." I ran both hands through my hair in complete shock at the sight that beheld my eyes.

"It's just a little bigger. All I made was a minor adjustment. The original contractor obviously had no idea how to cut in a straight line."

Jasper, I can walk through that opening. Scratch that—you, Emmett, and Garrett can walk through that hole side by side. Probably even Peter and Rex too."

"It's not a hole Bella, it's an opening for a window frame."

"Jasper, that opening can fit a door. Double doors. Triple doors even." I said.

"Well, I thought it might be nice for us to have another way to get into the bedroom." He said.

"Jasper, our bedroom is on the second floor."

"So, we're vampires." He shrugged.

"I'll call the contractor." I sighed.

"That's a good idea, baby, I could use some help installing the doors."

I called the contractor who eagerly agreed to show up first thing in the morning, especially after hearing our last name and address. He was undoubtedly recalling the new bathroom he installed three weeks ago. We boarded up the side of the house with plywood, then headed for Amherst to visit the family.

_**One hour later...**_

"What the hell is going on with the traffic? We should have been there by now. Hey, fucker, did I say you can cut in front of me!" Jasper unceremoniously flipped the bird to the driver in front of him.

"Jasper, it's a sweet old lady. She probably didn't mean to..." I paused. "Did she just give you the finger? Okay, maybe she's not so sweet after all."

"This is ridiculous. It's Sunday afternoon. The traffic shouldn't be this bad. We're barely moving." Jasper complained.

"Yeah, but it's the Sunday before Christmas. People are trying to get their shopping in before the snow comes tomorrow."

"Fuck!" Jasper yelled out.

"Now what?" I asked.

"The gas light just went on. We have to get off the highway." He said.

"Oops, my fault. I forgot to gas it up yesterday." I said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm gonna get off in Burlington, gas up, and then we're gonna wait out the traffic at the mall there. I'm not driving in this bullshit."

I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed onto Jasper's lap to give him a hug. "You've had a bad day, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I couldn't finish the lights, made a mess of the window, and now we're caught in a traffic nightmare. At least I was able to put the blow-up snowman in the front yard." Jasper sighed. "Thanks for the hug, babe."

"Anytime. You know, we all have bad days. It'll get better. I think you're right about waiting this out. There's probably an accident up ahead or something—this is pretty bad traffic even for a Sunday before Christmas."

After gassing up the truck, Jasper pulled into the parking lot at The Burlington Mall. It was a mob scene inside. People were rushing from store to store trying to pick up Christmas gifts. "I think we should do iTunes cards as stocking stuffers. Oh, and I found out that Eleazar doesn't have an iPod because he doesn't know how to use one." Jasper said. "I thought maybe we should pick one up for Amanda too—she likes to sing and dance to music."

"Well, that's two gifts down. We might as well pick them up at the Apple Store since we're here anyway. I have most of the girls all taken care of—I have Char and Tanya left. Short of finding live Marines, I've no idea what to get them." I chuckled. "I don't have any gifts for the guys—they're more complicated."

"We'll figure it out. We have five shopping days left after today. Let's go grab the stuff at Apple then see if the traffic's died down any."

"Oh and can we see if the toy store here has any lightsabers. I'm trying to keep a supply of them on hand for Peter and Amanda." I said. "I've already bought out the lightsabers at most of the stores near us. Do you think they'll ever get sick of role playing?"

"Nah, Peter actually thinks that he is Yoda and Amanda his young padawan. Speaking of Amanda, you're going to have to have the sex talk with her soon. I can feel her lust spike whenever she's around Edward as well as a boatload of confusion."

"I have no idea what I'm going to say to her. I touched upon the idea of sex when I explained to her that she and Edward are not only mated, but married too. I definitely don't want Char and Tanya explaining things to her or she'll jump on Edward before she's ready. Rosie will scare her off of men for life. I'm not so sure how she feels about the others so," I looked at Jasper expectantly, "that leaves you."

"Me? I'm not having the sex talk with Amanda."

"No, I'm going to have the sex talk with her. You're going to be there for moral support—my moral support.

"Shouldn't this stuff be between a mother and her child?" Jasper asked chuckling. I pouted at him. "Oh, okay, we'll take her hunting and explain things to her, but only if you take those pouty lips and show me what you can do with him."

Freaking lust inducing vampire. Now, I'm walking through the mall horny as hell. Not good. Not good at all. "Bella—you're making me horny. I can feel your lust."

"I can't help it Jasper, sometimes I get turned on just by you talking. I..."

I couldn't finish what I was going to say because Jasper grabbed my hand and pulled me into Victoria's Secret. He randomly grabbed a whole bunch of lingerie, thrust them into my arms, and said to the sales lady, "Excuse me, my wife needs to try these on."

"Of course, let me set you up in a fitting room." She led me to a fitting room and opened the door for me. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I'll be out on the floor. It's Christmas season and there are a lot of confused men."

As soon as she left, Jasper knocked and asked to be let in. I opened the door to his pitch black eyes. "Take your clothes off, Bella." He commanded. I was out of my jeans and sweater in an instant. Jasper took in my form for a second before pulling me into a lust fueled kiss. His hands were roaming my body in an instant and I couldn't help, but gasp when his tongue hit my nipple.

"Shh...babe, I want you to stay absolutely silent. There are women trying stuff on in the fitting rooms next to us. No talking, no moaning, no breathing even—just feel." He whispered.

Now how the hell am I supposed to do that? I'm putty in my mate's hands, he can make me scream his name over and over again in a single night. He undid his jeans picked me up and entered my sopping, wet pussy. I wanted to scream in ecstasy as he plunged himself in and out of me. I couldn't help, but let a little moan escape me—he smacked my ass and told me to be silent. I decided to listen to his previous words and just let myself feel him.

As I wrapped my legs around him, I noticed the mirrors surrounding the fitting room—we were both transfixed at the sight of our lovemaking. I let myself succumb to my mate's steady ministrations. I could feel every ridge of his cock hitting my walls as he pounded himself in and out of me. I wanted to gasp. I wanted to moan, but I couldn't. I had to control myself. He sent me wave after wave of lust, causing me to try and push myself down deeper onto his cock so I could feel every bit of him inside of me.

I whimpered as I felt a wet finger enter my virgin hole. "Shh...Bella...just feel me—let me just feel you." He whispered. I let myself enjoy the feeling of him filling both holes—one with his magnificent cock and the other with his finger. It was a feeling like no other and my body was in an erotic frenzy. I was nearing my peak and I could tell that he was too. I wanted to scream, I wanted to shout his name out loud, but I couldn't so I just let myself feel the pleasure. Just as my walls were about to clamp down on him, Jasper urged, "Mark me, Bella. Bite me now!"

I sunk my teeth deep into his neck, unable to resist the urge. The view in the mirror was nothing like I'd witnessed before. In one moment, I was in ecstasy from biting my mate during my orgasm, then agony from him marking me with his release. It was a good pain though. I felt my mate sealing my wound with his venom. I did the same for him. He sat on the bench in the fitting room cuddling me on his lap, whispering his words of love to me, kissing me, simply loving me.

Seconds later, our moment of togetherness was interrupted when we heard a few women in the adjacent dressing rooms screaming out in ecstasy. "Jasper, I think you were projecting." I said as I got dressed.

"Yeah, I know I was. I wanted to feel you, every part of you. The feeling was overwhelming. I couldn't help myself." He admitted. "Um, Bella, how am I gonna get out of here? I can smell the saleslady roaming the fitting room hallway."

"Is everything okay in there?" The saleslady asked—no doubt concerned about the sudden ecstatic cries of the climaxing human women. Several women could be heard responding to her that everything was just fine. We heard one woman saying, "It was fabulous! Absolutely intense! I feel so much more relaxed now!"

Jasper and I just stared at each other. He suddenly got a smug expression on his face and said, "Damn! I love being an all powerful empath sometimes!" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay, I have an idea on how to get out of here, but I'm not sure what you'll think of it." I whispered my plan into his ear.

"I'm not doing that Bella." Jasper protested. "I've got my pride."

"Well, do you have a better idea?"

"Yeah, you go first, then I'll follow in a couple of minutes. If the saleslady is still there, then I'll go with your plan."

I quickly left the dressing room telling the saleslady that I didn't care how any of the items looked on me. After our trip to Las Vegas, I had enough lingerie to last me for years courtesy of my overzealous husband, so there was no way I was going to purchase anything that I didn't need. I noticed the saleslady didn't budge, apparently she'd been told by her supervisor to man the fitting rooms due to the sudden cries of ecstasy heard throughout the store. One by one, women would leave the fitting rooms, some with flustered looks on their faces, others with perma-grins plastered on their faces. Looking around the store, I noticed the shoppers and employees all looked like they had had the orgasm of their lives. One male shopper was zipping his pants back up while another had a huge wet spot in the front of his pants. There was a woman fanning her face constantly. Oh my God! My mate's projection of lust spanned the entire store.

"Jasper! She's not leaving. She's been told to watch the fitting rooms because of everyone suddenly going into heat." I whispered so only my mate could hear.

"Shit! Alright, I'm coming out." Jasper casually walked out of the dressing room and handed a bra and panty set to the shocked saleslady. "Um...they didn't fit right."

We left the saleslady standing there with her eyes bulging and her mouth agape, then walked out of Victoria's Secret, hand in hand, to our truck. We arrived in Amherst an hour later.

_**Cullen Residence**_

_**Amherst, New Hampshire**_

"Belly Mama!" Amanda jumped up into my arms as soon as I walked in through the door. She then jumped from my arms into Jasper's and squealed, "Little Major!" She was clearly excited to see us. "Guess what?"

"What?" We both asked curiously.

"We had a toga party last night then Esme spanked Edward Mate with her riding crop because he destroyed the dining table from jumping on it. I tried to explain that destroying furniture is part of what happens at a toga party, but she didn't want to listen to me. I don't like Esme. She's too scary and she's always nagging." Amanda shivered as she spoke about her.

Toga party? Oh, I need to know how that fuckery came about. "So, how did you come to have a toga party?"

"Edward Mate wanted to kiss me and play with me and Petey Papa said no because he was drunk and that would be taking advantage of me. Then, he said he wanted to hang out with your fuckbuddy Tommy so they could go find a toga party. I knew what toga parties were so I grabbed a sheet for him and me and we all ended up having one here. Well, everyone except for the parents—they didn't seem to approve. Why are parents so uncool?"

"Well, they're only uncool sometimes. They're trying to enforce some boundaries." I tried explaining.

"Yeah, but they seem to have a lot of boundaries. They just don't understand what it's like to be a teenager." Amanda then looked at me thoughtfully. "I decided what I'm going to do in the future."

"Oh good, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to high school and becoming a cheerleader. Then I'm going to college and joining a sorority. I want to go to the biggest party school in the United States which for 2010 is the University of Georgia—according to the Princeton Review. It might change next year though."

Jasper and I turned to look at each other. "Um, those are great things to strive for, Amanda. Georgia's a bit sunny for vampires though—you might want to rethink the location." My husband said. "What made you decide on those goals?"

"Oh, well, in the movies, cheerleaders seem to have the most fun and so do sorority girls. Did you see how much fun that girl in 'Legally Blonde' had? She was in a sorority. Can we make my hair blonde? Blondes have more fun. Char and Tanya have a lot of fun."

"Okay, Amanda, 'Legally Blonde' is a movie. It's fictional, not real. Second, the amount of fun a person has is not dependent on hair color." I explained. "I don't have blonde hair, but I have a lot of fun."

"Yes, but Char and Tanya explained that you know how to summon your inner blonde." Great. That's all I needed. Char and Tanya inflicting their brand of logic on Amanda. They're both completely out of touch with reality, for God's sake. Last week, before their final, they put on a bdsm strip show for their biology professor in an attempt to boost their grades. The professor didn't appreciate their actions at all, reported them to the administration, and they were both put on disciplinary probation much to the displeasure of both Carlisle and Eleazar.

"Amanda, you have a great personality, having blonde hair isn't going to make a difference." I said.

"Trust me, it will. My hair is beige. It's ugly. At least your hair is a really pretty chocolate brown. I wish I could go to a hair salon and have them make me over like in the movies." Where the fuck is she learning these shades of hair color? All I see when I look at my hair in the mirror is brown.

"If it'll make you feel better, I'll color your hair for you." I offered. I'm going to need Rose to help me on this—makeovers aren't my forte at all. I'm more the run out of the house with her hair wet and no make-up on type. During finals week, I showed up to class in my pajama pants and a big sweatshirt, more often than not. So, no, I definitely wasn't qualified to do a makeover.

"Yay! I get to color my hair! Can you pick up Garnier Nutrisse shade number 93? It's called Honey Butter. Oh and I don't want the Psycho Bitch ever touching me again. In my wedding picture, I look like a circus clown with bright blue eye shadow and orange lipstick. That went out in the seventies. Oh and how come I'm wearing a Halloween costume?"

I nudged Jasper. There was no way I was broaching that topic with her. Jasper nudged me back. Fortunately, Rose walked into the house at that moment. "You were dressed like that because Psycho Bitch saw in a vision that you'd be happy in that monstrosity." She said. "Belly Mama didn't know you then, plus I told you, human Amanda was a frigid bitch so I didn't bother with helping you pick a better gown."

"Got it, Miss America." Amanda said. "I'm not a bitch anymore, am I?"

"No darlin', Rose is the only bitch in the house, but she's a sweet bitch." Jasper answered. Rose just rolled her eyes and made her way upstairs.

"Where is everyone? How come you're the only one in the living room?" I asked.

"As soon as he heard you pull up, Petey Papa sent me downstairs. He's fucking Super Tatas and Sweet Poonani at the same time right now. How does that work anyway? Does Petey Papa have two penises? Edward Mate and Emmy are out shopping for Christmas presents. Vicky, Riley, Carlisle, Esme, and Laurent are still at work. Irina is in Maine at the outlets with Katie."

Geez! Let's just abandon poor Amanda all at once. I can't believe Pete told Amanda that he was going to do Char and Tanya at the same time! He should just keep his kinky fetishes to himself.

"How about we go for a hunt?" I suggested.

"Oh, goody! I can't wait to get out of the house. I feel so trapped."

Amanda, Jasper, and I ran through the woods until we came upon a herd of deer. We let Amanda go first because she still needed to feed a lot more than the norm. Jasper let me cut down my hunts to once every two days because I simply didn't seem to need to feed as much. He was still wary of letting me reduce my feedings by more days because I was still a newborn by vampire standards. Watching Amanda, it was hard to believe that we shared the same vampire birthday.

Amanda quickly took down three deer. She stopped making a mess and was more in control of her hunts these days. Jasper said that after the start of the new year, we'd begin testing her resistance to human blood by exposing her to small amounts.

"Bella, you need to hunt." Jasper said after he finished his hunt. It was a direct order not a request. I sighed and grabbed hold of the nearest deer and drained it. "One more, baby, it's been almost three days."

I did as I was told because he was probably right. Having no bloodlust, I couldn't tell whether I was thirsty or not. I guess Riley has the same problem. He has to pencil in his hunts on his calendar once a week or he forgets to go. I think I might have to start doing the same thing.

Amanda looked a little forlorn so I walked over and put my arm around her. "What's the matter, Amanda?"

"Nothing really. It's just that Edward Mate was really weird last night. He came home all stinky with alcohol and then he French kissed me. It was wet and sloppy and kind of gross. After that, he said he wanted to play with me. I know he's my husband and we should have sex, but it doesn't feel right. Shouldn't he ask me to the prom or something first?"

Holy shit. I wasn't expecting that at all. I knew she had an idea of what husbands and wives do, but I didn't think she was fully aware of sex. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm completely unqualified to have this conversation. How the hell am I supposed to explain sex and what does the prom have anything to do with it?

"Amanda, um...what...how...s...ex?" I managed to get out. She looked at me with a confused expression.

Jasper stepped in. "What Belly Mama is trying to say is how do...um...sex...what...prom?" Oh sure, that helped.

"I don't get it." Amanda had a perplexed expression on her face.

Jasper tried again, first clearing his throat unnecessarily. "Amanda, when a man and a woman fall in love. Sometimes they take their relationship to the next level. They like to show how much they love each other by expressing it with their bodies. We call that intercourse. When a man and a woman have intercourse, the man inserts his p..." God damn! He sounds like a fucking PBS special.

"Stop! Please stop, Little Major. I know what sex is. I googled it. Besides, it's hard not to know what sex is living in the house that I do." Amanda blurted out.

"Maybe, it would be best if you asked us questions instead." Jasper suggested wisely.

"Okay, I know all about sex and the whole penis and vagina thing. I know that Edward Mate and I are married and the pain in my chest is the mating pull. The problem is that I want to have sex with him, just not now. I want to get to know him a little better." Amanda stated. "The problem is that last night, I think he really wanted to do it, and it made me feel bad that I didn't want to."

"Well you should never do it unless you really want to." I said.

"Yeah, but Super Tatas and Sweet Punani said I should just do it and get it over with because it feels good, but I don't want to. I don't even know Edward Mate that well." Amanda said.

"Good point." Jasper said. "I'll talk to Tits and Pussy for you—they shouldn't be pressuring you at all. This is a decision that you and your mate have to make together."

"That's the problem, I can't talk to Edward Mate like I can talk to you, Belly Mama, and Petey Papa. He's so...I don't know—old."

We both started laughing after hearing that. "Yeah, Edward is pretty old—well, some of his views are anyway." I paused and took a deep breath before speaking again. "I think the point that Jasper and I are trying to make is that you shouldn't have sex unless you're absolutely ready. It doesn't matter how ready Edward is, unless you're ready—it's not going to very pleasant."

"Okay, I have another problem." Amanda offered up. "I don't think Edward Mate is my type of guy. I prefer someone that looks like that guy in High School Musical or the guy who show's up after the wedding in a Porsche in Sixteen Candles. The other thing is, he dresses really weird—he wears clothes like those boys who like boys in the movies."

"Again, Amanda, those are movies—those characters are fictional, they're not real. Edward's not bad looking, is he?" I asked. I wasn't sure how to address Edward's wardrobe, I suspected the Pixie Bitch's influence was to blame there.

"Well, he's not as good looking as your fuckbuddy Tommy. I saw a picture of him dancing on the bar with Rex and Edward on Char's iPhone. He's really hot. Why are you with Little Major?"

I chuckled after hearing that. "Yes, Tommy's pretty hot, but I'm with Little Major because I love him—that makes him all the more hotter in my eyes. Besides, Jasper can hold his own, unless you give him power tools."

Jasper was clutching his stomach, laughing. Amanda's views were skewed because she couldn't distinguish between movie fiction and real life.

"How do you know what a fuckbuddy is anyway?" Jasper asked Amanda.

"Oh, they have fuckbuddies in movies."

"Which movies?" Jasper prompted.

"Oh, I saw it in Van Wilder and Stifler's mom has one in American Pie. I forget if they have them in Animal House, but oh...I wasn't supposed to say anything about seeing those movies! You won't say anything to Petey Papa, will you?"

"Not a word, sweetheart." Jasper assured. I didn't promise her jack shit though. What the fuck was Pete thinking? No wonder, Amanda was completely confused about sex.

"Belly Mama?"

"Yep?" I acknowledged.

"Do you think Edward Mate will ask me to the prom? I really want to go to one."

"Why all this focus on the prom?" I asked her.

"Well, they seem like a lot of fun with all the dancing and music. You get to dress up like a princess for one night and your date is super nice to you. Afterwards, you have sex for the first time in a car or in a hotel room—if your date is rich. I really think that Edward Mate should at least take me to the prom before we have sex, don't you?"

I looked to Jasper, unsure of how to answer her question. Geez! I'm not made for this shit, I had to be forced to go to the prom with Edward and I took Riley to my senior prom because he, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent insisted I go. Now, I have Amanda here dreaming about the prom.

Jasper shrugged his shoulders then spoke. "You know something, Amanda. I can guarantee you that Edward will ask you to the prom. That's a promise."

What the fuck is he doing—promising her the prom? How the hell is he going to pull that off?

"Really?" She looked so excited. There was no way, I could disappoint her. Someway, somehow, we were going to get her a prom. Well, if Jasper can get me completely blitzed and marry me—he can certainly figure out how to put on a prom.

"Really." Jasper reassured. She jumped straight into Jasper's arms and started planting his face with kisses. Thank God for the Old Spice that Rex and I had gotten her, it was really helping with her scent.

"So, anymore questions Amanda?" I asked. We were heading back to the house.

"Just one." She said. "Does third base really feel like warm apple pie to a guy?"

Okay, how many times did she watch American Pie? I'm not even sure what third base is, come to think of it. I'm gonna have to watch American Pie again in order to keep up with Amanda. I think I'll just defer to Jasper. "All yours, my mate." I chuckled.

"Why don't we let Petey Papa answer that question. You can ask him as soon as we get back." Jasper said.

"Sure, but Belly Mama?"

"Yes, Amanda?"

"Can you bake me some apple pie? I want to stick my hands in it so I can see what third base feels like."

"Of course. I'll just run to the store and grab some apples after we get back. You want to help me bake it?"

"Yeah, that'll be fun. I've never cooked before—at least as a vampire. I'm not sure whether or not I cooked as a human."

"Well, then, it'll be a first for both of us. I haven't cooked since my change either."

When we got back to the house, everyone was home and we were all greeted with warm hugs. "Um...I need to run to the grocery store, Amanda wants to stick her hands in some apple pie." I announced. Jasper escaped to his war strategies room with Rex and Garrett. I knew from experience that those three wouldn't make a reappearance until morning.

"Oh good. While you're there can you pick up the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies? We need to start baking for the sick children and to leave at all the stations at the hospital for Christmas." Esme asked. "We're doing it for both dad and Riley this year. "

"Sure Esme, no problem. About how many cookies are we talking about here so I know how much to buy?"

Esme started thinking out loud. "Hmm...Riley works at Children's Hospital so there are more sick kids there and we did a thousand for Carlisle last year. Let's say three thousand cookies, just to be safe."

"Three thousand cookies! Shouldn't we just buy them pre-made?"

"No, honey, pre-made cookies aren't as thoughtful."

"I'm driving to Costco, then, I think we're going to need a couple of those industrial sized bags of flour."

Edward and Emmett walked into the house at that moment laden with shopping bags. "Honeys—we're home!" Emmett's booming voice announced.

"Oh good! I need to go to Costco's to run an errand for Esme. Do you guys want to come with me? Jasper wants to stay here and work on his war strategies with Garrett and Rex."

"Sorry, sissy, I haven't seen Rosie all day so I kind of need some alone time with her." Emmett confessed. Perfect. I only wanted Edward to come with me to discuss Amanda with him.

"Sure, I'll go with you. I have to talk to you about something anyway. Whose car are we taking?" Edward asked.

"Our truck might be better because we have to load up those huge bags of flour. You drive, though, I really hate driving." I tossed Edward the keys as we headed out the door. Before I left, I called upstairs to my mate. "Jasper, I'm going shopping with Edward! Call my cell if you need anything!"

"Got it!" He answered back.

**Edward's POV**

Thank God, Bella asked me to go to Costco with her. I really needed to talk to someone and she was the one I felt most comfortable with opening up to. I was really bothered by a couple of things that happened last night at Climax. One was how Randy and Kenny said that I looked and dressed like a homosexual. I was thinking about it and I think they might be right. I didn't have my own sense of fashion style and for decades I let someone pick and choose my clothes for me. First it was my mother, next it was Esme, and finally it was Alice. I wanted Bella to help me develop my own sense of style. For God's sake, even Amanda has her own sense of style now.

The second thing that was bothering me was my newfound urgency to claim Amanda as my mate. I didn't want to push her, but, at the same time, my instincts were screaming at me to do the deed. Last night, I was inebriated and nearly lost control. I thanked Peter this morning for actually preventing me from making a grave error. Had I taken Amanda last night, it would have been nothing short of rape and I would have never been able to forgive myself.

"Turn up the radio, Bella. I like this song." We were driving down the highway singing 'White Christmas' together. It's funny, when we were together in Forks, Bella used to never sing in front of me. Now that we were more like siblings, she would frequently belt out tunes with me. A couple of weeks ago, we were watching Grease with Amanda and we couldn't help, but sing along to all the songs. I took all the boy parts while she took the girl parts. I think Amanda was amused because she kept giggling the entire time.

"Hey, Edward. Who's older—you or Bing Crosby?" Bella asked curiously.

"I've got Bing by two years. I was born in 1901 and he was born in 1903."

"Geez—you're old."

"Chronologically yes, but biologically speaking no. Char and I are the youngest at seventeen, then Tanya at eighteen. Do you want to hear a funny Belly Mama?" I used Amanda's nickname just to get a little rise out of her. It worked—she gave me the evil eye. "Amanda is actually a year older than you. She's the same age as Riley and Carlisle. She turned 23 on August 31st."

"No kidding? Wasn't she concerned about being six years older than you?"

"Actually, no. She wanted to celebrate one last human birthday before being turned. It didn't bother me one bit either. Does it bother you that you're two years older than Jasper?"

"Nope, not at all. When I was dating you, it really bothered me. One of the reasons why I didn't want to celebrate my eighteenth birthday was because I was becoming a year older than you officially." She admitted. "Amanda's really changed, hasn't she? Does it bother you?"

"It did in the beginning. Now, I really like her—no love her, so much more. I think Amanda starting off with a blank slate has allowed her to actually develop her true personality." I reflected a bit before I spoke again. "Bella, you have to understand that Pastor Paine brainwashed his own daughter. She was born into his skewed, almost cult like version of the Baptist religion. The man is a disservice to Christianity as a whole, to be quite honest. He raised her to fear God and made her believe that he was God's only messenger. He homeschooled her until she was ready for college and he was sure that she wouldn't be influenced by any outside sources. I don't think she married me out of love sis. I think she married me because of the mating pull and because of my wealth. Her father wanted to create his own ministry. In her defense, I can say that her father was probably behind the entire ruse."

"You're probably right, but how do you feel about her now?" Bella asked curiously.

"I love her. I love the real Amanda that you, Peter, and Jasper managed to bring out. I like to think that if she didn't have that greedy shithead of a father, the human her would have turned out the way she is now. The only problem now is that I don't feel like I have what it takes to keep up with her."

"What do you mean by that, Edward? I think out of all of us, you've made the biggest change." Bella noted as she grabbed a shopping cart. "You might have gone a bit off the deep end yesterday, but I'm not qualified to judge anyone there because I seem to do that a lot too. Besides, I found Drunkward to be quite endearing."

"Okay, this is going to sound weird, but remember Kenny and Randy yesterday?" Bella nodded so I continued. "Well, they said I look gay—and well, do I?"

Bella started giggling. "Funny you mentioned that because, just a couple of hours ago, Amanda said that you dressed like one of those boys who liked boys."

"She said that?" I was absolutely mortified. Bella nodded yes. That's it, things have got to change. "Bella, can we grab what we need in here quickly? I need to go shopping. Why do we need 100 pounds of flour?"

"Oh, Esme's baking 3000 cookies and I need some for an apple pie for Amanda. She wants to stick her hands in one."

"What? Why?" I asked because why the hell would anyone want to stick their hands in an apple pie.

"Oh, she watched American Pie with Peter and she wants to feel what third base is like.."

"They have a movie about pies?"

"Geez! You're clueless. American Pie is about four high school kids on a quest to lose their virginity at prom. Speaking of which, you need to ask Amanda to the prom before you even attempt to have sex with her. You should also probably try to get to know her because she feels as if you're a stranger to her—considering you're her husband. She understands more about life and sex than you think, Edward, though some of her views are off-kilter because she has a tendency to mix fiction with reality. Of course, that's typical of teenage behavior." Bella pointed out.

"How am I going to ask her to the prom when we don't have one to go to?"

"That's where Jasper comes in. He's going to work his magic somehow. It was his idea in the first place. I suppose we'll have to come up with the plans to put on a prom before you ask her—maybe we can have one in the grand ballroom at the Amherst house, what do you think?"

"That might work, Bella. Let's finish up here, go to the mall for some new clothes for me, then coordinate with Jasper. I'm surprised you're into the idea of a prom—you hate celebrations."

"Yeah, well, you weren't there when Amanda talked about it. She got a super dreamy expression in her eyes and I think Jasper just broke and promised her a prom. You know how he can be a real softie. I'm so not qualified for this prom stuff. I had to be forced to go to both my proms and my dates were you and Riley. At least I was dating you, but damn it—I brought my own brother to my senior prom." She threw in a few restaurant sized containers of everything that was needed for cookies plus a bag of apples. "We look like we're opening up a bakery. This is nuts!"

I grabbed a copy of American Pie on the way out of Costco, if it was a movie about losing your virginity, it was relevant to me so I figured I should watch it. Bella smirked when she saw the movie being scanned by the cashier. "I'll make two apple pies." I looked at her with a perplexed expression. Why would she need to make two apple pies? "Trust me, you'll thank me later. You're lucky I love you, Edward."

Hmm...now I really have to watch the movie. Maybe, Amanda will watch it with me. "Alright, let's head to the mall. I need you to guide me on my wardrobe choices. I've never actually bought my own clothes. It's always been either Esme or Psycho Bitch picking my clothes and when I was human, it was my mother."

"Okay, I'm not so sure if you should be taking my advice, though. Riley's the one you want to go to for male fashion tips. I know, we'll go to the stores that he shops at, how's that for an idea?"

"Sounds good. Let's go."

We ended up calling Riley and having him meet us at the mall. Riley was happy to dress me down, as he liked to call it. "Hey, I'm glad you guys called me because I need a little help myself. I want to get Vicky a real diamond ring this time. You know how I was only able to afford a plain gold band for our first wedding, Bells. I figure, since we're getting re-married, I'd get her a genuine diamond engagement ring for Christmas. What do you think?"

"I love the idea. I think you should find something to pair with your original wedding band, though. Vicky is pretty sentimental, I doubt she'd want to get rid of the original." Bella said.

"I agree. I'm big on sentimentality too. I gave Amanda my mother's engagement ring when we got married."

"Sounds great. Let's go to one of the jewelry stores in the mall. I can't afford anything over the top like Jasper—did you know that your ring cost 1.2 million dollars, Bells?" Our sister's jaw dropped at hearing that. Riley then continued. "I can certainly afford a couple of thousand dollars now that Vicky and I are both working and we have no rent, though."

"Hey, Riley." I offered. "I actually know diamonds pretty well. I can help you and make sure that you're not being ripped off. Oh, and if you can wait until tomorrow, you'll get a way better deal and a better selection at the Jeweler's Building at Downtown Crossing in Boston. These mall jewelry stores have poor quality diamonds and an even worse selection at sky high prices."

"That'll be great, Edward." Riley seemed happy. It felt nice being able to do something for him for a change. "Bella?" She was still immobile and staring at her ring in a state of shock.

"Fuck me!" She muttered, then followed us to the next store in the mall.

I was actually pretty happy. Bella and Riley helped me pick out some casual clothes and when I looked at myself in the mirror, I actually looked my age instead of like a seventeen year old wearing his dad's clothes. "Hey, these hooded sweatshirts are pretty comfortable. No wonder you wear them all the time, Bella." I commented. "Alice never let me wear anything like this. She always said it wasn't proper."

"Edward, Alice has her head stuck on a fashion runway 24/7 plus she thinks she's some sort of celebrity. Not even celebrities dress that way all the time." Bella said wisely. "Hey, now you don't look gay anymore either. I think Amanda will be happy. Basically, she said you looked old and gay. Speaking of which, I need to pick up some hair color for her. I promised her I'd color her hair blonde."

"Blonde? Why? She looks fine the way she is." I said.

"Just let her go with it, Edward. It's something she really wants to do and I think it'll make her happy. She feels trapped and cooped up in the house and not everyone in the family has warmed up to her yet." Bella explained. "Ooh! Maybe we should ask Riley's opinion about the prom."

We asked Riley what he thought of the prom idea, as well as his professional opinion about Amanda being a bit confused about fiction and reality. "Carlisle, Eleazar, and I have been discussing Amanda and we think that the reason why she came out with virtually no memory of her human self is because she was brainwashed from the time she was born by that fucking shit for brains father of hers. She had no self to hold onto during her change, therefore leaving her a virtual blank slate. She's come a long way and right now, she's behaving like a typical teenager. I think confusing reality and fiction might be a result of being cooped up in the house too much. Movies are the only thing she has to show her what life is like outside of the house. Unfortunately, with her bloodlust as strong as it is, we have no other options in that area. The prom idea is excellent, it will give her a change of venue and it will also give her something to look forward to. I think the three of us and Jasper should get the rest of the family on board with the prom. It might be fun for some of the other girls that have never experienced a prom like the Denali girls and Charlotte too." Riley paused. "Oh, and Edward. Don't say anything to Amanda about changing her hair color. Just let her go with it, she's just trying to express herself."

Riley's never steered me wrong before so I was going to just go with what he said. "Another prom. I'm gonna kill Jasper." Bella sighed, then chuckled. "Regarding the hair, Edward, Amanda even did the research. She knew the brand and shade number that she wanted already. Where the heck is she getting this information?"

"I can answer that." Riley said. "Vicky was looking for a new hair color for herself and Amanda happened to be with her. So they went through some kind of website where they could find their perfect shade of hair coloring together."

"Geez! I didn't even know that kind of stuff existed. I'm so backwards." Bella grimaced.

"That's what we love about you, sis." Riley put his arm around Bella. "You're pretty low maintenance for a girl."

"Besides, Bella," I added, "You probably don't know about that stuff because you're a natural beauty and you really don't need to do anything. I remember the girls at Forks High were extremely jealous of you—especially that Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley. You wouldn't believe the vindictive thoughts that ran through their petty minds—it got worse after Mike Newton and Eric Yorkie started pursuing you. I wonder what happened to those people?"

"I have no idea. I haven't thought about those people in ages. After you left, I couldn't get rid of Mike and Eric. It was worse with Mike because I worked at his parents' store and he would pester me during and after work."

"Yeah." Riley piped in. "It got to the point where either Dad, Vicky, or I had to drop her off and pick her up from work. Vicky so wanted to drain him and I was on the verge of letting her do it as a favor to us all."

"Oh, Edward, you're gonna love this one. Mike and Eric both showed up to pick me up for the movies one Friday night. I had told them both 'no' earlier at school. Well, Daddy was home and he knew about both of them pestering me so he answers the door with a rifle pointed straight at them. You should have seen them! They both turned chalk white and ran away from the house without even bothering to get in their cars."

We were all chuckling. I could just picture Charlie Swan greeting those two losers with a rifle pointed straight at them. "Charlie could be pretty intimidating." I said. "I remember the first time I met him he was cleaning his rifle and he made it a point to show it to me."

"I hate to say this Edward, but you definitely weren't my Daddy's favorite person." Bella pointed out.

"Oh, I know. He detested me, it got worse after the James incident in Phoenix. He had a mental list going that he coined '101 Ways to Kill Edward Cullen Without Any Evidence'. He was very creative. My favorite one was 'shoot him then stage a bear attack', but 'hurl him off the cliff at La Push' was a close second."

"Oh my God! That's too funny. I had no idea." Bella and Riley were both howling.

The three of us did a little more Christmas shopping then headed for home because Esme wanted her supplies so she could start on the cookies. Bella invited me to her and Jasper's home in Cambridge for a visit tomorrow morning since I was meeting Riley at noon anyway in Downtown Crossing. She said she needed moral support since a contractor was coming over to look at the side of the house that Jasper apparently destroyed. I told her about the unspoken rule in the Cullen household, then: "Never, ever let Jasper fix anything. Just assume that he'll break it." She giggled when she heard that. I couldn't help, but laugh along with her.

It's hard to believe that just a few short months ago, I was a lovesick teenager in love with his ex-girlfriend. Now the two of us had a strong brother-sister bond that I doubt could ever be broken. "Hey, Edward?"

"Yeah, Bella?" We were in her truck heading back home to Amherst. Riley was ahead of us in his Suburban.

"I have to ask you about something that Jasper and I discussed a while back. It's about Alice."

Oh, shit. This can't be good. Alice was someone that I felt I could never let back into my good graces after all the shit she's pulled.. She was currently avoiding the family after Carlisle had Jenks bail her out of jail. Last check on her credit card placed her in Oregon with daily purchases at Walmart—for some odd reason.

"Think back to my eighteenth birthday party when Jasper tried to take a bite out of me." She paused for a moment allowing me time to reflect. "Jasper and I could both swear that we saw her smiling after that. How much do you think she actually knew? Clearly, you and I weren't ever meant to be mates. Do you think that she knew that Jasper and I were mates, Edward?"

I pulled over on the side of the road to think about the events that transpired during her eighteenth birthday party. Bella got a paper cut. My bloodlust was overwhelming. I threw Bella into the dishes so I wouldn't take a bite out of her. Bella bled profusely after that. My bloodlust was out of control and so was everyone else's after reading their thoughts. Jasper lunged and I managed to push him away. Emmett caught him and Alice...oh hell no...Alice smiled. What were her thoughts? I thought hard trying to recollect the memory that I tried so hard to forget. Oh fuck. Alice's thoughts were, "Perfect, everything is going as planned. There's no way Bella Swan will ever get her hands on my husband. I don't care if he is her mate. She'll be dead before he ever finds out." Oh God! Oh God! I knew, but I had pushed the thought aside feeling sorry for myself.

"Oh, Bella!" I cried. "She knew! She knew everything! The manipulative fucking bitch knew everything. I don't know if you'll ever forgive me." I then explained everything that I just recalled then begged for her forgiveness.

"Edward, there's nothing to forgive. She lied to you too. You thought you were losing your mate forever. There's no way you could have thought coherently at that moment. Think about it."

"Bella, I love you—as a sister, I mean." I said.

"I love you too, brother." She smiled and gave me a hug. I knew everything was just fine between us. Alice, though, had another thing coming.

**Oh boy, Jasper is pretty deluded about his Mr. Fix It skills, isn't he? Amanda's pretty confused too-the prom seems like a nice little surprise for her, though. Edward and Bella seem to be coming along nicely, but that was a revelation and a half about Alice's prior knowledge about certain things, wasn't it? Oh, and what exactly is third base? I'd love to hear what you think. You have my word that I'll write back. I have fun talking to you guys anyway. **


	26. Chapter 26

**Thank you for your terrific reviews, faves, and alerts! You guys are all so fantastic! Jasper will scent all of you-except for my male readers. How about Rose or Bella?**

**As far as third base is concerned, I got many answers. The overwhelming consensus seems to be oral sex, but my favorite answer has to be "goldfinger." I couldn't stop laughing at that one. Thanks for the sex lesson everyone!**

**This chapter contains sex, Viagara, violence, and idiots.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Carlisle's POV**

It was two days before Christmas and I had yet to fully mend the rift that was between my daughter and me. Jasper and I had spoken on several occasions and our relationship was on it's way to being how it once was. Bella, on the other hand, had barely spoken two words to me since she mended fences with the rest of the family. On top of that, she and Eleazar were becoming very close. I knew for a fact that he was meeting her in Boston just to spend time with her and that she would visit the Denali home mid-week just to hang out. Part of the reason for her frequent visits was to work on her shield. Bella now had full control of both her mental and physical shield. Apparently, my daughter's shield was much more powerful than we originally thought. With her mental shield, she was able to block mentally invasive powers from any distance. Eleazar tested the theory using Edward. He had Bella block his powers in New Hampshire from Cambridge. Edward couldn't read a thing from anyone. That would explain why neither Edward nor Alice could get any read off of the family while they were in Europe. Bella was subconsciously blocking them. Edward was actually delighted at the peace Bella provided. He could still read people if Bella wasn't blocking them, but with our family—Bella chose to block everyone's minds for some reason or another.

The other reason for Bella's frequent visits to Eleazar's home was because she enjoyed the company of the Denalis, Bella was extremely close to Garrett, Rex, and Tanya. Of course, she had already been close to Irina and Laurent, but they lived with us now. Needless to say, I was ripe with jealousy. I knew it was ridiculous of me to feel this way, but I couldn't help it. I felt as if my best friend was purposely stealing my own daughter away from me.

I talked to Jasper about how I felt and he suggested that I visit them alone in their Cambridge home without Esme to talk. Jasper said that once I arrived, he'd find a convenient excuse to leave us alone for an hour. The time had come and I found myself standing outside of a modest two story home within walking distance to the Harvard campus. From the sounds of it, there were workers repairing one side of the house. I rang the doorbell.

"Can you get it, babe? I want to keep an eye on those workers, I don't trust them." I heard Jasper telling Bella.

The door suddenly opened and I found myself facing my daughter who immediately frowned.

"Bella." I said simply. "Jasper invited me, I wanted to talk to you."

Bella held the door open to let me in and motioned to the sofa in the living room area. We sat across from each other silent staring at each other.

Jasper suddenly appeared in front of us. "Erm...I have to go gas up the truck. I'll be right back. Dad, maybe you can help keep tabs on those workmen while I'm gone." With that, he was off.

Bella and I resumed our staring contest again. I broke our silence first. "Bella, this is ridiculous. You can't continue giving me the silent treatment. I was wrong. I shouldn't have sided with Esme on the wedding when I knew in my heart that you didn't want one. I should have stood up for you, but instead I let her control me. I'm sorry." My apology was long overdue and I knew it.

Bella ran to me, sat on my lap, and snuggled into my chest. "I missed you, Dad." She called me "dad." With that one word, all my jealousy towards Eleazar disappeared. No matter how close she was to him, Bella still considered me her father. I held her tighter and ran my fingers through her soft hair. I was going to relish in the feeling for as long as I could.

Bella looked up into my eyes and spoke. "I'm sorry for holding on to my anger for so long. I was just so mad that you didn't speak your mind to Esme." It didn't go unnoticed that she still hadn't referred to my wife as "mom"—neither did Jasper, for that matter. Esme still had a long way to go, as far as making amends with Jasper and Bella. Outwardly, they were friendly to each other, but the warmth that Bella once regarded my wife with was now all, but gone. I knew why too. Although Esme had apologized for trying to force a wedding on them, she hadn't apologized for using the riding crop on Jasper. Bella was deeply offended by that action. She felt that the only person who had a right to be upset was herself and she was correct.

"I was upset at myself too, Bella. Let's make a pact. From this moment on, you and I will never let anger get between us. If something is bothering us, we'll always tell each other. Does that sound fair?"

"Yes, it sounds fair." She smiled. I pulled my little girl back into my chest and simply held her. I knew that biologically, Bella was only a year younger than me, but I had over three hundred years on her in actual time on earth. I truly felt as if she were my daughter.

After a few moments, I said, "Let's go check on the workmen, what are they building anyway?"

"Oh, Jasper was trying to replace a window and he made a gigantic crater in the side of the house."

"Bella, this is very important. You are not to allow Jasper near anything that needs to be repaired—ever. Once, at our home near Chicago, Esme asked him to plaster over a small hole in the wall. Somehow, he managed to take out a supporting beam that was no where near the hole and the roof came crashing down on all of us. Fortunately, we weren't hurt because we're vampires, but the house was in shambles. We had to rebuild it from the ground up."

Bella looked horrified. "I didn't realize it was that bad. Dad, this is our second major repair. Three weeks ago, he was replacing a few tiles and ended up taking out the entire bathroom and plumbing."

Sounds like Jasper. The boy could take out whole armies of vampires with a snap of his fingers, but when it came to simple repairs he was completely clueless. Edward and Emmett were actually our go-to guys for home repairs. Emmett actually held a valid general contractor's license.

"Okay, baby girl, why don't you take me on a tour of your house and then let's make sure the contractor is on the straight and narrow." I said.

"Sure, dad."

Jasper and Bella had set up a nice little household. The house was tidy, but lived in. I envied them. Esme was very pristine with our living space. Every single room in the house looked as if it were a showroom. You could tell that they were quite content just being together. Although, I would have loved to have them both living with us, I could understand why they both needed privacy. Jasper's gift made it extremely difficult for him to be surrounded by other vampires. He felt everything from anger to lust and living away from us probably brought him the emotional calm he needed.

Bella, on the other hand, was an only child for most of her life. She was accustomed to living alone and having a sense of independence. Jasper explained to me how difficult her childhood with Renee was. I seethed with anger at the image of Bella as a child working to make ends meet because her mother had carelessly spent all the money Charlie had sent to support his daughter. I was glad that she was with Jasper. He was a caring soul and he had the means to support Bella so that she would never have to worry about money again. She deserved to be spoiled after her difficult childhood.

It was ironic how Riley was actually the one born out of wedlock to a teenager, yet his mother knew enough to work until her fingers bled in order to give him a happy childhood. Bella had worked from the time she was still in elementary school. When we were in Forks, I remember her working hard to pay for gas and to try to save for college at Newton's Olympic Outfitters. Edward and Alice were always trying to get her to quit stating that it was ridiculous for her to work for such a pittance in pay. Bella, however, was adamant in her resolve to keep working. She always had a firm sense of responsibility.

Riley actually approached me about Edward. He felt that rather than sending him out into the real world next year. It might be better to have him attend high school, once again, and have him work a minimum wage job in order to build character. He also suggested putting him on an allowance typical of a normal high school student for a couple of years and taking away the black credit card until he proved himself responsible enough to handle it. That way, he would really learn the value of money. I agreed with him wholeheartedly. I knew I had failed miserably when it came to teaching my children about money—each one had been overindulged.

As far as Alice was concerned, I planned on punishing her for her actions where it hit her the most. As soon as she returns to New Hampshire, I would be canceling all her credit cards and putting a freeze on her bank account. Unlike Edward, I didn't plan on giving her an allowance and she certainly would not be attending high school or college for that matter. No, Alice Brandon will be looking for a job. There would be no more extravagant shopping sprees and she would definitely be wearing her clothes more than once. Alice would also have to take care of her own expenses—including her vehicle and insurance. The money that I had initially set her up with had dried up long ago and I would not be replacing it.

Amanda was a different matter altogether. Bella and Peter were raising her to be a fine young lady. I know that she didn't look at me or Esme as her parents so I didn't plan on overstepping my boundaries. As soon as she was able to venture into the world, I wanted to start her off with an allowance typical of a high school student like I'd be doing with Edward. I would rethink everything else after she proved herself to be mature and capable. No, I will not be making any mistakes with her. I would make sure to consult Bella and Peter before making any decisions about Amanda, however.

Bella and Riley were two different ballgames still. Neither of them had spent a dime from either my bank account or credit card. In Riley's case, he asked that I take some of his savings and invest it for him so that he could build his own wealth. I was happy to do that for him. He explained that he didn't feel comfortable taking my money and neither did Victoria. Both of them made decent salaries and enjoyed their financial independence—especially now that they didn't have any rent to pay or have two college students to support. Frankly, I was amazed how Riley and Laurent, even with Charlie's inheritance, managed to put both Bella and Victoria through four years of a private college and live in an expensive city like Boston. They did it, though, and I was exceedingly proud of both of them.

In Bella's case, I wasn't too worried. Jasper had actually returned the black credit card to me stating that she already had his to use. I couldn't really argue with him as she is his wife. He tried to return the initial start-up funds too, but I explained that even though he's her husband—Bella is still my child. I told him to look at it as if it were a trust fund. We came to an agreement that I would invest and build up her start-up fund like I've been doing with his. That way, she would have it in case of a rainy day. I doubted she'd ever have one of those—at least financially, but it made me feel better all the same.

"How much longer is it going to take for you to complete the job?" I asked the foreman.

"Well, we should be out of here withing the hour. All we have to do is install the window now." He said. "Um, Mrs. Whitlock, I would suggest that you don't let your husband near any power tools anymore. This job was a doozy. He almost took out the entire frame of the house. Remember how he took out the whole plumbing the last time?"

"Yes, I remember and thank you. I think I'll take your advice and hide his power tools." Bella then turned to me. "Dad, do you think you could take Jasper's power tools home with you? I'm not so sure I trust him with them."

"Of course, sweetie. Oh, and next time you need something repaired, call Emmett. He has his G.C. License and he's actually very good. He's also used to coming in after Jasper and fixing his messes. While we're at it, don't let Jasper near any cars either. Not even for a flat tire. He can't fix those either. Just take it to Rose or Peter." I recommended.

A minute later, Jasper walked into the house. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to store the power tools in the trunk of my car. "Hey Dad, Bella. Did you two work things out?" He leaned over to give Bella a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes, we did." I said. "Why don't we spend the day together kids? I need to buy Esme's Christmas present. I was hoping you'd help me pick something out for her. Besides, I miss you both and we never get to spend time together with just the three of us."

Just then, the foreman walked downstairs. "Um, we're done upstairs if you'd like to come and check our work."

Everything seemed to be in order, Jasper paid the contractor, and the three of us left the house to find my wife a Christmas gift. I think I'll just go to Tiffany and Company and pick up some nice jewelry for her. I have no idea what else to get her—the woman has everything already.

_**Christmas Eve**_

**Alice's POV**

Tomorrow, I'm finally taking my mate home to meet the family. It was impossible to gage what everyone's reaction would be because I hadn't had any visions of them for months now, but I figured that because it's Christmas, the family would welcome me and my mate with open arms. Besides, I needed to get back because my bank account had run dry for some reason. Usually Carlisle replenishes it, but for some reason he only brought it back from the negative to zero. When I asked the bank for a cash advance, they said that they were not authorized to provide that transaction. I think it was pure, idiotic human error. I'm sure Carlisle will straighten the bank out for me.

I moved out of the motel room into my mate's Portland apartment about two weeks after we started seeing each other. When I told him about me being a vampire, he wasn't terrified at all. In fact, he said that he noticed there was always something creepy about my family. My mate was actually excited about being changed into a vampire. I would have to ask Carlisle to do it, of course, because I lack the control. Maybe when Carlisle changes him, my mate can wake up and eat Bella Swan for me. That would be a hoot and it would get rid of that slut once and for all.

Oh, well, I need to get packing. My mate is tying up loose ends over here in Oregon. We have a 4 pm flight tomorrow because I saw that it was going to be sunny. That means we should arrive in Boston around 10 pm and in Amherst about 11:30 pm. It'll still be Christmas though and besides, they're vampires—they don't sleep. God, I hope Bella the whore isn't celebrating along with the family. Maybe she'll be fast asleep and I can go upstairs and snap her neck. Anyway, we plan on asking Carlisle to change him as soon as possible. I'm not Edward. I don't have the patience he does and I certainly don't plan on waiting any longer than I have to.

**Jasper's POV**

"That's gorgeous, Jasper! How the heck did you do that? You're way better than I am at wrapping." Bella had a stunned expression on her face as she stared at the gift I had just wrapped.

"Years of practice. When you live with Esme, Alice, and Rosalie, learning how to wrap gifts like a pro becomes an essential skill." I explained. "Hey, how come you're almost done? I still have a ton to wrap."

"Oh this is the Bella Whitlock way of gift wrapping. I just put the present into a gift bag, throw some tissue on it, label it, and voila. Nice, easy, and pretty—no need for scissors, tape, or ribbons."

Huh. I never knew it could be done that way. Esme, Alice, and Rose always wanted everything to look picture perfect so the idea of gift bags didn't even cross my mind. Bella was so no-nonsense in her approach to gift wrapping, simple yet efficient—just like the way she did everything. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" I gave her a wet kiss on the lips. "Come on—let's finish this your way, then go upstairs to play. Fuck the Cullen style of wrapping—I like your method better."

_**Christmas Morning**_

"Merry Christmas, babe." I handed my present over to Bella to open. She smiled at me and carefully unwrapped the box. She took out the wooden box inside and gazed at it lovingly.

"Is it a jewelry box? It's really pretty." She said. "Is it an antique?"

"It was my mother's—my real mother, not Esme. She used to keep all of her little trinkets in there. My father actually carved it for her."

"Oh my goodness, Jasper! This is so precious—thank you! I'll treasure it for eternity." She jumped on my lap and gave me deep, lingering kiss.

"There's more, Bella. Open the box." She carefully opened the box and pulled out a single pearl. She studied the pearl and looked up at me questioningly. "During my first year as a vampire, I had a rare moment of tranquility while I was sitting alone by the water. I saw an oyster so I grabbed it and shucked it—that pearl is what I found inside when I opened it. Among all the chaos, I had found something so simple, so beautiful—kind of like you. I thought that maybe we can get a ring or a pendant made for you. What do you think?"

Bella's eyes were brimming with venom tears. "Thank you, Jasper. These are the best gifts I've ever been given. Well, second best. You're the best gift ever. Are you ready for your presents? They're nothing compared to yours. Open this one first."

Bella handed me a gift bag. I reached in and grabbed what was in there and started laughing—they were black Elvis Presley pajamas. She reached behind the tree and grabbed another set—this one in pink. "See, we match."

"Oh, we are so packing these for our weekend with the family. It'll annoy the fuck out of them." I said. "Thanks, babe."

Bella smiled in acknowledgment. It was weird, her emotions were all over the place this morning, but anxiety topped the list. I was just about to ask her what was the matter when the doorbell rang. Bella let out a deep sigh of relief and said, "I'll get it!" She, then, jumped up, ran to the door, and opened it.

"Merry Christmas! I have an Express Mail delivery for a Mrs. Isabella Whitlock. Would that be you?" The mailman wearing a Santa Hat asked.

"Yes, that's me." She was jumping up and down for joy and squealing in delight.

"Sign here, please."

Bella quickly scrawled her name and the mailman handed her an envelope. She tipped the mailman a twenty, wished him a Merry Christmas, and shut the door before he could return the tip to her.

Bella handed the envelope to me with a huge grin on her face. I could feel her anticipation as I opened it. I pulled out what looked to be two concert tickets. My eyes widened in excitement. "Two front row seats to Brad Paisley next Wednesday? Babe, you know how much I love his music!" I grabbed my wife and twirled her around the living room—plastering kisses all over her.

"I figured we were on winter break and you mentioned wanting to see him in concert so I hunted for tickets. Actually, Claude, the concierge at the Forum Shops in Vegas found them for me. Obviously, I just got them right now—that's why I was so jittery. I was worried they wouldn't get here on time. We'll have to go to Nashville though. I didn't have a chance to look for flights and a hotel. Is that okay?"

"It's more than okay, Bella, it's wonderful! This is the most heartfelt gift I've received since I became a vampire. Thank you! Alice always just gave me clothes. Hey, let's search online for plane tickets and a hotel in Nashville. We can stay for a few days and tour the Music City. The next term doesn't begin until the 25th of January." I said. "By the way, did you give Claude a big tip?"

"Yep, I gave him a thousand dollars. Was that too much?"

"Nope, that was actually perfect. Claude's good, so we'll keep him on hand and use his services again."

We searched online and booked the flight and hotel. I, then, took my wife upstairs and made love to her for a few hours until we both begrudgingly agreed that it was time to head over to Amherst to spend time with the family.

"Jasper, I don't understand why you have to scent me. We're only visiting family."

"Babe, I feel more secure when I scent you. They may be family, but they're still vampires. Besides, you never know who we'll encounter." I said. Bella still had trouble grasping the idea of scenting. We all did it though. Emmett and I tended to scent our mates more than usual, but we were more protective of our women than the norm. Carlisle surmised that it was because Rose and Bella would be considered extremely beautiful in our world, thus making them more of a target for eager male vampires.

"There—done." I said with finality.

"You're sure now? I think you missed a spot on my big toe." Bella said sarcastically.

"I could always start over, you know." I winked.

"Alrighty then, time to get dressed!" Bella said with sudden enthusiasm. I chuckled. I really drove her nuts with the scenting. "Um...Jasper? You were kidding when you said everyone dresses up for Christmas, right?"

"No, I wasn't. Just put on a pretty dress. You can throw some jeans in for later. Don't forget to pack our Elvis pjs. I want to piss the family off by wearing them—it'll remind them of our Vegas wedding."

Bella rolled her eyes at me. Hey, we may have made up with the family, but that didn't mean that I wasn't still pissed off about their reactions afterwards. We didn't get one fucking congratulations from anyone—male or female. Sure I went about getting her to marry me the wrong way, but for Bella's sake they could have at least wished us well after we all made nice.

"Hey, Bella, where are my ties? I can't seem to find them." I was searching high and low through the closet unable to locate them.

"They're in the top drawer of your dresser, Jasper—they can't move on their own." Bella snapped her fingers at me. "Yoohoo—in here. I said dresser, not closet."

Jeez! I'm helpless without my wife. "Bella, I need a pair of black..."

"...socks." She finished my sentence and handed me my socks.

"I also need my silver..."

"...cufflinks." She had them sitting in the palm of her hand. "You can get your own shoes, right?"

"Right." I gave her a kiss and when I was ready, I said. "Well, come on, aren't you ready yet?"

"Jasper, how was I supposed to get ready when I had to pack for both of us and get you ready?"

"Uh, right. Take your time, babe."

Five minutes later, Bella was dressed and ready to go. This is what I loved about my mate, she was no fuss, no muss. If it were any of the other women, it would have taken them at least forty minutes to get ready. "Is this okay? It's not too dressy, is it?"

Fuck me. She was wearing a pretty silk dress that flowed to about four inches above her knees. It was blood red. The men were gonna go crazy when they saw her. Thank fuck I scented her well. Shit! I can't take my eyes off of her.

"You look beautiful, Bella." I said and I meant it too. I sent her all the joy, trust, and adoration I could muster. I also sent her a little bit of lust. God damn it! I have a hard-on now. I moved in to give my wife a kiss, unzipped her dress, and let it fall to the floor. I picked it up and gently draped it over the chair because I didn't want to wrinkle it. She was going to wear this dress tonight and I was going to proudly show my gorgeous wife off.

"I can't help myself, baby. You look so intoxicating." With that I flipped her over and plunged straight into her dripping pussy. I fisted her long, wavy hair and pulled her close to me, caressing her beautiful breasts and stopping to play with her nipples.

"Oh God, Jasper!" She cried as I penetrated her core, making sure that she felt every inch of me. "More Jasper! Harder!"

"Your wish is my command, my mate." I thrust into her harder and harder as she moved a hand down to her clit and started furiously rubbing circles on it. She was panting and gasping for air as I continued fucking her the way she wanted it. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I shouted out her name as I released my seed into her, sinking my teeth into her neck and pumping my venom into her—claiming her, marking her as mine for all the world to see. Bella screamed in agony then pulsated onto my cock as she reached her own peak. I bathed her wound with my tongue and held her as close as possible to me. I was never going to let my mate go.

"Harryyyy!"

"Deloressss!"

The senior citizen neighbors next door screamed as they orgasmed. Holy shit! I think I may have projected a little. One by one, we could hear cries of pleasure from our surrounding neighbors—some alone, some together. Okay, maybe I projected a lot.

"Harry, that was the best sex ever. After sixty years, we finally climaxed together."

"Delores, that was incredible and I didn't even need my Viagara."

"Harry, ever since that young couple moved in next door, you've been like a sex machine."

"Well, we can't let them show us up, can we?"

Bella and I started howling with laughter. "Jasper, you're doing a public service and you inadvertently gave Delores and Harry a Christmas miracle."

"I sure did, didn't I?" I said. "Hey, baby, how's your mark? Does it hurt? I know I bit down harder than usual—I don't know what came over me." I ran my tongue over it to soothe it some more.

"It's fine, Jasper. It just stings a little. You know I love it when you take me like that."

Oh fuck—she did it again. Instant hard-on. Whenever she talks like that, I get turned on. I swiftly entered her pussy again, but this time I made love to her slowly—completely losing myself in my mate.

Two hours later, my cell phone rang. "Hello?" I answered.

"Are you two done fucking yet? For fuck's sake, we want to open our Christmas presents. We've been waiting for you all day, you know? It's fucking three o'clock in the afternoon already. Get your asses up here! Oh, and don't even think of scenting her again—I'm sure she reeks of you already." Rose was on a tirade. "Emmett, for the love of God—you've scented me three times already today. I'm only talking to Jasper. See! Now look at what you've done! Emmett's gone all caveman on me and is scenting me for the fourth time today! Yes I'm hanging up now, Emmett. Just hurry the fuck up!"

I was about to get dressed when the cell phone went off again. "Quit fucking my sister and get your asses up here! We get it—you two love each other, but, damn it, we want to open our Christmas presents too. Esme won't let us touch anything because she wants to take a family photo in front of the tree with all the gifts laid out underneath it. Now move it!" Peter hung up on me.

_Buzz_. This time it was Bella's phone. "Okay, sis, I understand your need to be with Jasper, but, honestly, aren't you two being a bit unfair to the rest of us?"

"Sorry, Vicky, I know. We're on our way, I just need to put my heels on." Bella lied—she was stark naked and I was currently lapping up ever inch of her pussy. "Aaaah...g...g...gotta...gooo."

_Buzz_. "Hello?"

"Is he going down on you?" Char chuckled at the other end.

"Char, now really isn't a good time. I'm trying to get ready here." Bella said.

"Uh-huh, sure. Stay on the phone, I wanna hear you both cum." What a fucking perv! I swear, Char is insatiable. No wonder she's Pete's mate.

"I'm hanging up now, Char. Go fuck Peter, okay?"

"Ooh! Good idea. Do you want to listen in?"

"No!" Bella said firmly and pressed 'end' on her phone.

A couple of minutes later, I had Bella crying out my name at the top of her lungs. We both quickly got dressed again, me in my suit and my wife in her fuckhot, red, hard-on inducing dress. The Christmas gifts were already loaded into the truck so we just grabbed our overnight bag and jumped in the cab. We were finally on our way.

When we pulled up in the driveway of the Amherst house, Bella did a quick check of her hair and threw some lipstick on.

"You ready?" I asked. She nodded in affirmation so we gathered up the Christmas gifts and went into the house.

"Finally!" Everyone cried as we walked into the living room. Amanda came bounding out in a Santa Hat wishing us both Merry Christmas. Geez! She was the only one with manners. Alright, maybe we were a bit rude for showing up so late, but we never gave them a specific time of arrival.

Esme took the presents from us and started strategically placing them around the tree so it looked picture perfect. "Okay, now that everyone is finally here. Let's take the photo so we can start opening up gifts."

Carlisle had the camera all set up on a tripod. He hit the self-timer button and we all smiled for the picture. We did two more pictures then dove in and started opening gifts.

"Fuck me! You look hot today." Peter told Bella as he eye-fucked her. "You sure, you don't want to share a bit of your sweet lovin' with me. After all, we do have a kid together."

I growled at him and got right into his face. Peter immediately took on a submissive pose and said, "Uh...maybe not. She's yours, only yours, Major."

Bella sensed a big brawl brewing between us and ran interference. "Jasper, come sit with me so we can open some of our gifts. Here, Peter, this is from us. I hope you like it." She handed Peter a gift bag and pulled me to the sofa and sat on my lap. "Shh...baby, calm down. He was only kidding. He didn't mean anything by it."

"I felt his lust, Bella." I whispered into her ear.

"You know something, though, it doesn't matter what he feels. I'm yours Jasper, only yours." She soothed, running her fingers through my hair. I could feel her love for me radiating off of her.

"Belly Mama, Little Major!" Amanda came bounding onto the sofa next to us. "I love the new iPod and the docking station. Will you help me set them up in my room later?"

"Sure, little one." I said, giving her a hug. A few weeks ago, Bella, Edward, Peter, and I went to Ikea and picked up some new furniture for Amanda. We packed up Alice's belongings and moved her stuff to a room in the unused servants wing of Esme's grand mansion. We then went about painting the walls pink and setting up the new furniture in her room. Esme even helped by rolling out a purple area rug and strategically placing the furniture so that the room had a better flow to it. Later, Emmett came in and installed a door between Edward and Amanda's room so that when the time came, they could freely go in and out between the two rooms.

"Hey guys." Edward came and sat next to us. "I got you each a gift." He handed two beautifully wrapped boxes to us.

"Thanks, Edward. Did you like yours?" We had gotten him original sheet music from the seventeenth century that we found at an antique bookstore in Cambridge. We also got him a Harvard University hooded sweatshirt since that seemed to be his new style now.

"Loved it! I can't wait to play it—it's extremely complex, but I think I can manage it."

Bella and I pulled out our gifts at the same time and both started laughing. "This is great Edward! They go with our new pajamas!" He bought us his and hers Elvis bathrobes.

"I figured it would remind you of your wedding." Edward said sheepishly.

"Belly Mama! Look what Emmy got me! It's a High School Musical Scene It game. Can we all play it together later?"

"Sure we can." Bella said.

"Sweetheart, can I talk to you and Jasper for a second. I have something to give you in private." Esme approached us both.

"We'll be right back, okay." Bella and I both stood up and followed Esme into her private office. Things were still strained between us. Much of it had to do with her use of the riding crop on me.

"Have a seat kids." Esme said pointing to two chairs in front of her desk. We noticed a photo album sitting on her desk. "I wanted to start off with an apology. Carlisle and Riley both spoke to me and I'd like to apologize for losing control and using the riding crop on you, Jasper. I was in no position to hit you at all. So, for what it's worth. I'm sorry."

Well, that was unexpected. I moved to the other side of the desk and gave my vampire mother a hug. "Thank you, Esme." I said simply, then retreated back to my chair.

"Well, now that that's over with, I'd like to present this album to you. Go ahead, look through it and tell me what you think."

I flipped through the album and gasped. It was our house in New York City. The first few pages were photos of our house as we had last seen it. Later, it showcased the apartment transformed. It was simply gorgeous.

"Did you design this all yourself, Esme?" Bella asked.

"Yes, I did. I know we discussed the renovations in my office and you seemed to like it. I hope you don't mind the personal touches that I added. I also found your jacuzzi pool and tree as you can see. They take up the entire top floor. I placed them in the same room as you can see. I went with a tropical theme—it seemed to fit the bill."

"This is so beautiful, Esme, thank you." I said. "Um, you'll have to send me a bill so I can reimburse you."

"Absolutely not. You are both my children and this is my wedding/Christmas present to you. After my behavior, I owed you at least this much. You brought me so much joy in allowing me to just toss some of my design ideas at you—it was a gift for me as well." Esme had unsheddable tears in her eyes. "You must know that I love you both so much and I know that a mother should never say this—ever, but I will anyway. You are hands down my two favorite children and losing you would be the equivalent of death to me."

I could feel the honesty in Esme's words. Bella was emitting a cocktail of compassion, love, and a bit of distress—probably in not knowing how exactly to respond to Esme's words. I decided to take the first step. I moved to the other side of the desk, looked Esme in the eyes, and said. "I love you, mom."

That did it. Bella zipped over to Esme, climbed onto her lap, and sobbed between her thank yous and I love yous. We all stayed like that for a while then Esme started describing the renovations made to our home. We agreed that she, along with Carlisle, should come with us in a few weeks to take us on a personal tour. After a while, we rejoined the family. Happy and content to all be together.

"Ahem!" Carlisle cleared his throat in order to get our attention. "Eleazar and I have some presentations to make. As you are aware, this Christmas we have been blessed with several new additions to both the Cullen and Denali families. We'd like to present each of you with our family crests. I'll start, if you don't mind Eli."

"Please, go right ahead."

"I'd like to start with Peter, Riley, and Laurent. You three have been welcome additions to our family. Each of you have added a unique perspective to our lives. Peter, your sense of familial loyalty and your sense of humor are unparalleled. Riley, you've brought our family back in touch with our human side. You've taught me to be a better father with your wisdom and you've made each of us strive to be better citizens. Laurent, while I am aware that you are a Denali, you are also a Cullen now that you are living with us. The brotherly love that you show each of the family members have made each of us appreciate the familial love that we each share. I'd like to present each of you with the Cullen family crest in the form of a ring."

Each of the men murmured their thanks and opened up the small ring boxes containing their crest rings.

"Now for the girls." Carlisle continued. "Charlotte, Victoria, Irina, Amanda, and Isabella. Welcome to our family. Charlotte, you have brought joy and happiness to our lives with your unique brand of love that you show us each and everyday. Victoria, you prove to us each day that through hard work and diligence—any adversity can be overcome. Your fierce protectiveness of our family is also one that cannot be matched and I am proud to call you daughter. Irina, you—like Laurent, are also a Denali. Having you live with us, my niece has been a great joy. The compassion that you show all beings through your humanity and volunteer work has made all of us hold you in great respect. Amanda, it has been miraculous watching you change into the fine young lady you've become. We know that coming through the transformation has been difficult at best, but you have shown us that we can all learn and grow at any age and that the mind is capable of many, great things. Isabella, your crest is long overdue. I have told you before and I will tell you again that I have always looked upon you as my daughter. Six years ago, you stepped into our lives and showed us what it was to love with no holds barred. You amazed us with your acceptance of the supernatural world and you've shown us that courage trumps adversity always. I'd like to present each of you girls with a family crest. Your rings are encrusted with diamonds and are made of either gold or platinum to match your wedding rings."

He handed each woman a box. They opened the boxes and admired the ring inside.

Eleazar stepped up to take his turn. "Well, I don't have as many new family members to welcome. I'd like to begin with Rex. Your intelligence and humanity have been a welcome addition to the family. I am awed by your capabilities as a military strategist and as a teacher. I'd also like to thank you for heeding my advice and waiting until next year to find a teaching job. I know that you're looking forward to utilizing your degree and I promise you that by next year. You will be able to do so. I'd like to present you with the Denali family crest." Rex opened up a box containing a gold chain with a pendant hanging from it. He promptly put it on and went to give a surprised Eleazar a hug.

Eleazar cleared his throat. "I'd also like to present a crest to Jasper and Isabella." What the fuck? Why? Bella had a stunned expression on her face. I'm sure I did as well.

Eleazar looked straight at us and said. "Why so surprised kids? You two have become important additions to our family. You bring a sense of joy and humanity, as well as, strength and fortitude to our family. We are proud to have you both as members of the Denali family."

We looked around the room and the Cullens all looked stunned. It was obvious that Eleazar hadn't mentioned a thing to any of them. Esme and Carlisle both looked anxious, but resigned. Well, we weren't going to leave the Cullens, but it was nice to be recognized by the Denalis as family all the same. We were extremely close and had a lot in common. The Denalis were a lot more reserved than the Cullens and that's how Bella and I were. At the same time, they knew how to have a healthy dose of fun. We also had come to respect Eleazar tremendously—he had a great deal of wisdom and words of advice to offer.

Bella and I both ran up to Eleazar and gave him a hug. He presented me with a chain and crest like Rex's except mine was platinum to match my wedding band. Bella received a beautiful platinum bracelet that featured the family crest encrusted with diamonds—it matched the ones sported by each of the Denali girls. The Denalis suddenly surrounded us and gave me, Bella, and Rex congratulatory hugs. Not to be outdone, the Cullens joined in and soon everyone was hugging each other and making merry.

I noticed that Carlisle had pulled Bella away from the Denali group and had a firm hold on her waist. I chuckled. Daddy Carlisle was jealous of Uncle Eleazar, particularly when it came to Bella. He had nothing to worry about, though, Eleazar wasn't going to take Bella away from him. He had a solid respect for boundaries. Carlisle, however, was still worried about losing his daughter particularly after the wedding debacle.

"Hey, Mom, "Emmett said, "it's 8pm now. Can we change out of these monkey suits into something more comfortable? I can't breathe in these ties."

"Emmett, you don't breathe." I said.

"Yeah, I know, but I always feel like I'm choking in these things."

"Okay, we're done with pictures so everyone can go change now." Esme decided. "Charlotte, no nudity—we have guests and if you're going to wear something risque make sure you put a robe on. Not a sheer one either—that big cotton one I bought you."

"Mom! It's so bulky. Everyone's seen me naked anyway."

"Charlotte!" Esme growled.

"Fine!" Charlotte stomped off to change with Pete hot on her heels. The guy never missed a chance to see his mate naked—pervert.

Speaking of naked mates. "Hey, Bella, let's go change into those new pajamas you bought us." Geez! I'm just as bad as Pete is—if not worse. At least he didn't scent his mate as much as I did.

Everyone ran up to their rooms to change into their pajamas—even the Denalis. They had packed their pjs knowing that everyone got super comfortable at the Cullens on Christmas evening. I have no idea why, but that's always how it's been. When Alice was here, she had the men dressed in silk pajamas and the women in silk nightgowns. This was our first real Christmas without her, thank fuck, I wanted to see how everyone dressed themselves.

Bella and I walked downstairs wearing our matching Elvis pajamas—we even donned Edward's robes on top of them.

"Tell me you guys are joking?" Rose scowled. She was dressed in white silk pajamas. "I can't believe you guys are actually wearing those!"

"Why not? They're comfy." Bella replied.

"Oh my God!" Rose exclaimed. She had just caught sight of Emmett and Amanda. They were both wearing High School Musical pajama pants. Amanda was fine, but when we saw Emmett we all started laughing. "Bella, I take back everything I just said. That's bad."

Riley was wearing Boston Red Sox pajama pants while Vicky wore a matching pair in pink. Irina and Laurent were wearing matching flannel pajamas with a snowman print. Carlisle, Esme, and the Denalis were all pretty conservative in their sleepwear. Rex was wearing black silk pajamas—figures! Tanya, however, was wearing Hello Kitty pajamas. What the fuck is Garrett wearing? Holy fuck—I haven't seen those since I was human.

"Garrett? Is that a union suit you're wearing? I remember those from when I was human." I said.

"I know, aren't they great? I found them when I went to LLBean with Katie. I'll pick one up for you when we go up again this weekend."

"Okay, thanks!"

"Rex, we used to have to wear those underneath our military uniforms." I informed him.

"No kidding? Really? Garrett, can you pick up one for me too?"

"Sure."

Peter and Charlotte came bounding down the stairs. Peter was wearing Star Wars pajamas and Charlotte was wearing a silk bathrobe with nothing underneath it. Esme just threw her hands up, exasperated at the sight of her. Edward was the last to join our group, he was wearing plaid pajama pants, but it was the graphic t-shirt on top that had us all rolling. On it, there was an arrow pointing up to his face with a message underneath that read "Mr. Right" and another arrow pointing straight to his dick with a message over it that read "Mr. Up All Night." Every single person in the room was laughing.

"We've got to take a picture of everybody!" Carlisle grabbed his camera and quickly set it up on the tripod. We all smiled for the photo as the flash went off.

"Um...Carlisle can we take one more please?" Esme asked. "Charlotte, dear, this time would you please leave your robe on? I'd like to frame the photo."

One more picture and this time Charlotte stayed dressed. That girl sure has a healthy sex drive. I wonder if it's because of my venom?

We spent the rest of the evening watching Christmas movies. Bella was snuggled up into my chest and I was relishing in the comfort of my mate. The other couples were in similar positions.

Riley suddenly stood up. "I have something to say." He got down on one bended knee in front of Vicky. "Victoria, five and a half years ago you came into my life and changed my life completely. I mean that, literally and figuratively." We all chuckled at hearing that.

Riley continued. "From the time of my awakening, you've been the steady rock in my life. You rolled through life's changes with me, from finding Bella to Charlie's death to moving to Boston. You made sure that our family stayed strong and together and helped me forge a successful career as a psychologist while you went to school and helped raise my sister to be the strong woman that she is today. Sure, sometimes your methods were a bit unconventional, but hey, that's what I love about you. So, with that, I have one thing to ask you. Victoria Biers, would you marry me again?"

"Yes." Vicky said simply as Riley presented her with a beautiful diamond engagement ring. "Oh, Riley, this is so beautiful! Thank you!" She looked like she was about to sob!

"Congratulations!" Bella said. "I'm so happy for you guys." She tumbled into Riley's arms.

Vicky pulled them both in for a hug. "You know I love you both so much!"

It was a beautiful moment. They had stuck together through thick and thin and somehow ended up stronger than ever. Irina and Laurent soon joined in. The five of them truly knew the meaning of the word family. Their love for each other was unconditional—it didn't matter whether they were Cullens, Denalis, Swans, or Biers. The five of them were a true family unit.

Everyone else soon chimed in to offer their congratulations and to admire Vicky's ring. Apparently, Edward had helped Riley pick the ring at the Jeweler's Building in Boston. Hmm...I'd have to go check the place out—maybe they could do something with the pearl that I just gave Bella for Christmas. Vicky gave Edward a kiss on the cheek. If the boy were human, he would have been blushing a hundred shades of red.

We soon resumed watching TV until Edward started playing Christmas tunes on the piano. We all started singing along to everything from Silent Night to Frosty the Snowman. We were hooting and hollering and dancing around when Edward started playing Burning Love on the piano. We were having a grand ol' time when, out of the blue, we all heard a high-pitched, whiny voice that none of us wanted to hear. "Helloooo family! I'm home!"

Edward suddenly switched to playing a few notes from Darth Vader's theme song from Star Wars before abruptly stopping. It was Alice and not one person in the room was happy about seeing her.

She stopped midway into the living room before speaking. "I've come home to my family. I thought you'd want to see me for Christmas. Why are you all dressed in those pajamas? You look ridiculous. Anyway, so much has happened in the last few months, Jazzy Pooh I have a mate. He's just unloading all of our bags. We have over a hundred pieces." She then looked at Amanda who was clutching onto Bella. Shit. Bitch has no idea that she's been changed or that we're married. "Amanda, get away from that whore! I told you she's a prostitute! What are you wearing? You look stupid...and what happened to your hair?"

Rage, pure unadulterated rage. That's all I felt emanating from my mate. Bella passed Amanda to Peter. In a flash, she was on top of my ex-wife pounding the shit out of her. Unfortunately, Alice is a decent fighter because stupid me taught her how to defend herself when I thought I loved her decades ago. Damn it! Alice threw Bella across the living room and into a wall.

"Don't take that shit from the bitch, Bella. Get the fuck up and beat the shit out of her!" Rosalie encouraged.

Undeterred, Bella got up and this time faked a punch and kicked Alice in the gut instead. Alice tried to land a punch to Bella's jaw. She was blocked by Bella who punched Alice straight underneath her chin, then tossed her into the front door—making it shatter on impact.

"God, I love chick fights!" Garrett exclaimed. He was eagerly taking in the scene in front of him.

"Does Alice count as a chick?" Emmett asked innocently.

"No, girls have boobies." Amanda answered him. Haha. That was funny.

"That's right Amanda." I couldn't help, but commend her.

"Little Major, this is just like that Charlie's Angels movie we watched together." Amanda mused.

"That's right, Amanda, Bella's the angel and Psycho Bitch is the villain." Edward pointed out then turned to me. "You think we should stop them?"

"Nah, Bella needs to do this. Let her get her aggression out." I said. I wasn't worried about my wife. She'd been trained by Vicky. She also took karate lessons from Laurent. Both of them were keeping a mindful eye on her and looked ready to step in, if necessary.

"Fuck her up, Bella!" Char cheered as Bella grabbed Alice from behind and shoved her head into the wall. Alice extracted herself and started wailing like a wild banshee. She ran straight into Bella and tackled her. Bella quickly got up and clocked Alice in the nose. The two were hammering at each other and landing punches left and right. Bella landed a solid uppercut to Alice's jaw. Alice tried to grab Bella, but my mate was quick and was able to land a left hook to the Pixie's eye. Alice was about to hit Bella again when Carlisle and Eleazar finally stepped in. Carlisle had Alice in a body lock from behind while Eleazar held Bella's hands behind her back.

"That's it girls! No more punching! That's an order!" Carlisle commanded.

"Yes, Daddy." Alice said sweetly. She then turned towards Bella with a smug smile.

Bella shifted her head towards us, rolled her eyes, then smirked. What the fuck is she smirking about? She grinned maliciously at Alice, then, with Eleazar still holding her arms behind her back, she impaled my ex-wife across the face with a karate high kick so powerful that Alice's head was hanging limply off of her neck. My ex-wife's venom was oozing all over the floor. Damn it! I have a hard on now!

Bella looked innocently at Carlisle and said, "You said no punching, Dad. You didn't say anything about kicking." Carlisle just rolled his eyes, holding on to Alice's head so it wouldn't completely fall off. I could swear I heard him chuckle.

We heard a whimper coming from Peter. He looked up at us, his eyes brimming with venom tears and said. "I just jizzed my pants. That was just the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life." Sure enough, Peter was sporting a huge wet spot on the front of his Star Wars pajama pants.

"Run upstairs and change now, Petey dear. Just put your pants on top of the washer, I'll get that stain out for you. I know those are your favorite pajama pants." Esme, ever the eternal mother, instructed Peter.

"Thanks, Mama." Peter said as he ran upstairs to change, pecking Esme on the cheek on the way.

Eleazar released his hold on Bella, but not before kissing her on top of her head and whispering, "Good girl."

I immediately grabbed my mate and started checking her for injuries. She was absolutely fine, not a mark on her—not even a rip in her pajamas. Her hair was a jumbled mess so I started running my fingers through her locks to smooth it out for her. The action was soothing, not only to her, but to me as well.

Victoria's eyes met mine. She turned her head slightly towards the Psycho Bitch, then back to me again. She was looking for approval from the Major. I nodded my head in affirmation and Victoria stalked towards her pet. Carlisle immediately handed Alice over to Victoria saying, "Here you go, kitten. Careful, her head's hanging a bit precariously there." Kitten my ass. Lethal Victoria was about to make an appearance.

"Oh my pet, what happened? Were you in a fight? Lucky for you, your mistress saw everything. You were a very bad girl. I'm not so sure whether I should reattach your head or turn you into ash. It's no bother to me either way, you know." Just to prove her point, my sister ripped off Alice's pinky.

Alice looked petrified. She was unable to speak because Bella had severed her voice box with that final kick. Speaking of which, I really need to start taking karate lessons from Laurent. "Are you going to be a good little pet from now on and listen to your mistress? Isabella is my sister, pet, she is completely off limits to you, as is Amanda. Hmm...I think I'll be nice and put you back together. I recall promising to teach you a few lessons once you returned. Lucky for you, I always keep my promises." Lethal Victoria cackled maniacally and removed Alice's other pinky.

Peter walked downstairs after changing into a new pair of pajama pants and immediately flanked Victoria. Alice cringed in fear. She knew how much Peter despised her and she was fully aware of how deadly he could be. She looked towards Victoria for salvation. "You don't like the Captain, pet? Does he frighten you?" Alice started furiously blinking her eyes. Psycho Bitch was at Victoria's mercy and she knew it. Scanning the feelings of everyone around the room, I felt a combination of awe and fear. Amanda was watching the scene unfold excitedly, as if it were an action movie. Bella was emitting feelings of sheer glee as Victoria reigned over Alice.

"Not to worry pet. Captain's just here to help mistress put her pet back together. You know, I'm not so sure I remember how to reassemble a detached head. Major?" Victoria turned her head towards me. "Do we use her venom or mine?"

"You definitely need to use your venom and the Captain's, too. Your pet looks pretty dried up." I answered with a smirk.

Alice's eyes widened in fear and she started shaking uncontrollably. Using Vicky and Pete's venom to reattach her head would be extremely painful and leave a scar. After the shit the bitch has pulled, she deserved that at minimum.

"Let's get started, shall we Captain?" Vicky suggested to Peter.

Peter started heckling. Alice started shrieking as they fused her head back on using their venom. Char stepped in and clamped a hand over Alice's mouth to shut her up. "I'm going to hold onto your pinkies, pet. You weren't able to stay quiet while I so kindly reattached your head." Vicky grabbed Alice's pinkies and threw them in her pocketbook.

"Thank you, Victoria." Alice said submissively. No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, Bella had Alice up against the wall by her throat.

"You're going to apologize to Amanda for those comments you made earlier, bitch!" Bella squeezed Alice's neck tighter.

Just then, a human loped into the house looking completely exhausted. "Alice, I unloaded all of the bags, but I haven't brought them in yet. What happened to the front door?"

"Fuck." Bella mumbled and dropped Alice unceremoniously to the ground.

We all looked in the direction of the voice and Edward, Emmett, Riley, Vicky, and I simultaneously said, "Oh, fuck!"

"Gross!" Rosalie added.

"Bella Swan? You're a vampire? I thought you were hot in Forks, but now...damn! Hey, Edward, are you still tapping that ass?" Edward and I both growled and immediately put Bella behind us.

"Alice, you never told me that Bella was with you guys and a vampire. Why not? This is like winning the fucking lottery. Bella Swan and Rosalie Hale in the same room looking all fuckable." The little prick continued talking. "So, Bella, are you with someone? I heard Edward's married. I'm still single you know. Maybe we can go out som..."

He was never able to finish his sentence. I felt a sudden surge of bloodlust that dropped me to my knees. All of us were taken completely unaware when Amanda lunged at Alice's mate and sunk her teeth into his jugular.

"Amanda, no!" Bella screamed. Alice tried to pull Amanda off of her mate, but she was promptly thrown into the wall for interrupting her feed.

Bella slowly approached Amanda, together with Peter and Edward. She was protecting her prey. "You don't want to do this Amanda." She begged. "Please don't do this, it'll only hurt you."

Amanda shook her head furiously at Bella. Amanda resumed feeding off of Alice's mate. In a move of desperation, Bella grabbed Edward and kissed him on the lips—in hopes of distracting Amanda.

"Look Amanda, she's stealing your mate!" Peter urged Amanda to look up. In a flash, Amanda dropped her feed and pushed Bella off of Edward. This time she was crouched protectively in front of Edward and snarling at Bella. Edward quickly restrained Amanda with Peter's help.

Alice went immediately to check on her mate. "Oh God! Oh God! He's dying." She cried. "Please! Please! Someone help!"

"Don't look at me." I said.

"Well, I'm not going to change him." Edward said.

"I don't like the prick." Emmett added.

Everyone was staring at Alice and her dying mate. No one was attempting to help.

"Please! Please! I'll be in your debt for life. If he isn't changed, I'll be without a mate for my entire existence. I'm begging you. I'll make a 'vampire's promise' that I'll forever be in your debt."

Hmm...a 'vampire's promise'...I could work with that. She wouldn't be able to break that promise until her death and she'd be in my debt forever. Maybe I should change him...

I noticed that Amanda was sobbing in a corner. She was sitting in Bella's arms allowing her to comfort her. "I'm a murderer. I'm a killer. I should be in jail." She whimpered.

"You are not a murderer. I won't allow that to happen—ever." Bella reassured. With that, my mate stood up and walked over to Alice's mate. She got a look of resolve on her face as she bit into the human's neck and pumped her venom into him.

"Noooo!" Alice cried. "Anyone, but her. I don't want to be in her debt forever!"

"Beggars can't be choosers, you fucking bitch!" Rose impaled Alice's face with an uppercut then leaned over the human and bit down into his wrists—pushing her venom into him. She was helping her baby sister so she didn't have to change the fucker alone. Rose had a heart of gold.

"Oh God! Not her too!" Alice screamed.

"You know, pet, you're acting very unappreciative to Isabella and Rosalie. Get down on your knees and thank them, NOW!" Victoria roared at Alice. "Remember, you're in their debt forever now."

Alice instantly dropped to her knees and started thanking Bella and Rose. Oh, this is going to be good. I'm so glad that Vicky decided to use the "master's bite" instead of just ripping her fingers off.

"I think you can both stop now." I said. "That's enough venom."

Rose and Bella immediately stopped, the human started screaming as the burn started, and that's how Mike Fucking Newton came to transform into a vampire in our living room. Ho fucking ho fucking ho!

**So, you've all been asking for Alice's mate and most of you had already guessed who he would be. I bet you weren't expecting him to be transformed so quickly, though. I'd love to hear what you think about Mike, Alice and everything else that happened in this chapter. I love hearing from all of you and I promise to write back. XOXO**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hap****py New Year everyone! I'd like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for reading and reviewing my story! I truly appreciate your support. Peter and Char will show up in your beds and give you their undivided attention or you can just watch them go for it, if that's more to your taste.**

**This chapter contains torture, a lying psychotic pixie, and the Major.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Esme's POV**

What a shitstorm! I finally make amends with my favorite son and daughter, then the Psycho Bitch returns unannounced with a mate. I know why she's back too. It's not because she wants to see the family, it's because Carlisle and I decided not to replenish her bank account. About a week ago, we received a phone call from our bank stating that Alice wanted a one million dollar cash advance. The bank called us because she was already overdrawn by six hundred thousand dollars. Carlisle immediately restored the funds so that the account was at zero and then ordered that Alice Brandon no longer be permitted access to that account. We left her with the black credit card for the time being.

Now that she's back, though, we'll be canceling her card as soon as Monday morning rolls around.

I scanned the devastation in the living room. Most of it was caused by Isabella and Alice fighting. The front door would need to be replaced immediately. Fortunately, I have some extra doors stored in the basement. Emmett can install it. There were holes all over the walls, a window was completely shattered, and a few pieces of furniture were completely unsalvageable. There was also a stain in the hardwood flooring that Alice had caused when she dripped venom all over it.

"Mom, I'm sorry about the mess I made in the living room." Bella approached me, remorsefully. "Jasper and I will pay for any repairs and replace anything that needs replacing." It didn't escape me that Alice didn't apologize at all for her part in the damage.

"Oh, my darling girl, don't worry about it. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. We're always prepared for any eventuality."

"Mom, I'll get to work right away." Jasper said enthusiastically. "I can fix that window for you in a snap! I know how to do them now."

Oh, hell no! Carlisle told me what Jasper did to his own house in Cambridge just this week. Apparently, a contractor had to be called in to put in a whole new side of the house because Jasper became a little overzealous with his power saw. Besides, after what he did to our home near Chicago, there was no way I was letting him near any type of tools.

"Uh, I just thought of something kids, before we get started on any repairs, shouldn't we do something about the Newton boy changing in our living room?" I said. "His screaming is giving me a headache. Why don't we put him in Alice's room."

My daughter Victoria stood up and got in Alice's face. "Pick him up! Now!"

Alice snapped to attention and did as she was told. She picked her mate up bridal style, cradling him to her chest. She, then, proceeded to walk towards her old room.

"Alice, your room is no longer in that wing. We had to give your room to Amanda. You understand, don't you? She is Edward's mate, after all." I pointed towards the servant's wing on the far corner of the house. "Your room is located in that wing."

"Mother, that's the servant's wing." Alice protested.

"You're in no position to complain, Alice. There are several empty rooms in that wing for you to use. Amanda's old rollaway bed is in one of the rooms, as well. You can place Mike on it so he can transform comfortably."

"How could you? How could you give my room away to Amanda? She called me a bitch over the phone and she tried to drain my mate!"

Jasper stepped in this time. "Alice, you knew that Amanda was a newborn, yet you brought your human mate into this house. You've been a vampire long enough to know the risks."

"Are you saying that it's my fault?" Alice asked defensively.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Now take your mate and put him in a room before I snap his neck for that incessant screaming. You know that I don't have a problem with ending his life—or yours." The Major threatened his ex-wife with coal black eyes. Alice's eyes widened in fear and she took off running to the servant's wing with her mate in her arms. Victoria, flanked by Peter and Char, followed her.

"We're going to need to call a family meeting." Carlisle said.

"I agree." Eleazar said. "I believe you need to set a few ground rules for Alice. She obviously knows nothing about newborns and the fact that her mate will become one in roughly 72 hours is cause for concern. She also can't be set loose into the world. The girl is too unstable."

"Okay, let's go brainstorm in my office." Carlisle suggested. "Esme, can you hold down the fort for a bit?"

"Of course I can. I'll whip them into shape." I replied jokingly and made a whipping sound.

As soon as they heard that, all the kids started running around the family room trying to straighten it out. Emmett immediately got started on installing a new door while Garrett and Riley plastered some of the smaller holes in the wall.

Edward was inspecting two rather large body-sized dents in the wall. "Mom, do we still have drywall down in the basement?" He asked.

"Yep, I saw some." Emmett yelled from the side. "I saw a window down there too.

Edward ran down to the basement to grab the supplies.

Peter suddenly made an appearance in the living room. "Major, Victoria is asking for you."

"Oh, thanks. I'll be right back." Jasper took off to see Victoria.

"You know she wasn't really asking for him. I just saw the end result if Jasper would have helped Eddie install the drywall. We would have all been staying with the Denalis for a couple of months." Peter whispered. "I told Vicky about it and she's going to stall him while we all work fast to get the drywall up. Oh and if he comes out before we're done, Bella's gonna have to take him upstairs and give him a blow or something."

Always to the point, my Peter is. He is extremely caring though and thank God he had the foresight to come out here and stop Jasper before he pulled another home destruction.

"Okay, no problem." Bella said. "Let's get this drywall up."

The kids all worked together to fix the walls. Riley seamlessly replaced the shattered window with a new one from downstairs.

"Riley, how come you're so good at home repairs?" I asked.

"Oh, I worked construction during the summers while I was attending college." He said.

Well, that'll come in handy. How wonderful! I took a look around and I noticed that my boys and the Denali boys were all very adept at home repairs. Everyone, but Jasper, that is.

"Hey guys! Any work left for me to do?" Jasper asked eagerly. Oh dear! There's still a bit more work to be done on one of the walls.

"Um, Bella wants to talk to you." Edward said, pushing his sister towards her husband. He then whispered in her ear. "Get the fuck upstairs and take one for the family."

"Uh, right! Yes. Yes, I do need to talk to you right now. Upstairs though. This is very important." Bella pulled Jasper upstairs with her.

"Is Belly Mama going to blow Little Major now?" Amanda asked.

Where is she getting this stuff? It has to be Peter and his lack of filter. Although, Edward was getting pretty bad these days too. I wasn't about to discourage him though. The boy was finally acting his age.

"Yes she is." Char said. "Belly Mama is very talented that way. You want to go listen at the door?"

"Charlotte!" I chastised.

"We'll do that one day when the parents are at work." Charlotte said.

I ran my hands through my hair. I loved Charlotte, but the girl was at times untamed and could be exasperating. She and Tanya were both put on disciplinary probation last week for attempting to blackmail their professor with a sex show. Then, to make things worse, we received a letter stating that due to her poor grades, Charlotte was now on academic probation as well. Apparently, the Denalis received a similar letter for Tanya as well.

Edward and Riley both feel that the academics are too difficult for them. Tanya has never once been to school in her entire life. She's a thousand years old and they didn't have schools back then for girls. Of course, Kate and Irina were in the same situation, but they were more diligent.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was changed during her junior year of high school in the 1940's. Education has changed a great deal since then and she simply wasn't academically prepared for college. Carlisle and I made the decision to pull Char out of college and have her begin high school starting with her freshman year in the fall. Edward and Tanya will be attending with her.

"Hey, mom, I think we're done here. As soon as the joint compound dries, we can start painting. Lucky you had all the supplies downstairs." Emmett said.

"Okay, honey, thank you." I gave Emmett a peck on the cheek. I took a look around and everything seemed to be in order.

"Aunt Esme, what are we supposed to do with Alice's baggage outside?" Irina asked. "There are over a hundred bags. I can't believe she made the human unload everything by himself."

"Just leave them dear. She can bring them all in by herself. I don't want any of you offering to help her either." I said.

A few moments later, Carlisle called all of us into the dining room for a family meeting. We all made our way into the room and found seats around the table. Victoria and Char entered the dining room with Alice. They shoved her onto a chair directly across from Carlisle then went to sit by their mates.

"Where are Jasper and Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Belly Mama is blowing Little Major, but Esme told us that Char and I couldn't listen at the door." Amanda reported.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Carlisle said to Amanda. "Will someone go get Belly Mama and Little Major please?"

Just then, a disheveled looking Jasper and Bella, still clad in their Elvis Presley pajamas, wandered into the dining room. Jasper plopped himself onto a chair and pulled Bella onto his lap. I noticed Alice gritting her teeth and glaring angrily at them.

Carlisle cleared his throat and started the meeting. "So, Alice, why don't you start by explaining how you met your mate to us."

"I was shopping at Walmart in Portland, Oregon when I ran into him. I had a vision that I'd meet him there, that's why I was in the store. We dated for about two weeks before I moved in with him. He was running Newton's Olympic Outfitters in Portland. His parents died in a car accident a couple of years back and he now owns the family business. He owns three stores, one in Portland, one in Port Angeles, and one in Olympia."

"Well, Alice, now that he's changing, how do you intend to handle his business? I doubt he's going to want to lose his stores. Did you consider all of this beforehand?" Carlisle asked.

"Actually, yes. We had planned on asking you to change him when we got here. He's left his stores in the hands of a very trusted associate and he'll check in with his employees every few days. Mike is actually an extremely shrewd businessman. This has all been coordinated to the T." Alice said.

"That's nice, Alice, but some warning on our part would have been nice. You were extremely selfish in thinking that I would readily agree to change your mate. You haven't called or kept in touch except for when you asked us to bail you out—we had no idea what was going on in your life. Quite frankly, you both came at a most inopportune time. With Rex, Bella, and Amanda, we already have three newborns in the family and, now, you've so rudely sprung your own newborn on us. I'm not pleased, Alice."

"Well, I don't understand why it's such a big deal? Why the hell did you change Bella anyway? She's not meant to be part of this family anyway. I've seen it." Alice said.

"Lie." Riley stated.

Alice just ignored Riley and continued talking. "Bella, I'd appreciate it if you'd kindly remove yourself from my husband's lap."

"Psycho Bitch, there's no way that Little Major is your husband. He's Belly Mama's husband." Amanda informed Alice.

"Why are you talking all funny. What is your problem, Amanda? Why are you treating your best friend like this?" Alice paused to think, then screeched all of a sudden. "What the hell do you mean that my Jazzy Pooh is Bella Swan's husband?"

Emmett angrily piped in. "First of all, you delusional bitch, let me remind you that you and Jasper got a divorce five years ago. Your idea, remember? Second, Jasper and Bella got hitched in September and they're in happily wedded bliss right now. They fuck like crazy and they love each other even crazier. Third, and this is the most important point, don't ever fucking talk down to Amanda or Bella again or I'll rip your annoying head right off of you. I won't even fuse it back on. I'll throw it on a stake and let you watch as our lives go on without your sorry ass."

"How could you Jasper? How could you marry that whore? How do you think it makes Edward and me feel?" Alice had completely lost it.

"Actually, I'm very happy for them, Alice." Edward said. "I'm a happily married man and I think Jasper is the perfect husband for my sister."

"You too, Edward? You've turned against me too?" Alice then turned to Bella. "You greedy, manipulative, fucking bitch. You've turned my entire family against me. You conniving, little whore!"

Bella smiled at Alice. "I'm so happy you brought up those points. Edward, Jasper, and I have a few questions that we need answered. The first question is, how long have you known that Jasper and I are mates?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"Lie." Riley said.

"Oh, I know it's a lie." Edward stated. "I heard your thoughts at Bella's party after Jasper tried to take a bite out of her."

"What do you mean, Edward? I was devastated. I was about to lose my best friend at the time and my husband—all because he was weak and had no control of his bloodlust."

"Lie." Riley said again.

"Excuse me, who the hell do you think you are accusing me of lying?" Alice asked Riley.

"Oh, pet, I would suggest being honest from here on out. My mate is a walking lie detector. He knows whenever you tell a fib. Let me also remind you that the Major can feel whenever you're being dishonest. He's an empath, remember? You're just spouting out lies, left and right, aren't you?" Vicky had a menacing scowl on her face.

"No, I've been telling the truth all along." Alice said.

"Lie." This time Riley and Jasper said the word simultaneously.

Amanda suddenly started chuckling. "This is so funny. It's like you guys are playing a game. Psycho Bitch says something and you have to guess whether or not she's telling the truth."

"Uh...something like that, little one." Jasper confirmed.

"Why do you keep calling me Psycho Bitch, Amanda?" Alice asked.

"Well, duh, because it's your name." Amanda said with conviction.

"Truth." Riley said. We all started chuckling.

Bella broke the silence. "Now, Psycho Bitch, one more time—how long have you known that Jasper and I are mates?"

Silence. Complete silence from Alice. She clamped her mouth shut and refused to talk.

Jasper's eyes suddenly became coal black as he transformed into the Major. He gently took Bella off of his lap, placed her on the chair, and kissed her atop her head. He stalked over to Alice with a deadly scowl on his face. "Looks like you want to do this the hard way, Alice."

The Major picked up Alice, chair and all, and put her down in the corner of the dining room. He snapped his fingers. Victoria and Peter were at his side in a flash. "Riley, Edward—join us, I could use your skills."

Alice started shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were filled with raw fear as the Major penetrated her with his pitch black eyes. "I believe, Alice, that my wife asked you a simple question. How long have you known that she and I were mates?"

"I...I...I t...t...told you. I...I...don't kn...ow w...w...hat you're t...t...talking a...a...about." She stuttered.

What a fucking idiot! She's lying in front of a walking lie detector, a mind reader, and an empath. Not to mention the fact that Victoria, Peter, and the Major are three of the deadliest vampires in our world.

The Major snapped his fingers and I heard a terror filled scream from Alice as Victoria and Peter each removed a ring finger from her.

The Major then looked to Edward who responded immediately. "In her mind, she's thinking that she doesn't want to tell the truth because she fears for her life. This might also be a good time to tell you that the final thought she had when she smiled at Bella's eighteenth birthday party was that Bella would be dead before you ever found out she was your mate."

"Thank you, Edward. I appreciate your honesty." The Major snapped his fingers again and this time Alice's two middle fingers were removed from her. She howled in pain. Without warning, the chair that Alice was sitting on was removed from under her and she fell to the floor with a resounding thump.

"On your knees, pet." Victoria ordered. Alice instantly got to her knees. Victoria slapped her across the face. "The Major is through with these games and so am I. I want the whole fucking story now! Let me remind you that I haven't started teaching you your lessons yet and that you made a 'vampire's promise' to my sister, Isabella—your mate's savior. Now start talking or you'll be a gift to the Captain to do with as he pleases! I'm sure you're aware that he's an expert in methods of torture."

Before Alice could speak, Jasper called out, "Char, be on standby. One more lie from the Psycho Bitch and you have my permission to snap her mate's neck."

"Noooo! I'll tell you everything! Please! Not Mike—please, he's innocent." Alice begged.

"Speak!" The Major ordered.

"Jasper, you and I both knew from the beginning that we weren't mates. I already told you before that the birthday party was all planned so that you would drain Bella. I also told you that my back-up plan was for Victoria to drain her. What I didn't tell you is that I knew that you and Bella were mates." Alice inhaled a deep breath. "Twenty-three years ago, I saw a baby girl being born at Forks General Hospital. The card taped onto her hospital bassinet read 'Baby Girl Swan.' I thought it was odd that some unknown baby would make an appearance in my visions so I searched through them. I was floored when I saw that the baby girl in my vision was your true mate. I saw that we would be moving to Forks in sixteen years and that Bella would be moving there the year after. I saw that Edward would immediately be captivated by her beauty and his inability to read her mind. The two had a lot in common with a shared love for literature. Edward would mistakingly think that Bella was his mate when in fact, she was his singer."

"I didn't know you sang for Edward Mate, Belly Mama. What kind of songs did you sing to him?" Amanda asked excitedly. It was a serious moment, but we all couldn't help, but giggle at her innocence.

"She sang Elvis songs to me Amanda." Edward chuckled.

Alice continued. "I got another vision that told me that I wouldn't meet my mate, nor Edward his, unless Edward dated Bella. I encouraged the relationship knowing that there was a good chance that he would drain her because she was his singer. Unfortunately, Edward's love for Bella transcended any desire for her blood. He was desperate to keep her human so I used that knowledge to make my plans. You see, even though you weren't my mate, I didn't want anyone else to have you, Jasper. I like to keep what's mine. Would it be okay if I skipped over Bella's birthday party?"

"Yes." The Major said.

"Okay, so we all know what happened at the birthday party. What I didn't tell you is that we would have left Forks in an attempt to keep Bella human anyway. More than anyone, Emmett would have been consumed with guilt from abandoning his little sister. Exactly one year later, Emmett would have gone looking for Bella, found her, and brought her to New Hampshire. Jasper, you would have seen her and immediately recognized her as his mate. I couldn't let that happen. I searched through my visions for a solution. The only way to prevent the events from occurring would be for Bella to spill blood at her birthday party. That one incident should have been the catalyst for her death. You would have drained her if Edward hadn't pushed you from her and Emmett hadn't restrained you. If not, Victoria would have been waiting in the background to drain her. I saw it clearly in a vision. Victoria and an unknown male vampire were huddled over a limp, lifeless Bella in the forest of Forks, hours after Edward abandoned her. After that, whenever Emmett would return to Forks, he would never find Bella. I assumed she was dead. Obviously, I made a mistake. That's it. There's no more to tell."

"Truth." Riley confirmed.

"I see where your visions failed you, pet. Riley and I were huddled over Bella in the forest because we were trying to keep her warm. She had passed out and was numb from the cold, and you're right—she did look lifeless. I picked her up and took her to the abandoned house in Forks. I gave her a warm bath, bundled her up in blankets, and just held her. I'm just thanking whatever God there was out there that your vindictive little ass couldn't see any further than Bella laying lifeless on the forest floor. There's no telling what your manipulative little mind would have done otherwise." Victoria sneered.

Amanda suddenly stood up and walked over to Alice. She slapped her across the face and spat out. "You're meaner than the evil villains in the movies. You're even meaner than Esme. I don't like it when people are mean to Belly Mama!" She, then, turned around and ran into Bella's arms sobbing.

Did she just call me mean? Oh dear. She must still be affected from me trying to force a wedding on Bella which, in turn, caused the only mother she knows to leave. Oh, I'm devastated. My temper got so out of hand that day that I've permanently scarred Amanda. I'll have to discuss with Bella what we could do to fix this situation.

Alice suddenly turned to Amanda. "You should talk, you greedy, little bitch. You only married Edward for his money. You didn't even love him. What? Is everything all cool now that Daddy has his millions from the Cullen coffers?"

The look of devastation on Amanda's face was apparent. She sobbed wildly into Bella's chest. Peter's eyes turned the blackest I've ever seen them. "You know, I don't like to hit women, but since my daughter insists that you're a boobieless boy, I'm gonna make like you're not female." With that, Peter slapped Alice across the face and ripped both of her arms off. He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up so that she was eye level to him. "You ever so much as utter one word to my daughter that's less than kind and I'll make sure that that pansy assed prick you call a mate ceases to exist. You got that?"

"Y...y...yes." Alice shivered.

Peter then dropped her to the floor and went to a bawling Amanda. He and Bella quickly retreated from the dining room to comfort her in private.

The Major's eyes were pitch black. I looked around the room and so were everyone else's.

Carlisle suddenly stood up and turned to me. "Esme, dear, would you please bring Alice's purse to me." I quickly ran to the living room, grabbed Alice's purse and handed it to my husband. He rifled through the purse and found her wallet. He opened up the wallet and removed it's contents—her debit card, store credit cards, and the all important black credit card. She had roughly 146 dollars in cash—he placed that back into her wallet. He removed the checkbook from it though.

Alice was looking up at Carlisle with tears brimming her eyes. Carlisle just took everything and shredded them between his fingers. "Daddy, why? I need those things. How am I to live?"

"Alice, your transgressions against my family are unforgivable. Intentionally keeping a mate from a vampire is punishable by death under Volturi law. You're lucky that I'm not going to report you. The intentional pain that you've caused Bella, Jasper, and Edward is downright appalling. You made a 'vampire's promise' to both Bella and Rose that you'd be forever in their debt and I'm going to make sure you hold true to that promise. Your mistress, Victoria, will be teaching you some lessons in morals and values. You will work hard at learning your lessons until you are truly remorseful for your actions. At that point, you will apologize to all those who deserve an apology. I'm warning you that your apology should only come when you have truly learned your lesson, not one second before. You are fully aware by now that we can tell when you're being dishonest. Meanwhile, I will no longer be supporting you. You have 146 dollars to your name at this point. I suggest you use it wisely. In order to remain in this family, you will have to go out and find work. You no longer have the option of attending school. I will not be purchasing a single item for you, that includes, clothing, gasoline, and car insurance. You will also pay taxes like every American citizen. The one thing that I will do for you is obtain a new driver's license for you and clear your arrest record. I've also taken care of any outstanding debts that you have."

"Father, that's ridiculous! How can you ask me to work? Why are you being so cruel to me? How come Bella doesn't have to work?"

"Isabella is no longer under my jurisdiction. While she remains my daughter, Jasper has taken on the responsibility of supporting her. What they choose to do is none of my business." Carlisle answered.

"Yeah, well, Jasper gets his money from you which in turn makes Bella your business too." Alice responded snidely.

Jasper spoke up. "Alice, I have money. I've always had money. I just chose never to share it with you. You were never my mate, after all."

Alice let out a shrill, ear piercing scream. "You lied to me! You lied! You never said that you had any money. How dare you! I gave you over sixty years of my life! You owe me!"

"I don't owe you jack shit, bitch! Maybe if you were kinder and less manipulative in those sixty years I would have chosen to share the wealth. You, yourself, dictated how we should spend Carlisle's money. Besides, throughout the years, I've reimbursed Carlisle countless times for your uncontrolled spending out of my own coffers."

"He's right Alice. Jasper has more than paid his fare share for your outrageous spending habits. He did it out of a sense of responsibility because you were his wife—even if he didn't need to." Carlisle paused before he spoke again. "Now, you have a choice to make. You can either choose to stay with our family and live under the new rules I've enacted for you or I can turn you over to the Volturi for your crime of keeping Jasper from his mate. Make a decision Alice!"

Oh God! I love it when my husband is commanding. I think I'll let him dominate me in the bedroom later. I need to be punished anyway. Oh! My panties are getting wet just thinking about him. Carlisle turned his head towards me, smirked, then winked. Oh swoon! That man certainly knows how to turn me on.

"You've left me between a rock and a hard place. I will choose to stay with my family and live under your rules. I don't want to be put to death by the Volturi."

"Your choice is made." Carlisle stated. "Vicky, kitten, she's all yours."

"Major would you be so kind as to assist me in reattaching her limbs? I fear I don't have enough venom to go around and the Captain is currently indisposed." Victoria requested.

"Of course." The Major said maliciously.

We all rushed out of the dining room before Alice's screams started.

Carlisle swooped me into his arms and ran me upstairs to our bedroom. "Has my Esme been a bad girl?" He said.

"Oh, yes, a very bad girl." I replied. This is going to be a gloriously, long night. I could tell.

**Peter's POV**

I'm pissed off! So, fucking pissed off! That little vindictive bitch had no right to hurt Amanda the way she did. Sure, Bella and I both knew that Amanda would find out the truth about her human self eventually, but not now—not this way. Amanda was sobbing in Bella's arms. We were in her room trying our best to comfort her.

I heard the other's quickly retreat to different rooms as soon as Carlisle was done laying down the law to Alice. The bitch started screaming almost immediately. I had almost no doubt in my mind that the Major and Vicky were making the reattachment of the limbs I removed, extremely slow and painful. They were going to reattach her arms only to remove them, so Alice would have to go through the process of reattachment over and over again. It was a form of torture that the Major used countless times while in Maria's army. I didn't have an ounce of sympathy for her, though, after hearing the true story.

Alice knew that Bella was Jasper's mate from the moment she was born. She should have told Jasper about Bella as soon as she had that first vision twenty-three years ago. I have no doubt that he would have gone to Bella immediately and kept an eye on her from afar. Jasper told Carlisle, Emmett, and me about how Bella had to work to keep things afloat from the time she was eleven because her mother was so irresponsible. We were so outraged after hearing that, that the four of us had to run all the way to Canada to cull some trees. If Jasper had been keeping an eye on her, he would have made sure that Bella had a safe, happy, and secure childhood. Alice keeping the information about Jasper's mate to herself had hurt Bella in more ways than one—she had, in essence, destroyed Bella's childhood. I guarantee that the Major was currently reminding Alice of that fact right now.

I was roused out of my thoughts when Amanda spoke. "Would you tell me what I was like as a human? Was I really a greedy bitch? Did I really only marry Edward Mate for money? Please tell me. I need to know."

I didn't want to do this. She wasn't ready to hear the truth. She had a rough night after almost making chow out of Alice's mate and I didn't want her to have to go through the pain that the truth would inevitably cause. I spoke, trying to make it as simple as possible for her to understand. "Amanda, human you and vampire you are two completely different people. I have to admit that I didn't like human you very much." I inhaled a deep breath. "Human Amanda was very greedy and had a very closed mind. I can't say if you married Edward for money though. That's something that only Human Amanda can answer."

"Amanda, you have to understand that from the time you were a little girl..." Bella stopped to think before she spoke again. "Oh fuck it! Amanda, I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. I'd be doing you a disservice if I did. I want you to listen to what I have to say and then you can ask me or Peter any questions you may have. Amanda, you were brainwashed by your human father from the time you were born. Your father is a pastor at a church in Dartmouth. He kept you sheltered and away from society by homeschooling you until you were ready for college. By the time you went to Dartmouth College, you knew nothing about the world at large. You only knew whatever your father taught you and you were unable to think for yourself, let alone function without his input. He encouraged you to date and marry Edward because he knew that the Cullens were wealthy. Your father wanted you to convince Edward to finance a new ministry for him. Edward refused, of course. I met you after you and Edward were married. The first time was at your wedding reception. We didn't get along at all. It wasn't until you woke as a vampire that I started to care for you."

"Why did you suddenly start to care about me?" Amanda asked.

"Well, let's just say you kind of attached yourself to me. I don't know why, but for some reason, you gravitated towards me and Peter. For a while there, you'd only listen to the two of us."

"So, are you saying that you only like me because you have to?"

"No, not at all. Peter and I love you. Believe me when I say this, neither Peter nor I would ever do anything we don't want to do. We took care of you because we wanted to. We wanted to make sure that this time around you developed a healthy mind and a more open outlook on life. That way, when you get over your bloodlust and are finally able to attend school, you'll get more out of it."

"Amanda, Bella and I love you—that's unconditional and eternal. We promise that we'll always be there for you and we won't ever let anyone hurt you. If someone ever says or does something to hurt you, I want you to tell me or Bella immediately. In fact, you can go to anyone in this family except for Psycho Bitch."

"Why did Edward Mate marry me if I was such a bad human?" Amanda asked.

"You know what, little one, that's a question that you have to ask Edward yourself. I can tell you that he loved you then and he loves you even more now. Part of it probably has to do with the fact that you're mates, but you should never doubt the fact that he loves you because he truly does." I reassured her. "Now, I don't want you to worry your pretty little head off anymore. I want you to stop thinking about human Amanda because that's not who you are anymore. You're Vampire Amanda and you can think for yourself and as soon as you're over your bloodlust, you'll be ready to face the world."

"I love you, Petey Papa, Belly Mama." Well, now, that shit just makes me melt. I know I have venom tears in my eyes because, damn it, I just eat up sentimental shit like that.

"I love you too, little one." I replied.

"Ditto, Amanda." Bella simply said. "Now, what do you say we go watch a movie in the family room? Your choice."

"Okay, I'll meet you there. I have to do something first." Amanda said excitedly.

As we walked out of Amanda's room and shut the door behind us, I had a sudden urge to hug Bella—so I did. We stood there hugging for the longest time until Bella pulled away and said, "She'll be okay, Pete."

"Thanks, Bella." I sighed. "I can't believe we have a kid together."

"I know and she's older than me." She chuckled.

"Yeah, well you're wise beyond your years." I said. "I still can't believe you're a newborn. I've never met a newborn with enough control to change someone. You're something else, you know that?"

Bella shrugged. "You know that I only changed the dumb shit because I didn't want Amanda thinking she was a murderer, right?"

"Yeah, I know that. That's what makes you so beautiful." I, then, had a thought cross my mind. "Bella, do you understand what a 'vampire's promise' is?"

"Not at all. Care to explain."

"Sure thing. A 'vampire's promise' is basically a lifelong debt. The vampire who made that promise, usually in a time of distress, is basically promising to always look out for your best interests. Alice won't be able to cross you or Rose—even if she tried. If your lives are ever threatened, Alice has to do all that she can to protect you—even if she dies in the process. If she does try to do wrong by you or Rose, it's an offense punishable by death under Volturi law. Alice knows this and you can remind her of the fact too. I have no doubt that she'll still be a bitch to the two of you, but Alice can no longer pull massive, manipulative shit like she did in the past." I explained. "Speaking of which, her shrieking has stopped. I wonder if Vicky and the Major are done reattaching her limbs."

We walked hand in hand into the family room to see Vicky ordering Alice to bring all her shit into the house. "Please, could you just reattach my fingers? There are over a hundred bags out there." Alice begged.

"Pet, you have your thumb and index finger on both hands. The Major and I were very generous when we left those attached. Now get to work and stop your moaning!"

Christ my sister was scary. She even gives me the heebie-jeebies when she's in her lethal mode.

"Hey guys, how's Amanda doing?" Jasper asked, unclasping Bella's hand from mine and taking it in his own. Jealous fucker.

"She's fine. We explained some things to her. We had to tell her the truth about her human self, though." I said. "I think Bella's way worked the best, she just told her straight without sugar coating it for her."

"You know, bro, you're a big softie." Jasper chuckled. "What are we doing now?"

Just then, Amanda came bounding out into the living room. She was wearing a t-shirt with a print of a steaming apple pie and a message that read 'I Feel Like Warm Apple Pie.'

"Amanda, where did you get that shirt?" I asked.

"Oh, Edward Mate gave it to me the other day. He found it at the same place as his 'Suck Me Beautiful' t-shirt."

Bella and Jasper looked at me. I even had Victoria's complete attention now. "It wasn't me. I swear! Don't you think I would have bought out the store if I found a t-shirt shop like that?"

"Good point." Bella said. "So, what movie are we watching?"

"American Pie. You said I could pick. I brought Edward's copy out because it's on Blu-Ray instead of DVD."

"Okay, American Pie it is." I said. We all settled on the sofa to watch. Riley soon joined Vicky and Char came bouncing onto my lap. Edward zipped in to join Amanda and before we knew it, everyone, including the Denalis were all crowded around the big screen watching the movie. Carlisle and Esme were the last to join us.

"Oh, how nice, a family movie night!" Esme exclaimed. "Are we watching a Christmas movie?"

Well shit, this is pretty uncomfortable. I never expected to watch American Pie with my mama.

"Um, kind of." I said as I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa.

"Hey, how come we can barely hear Mike screaming now?" Emmett asked.

Good point. He was screeching to high heaven a few minutes ago and now we could barely hear him. He sounded muffled.

"Oh, I put a ball gag on him." Tanya informed us. "The guy screams like a girl."

A ball gag? I never considered using one of those. Pretty creative if you ask me.

We were watching the infamous pie scene when Alice, who had been hobbling around carrying luggage into the house with her two fingers suddenly said, "I can't believe you're watching such a vulgar movie! Amanda, this isn't like you at all. Aren't you worried about what your father would say?"

"Oh, Petey Papa was the one who first showed me the movie. I'm not worried at all." Amanda answered confidently.

I pulled Amanda in for a hug and whispered, "That's my girl."

Alice shook her head in disgust and went back to work. She was having a lot of trouble picking up the bags with only two fingers on each hand, but no one bothered to help.

As the movie came to an end, Esme said, "Well, that was certainly educational. Is that what high school is really like these days?"

"I agree about it being educational, mother." Edward added. "I sure learned a lot from the movie. I can't wait to start high school again."

"Me too!" Tanya gushed. "Amanda, on my honor, we'll get that bloodlust under control so you can start school with us."

"I'll work hard, Tanya. I promise." Amanda vowed.

"We're gonna have so much fun!" Char piped in.

Christ Almighty! The four of them in high school together. That should be a clusterfuck and a half. I'm gonna have to start scenting my wife like Jasper and Emmett do with their mates. I don't know how I'm gonna handle hundreds of horny, hormonal, pimple faced high school boys surrounding my mate.

We all settled into a discussion of how high school has evolved throughout the years. I couldn't help, but look around the living room and smile. My family was big, loud, raucous, and cooky—but they all had huge hearts. I belonged with them and it felt great! I was finally a part of something crazy, wonderful, and beautiful.

**Alice certainly knew a lot more than she had previously admitted to? I hope she's not hiding anything else. Do you think she got what she deserved or do you think that Carlisle, Vicky, and the Major were too lenient with her? I'd love to hear what you thought about Alice and the other events in this chapter. I promise to write back. XOXO**


	28. Chapter 28

**Thank you, Gracias, Merci, Danke, Shukran, Mahalo, and Arigato for all your wonderful reviews, faves, and alerts. I truly appreciate all of you. Emmett and Bella will build a giant snowman in your front yard for you.**

**This chapter contains swearing, excessive mention of titties, and barbeque.**

**I do not and never will claim to be a mental health specialist.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Mike's POV**

Ouch! Ow! Holy fuck! It's hot! I think I'm in hell. Yeah, that's where I am, I've been sent to hell. At least the very last memory I have are of Bella Swan and Rosalie Hale's titties. God damn—they were both magnificent. I didn't do either of them justice when I was jerking off to the thought of them for all those years. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when their tits were finally thrust into my face live. Turns out God had other plans for me, obviously with this burning heat I'm being sent straight to hell. Had I known this in advance, I would have at least nuzzled my face in both of their tits. At least that would have made hell worth it.

I hear voices around me. "Be on the ready kids. His heart is quickening." I think it was Doc Cullen. What the hell does he mean by my heart is quickening? Why is he in hell in the first place?

"Um, shouldn't we remove the gag?" I heard a female voice ask. "He's gonna chew right through it."

"Good idea." I heard Doc Cullen say. I felt a soft hand lift my head up slightly and unlatch something. Weird. Whoever it was smells heavenly.

Hmm...what's that drumming sound? It's coming from my chest—what the fuck? Holy shit! If I thought the burning embers of hell were hot, this shit's even worse. I think I'm having a heart attack. Oh wait, if I'm in hell, I'm dead already. Maybe this is some kind of fucked up initiation process to get into hell—kind of like joining a frat. I wonder if there's a pledging period. I hope not, I didn't enjoy being hazed at all. At least I know there are women in hell. Shit! What's with all this pain! I hope it's not permanent. Holy hell! My heart sounds like microwave popcorn on steroids.

Phew! It's slowing down now. The pain's going away too. The pops are getting further and further apart—I must be fully cooked now. The popping just stopped. I hope they have microwave popcorn in hell, it goes well with beer. I could really use a beer right now. They better have a keg—it would be hell if they didn't have one. I mean, alcohol is a vice, right? It would only make sense for there to be a keg tapped 24/7 in hell.

Well, I might as well open my eyes to find out. Whoa! Everything is clear as day here. My vision must now be beyond 20/20. What's Jasper Hale doing in hell? Is that Bella's sister-in-law? Holy fuck it is—it's the one with the hot ass that used to threaten me in Forks every time I asked Bella out. There's Doc Cullen, but I knew he was here. Why? I have no idea. He seemed like an upstanding citizen when we were in Forks. Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph those have got to be the hugest pair of tits I've ever seen. Hot damn! They're attached to the second cutest blonde chick I've ever seen. If this is hell, then I'm in heaven. I may as well introduce myself.

No sooner than that thought crossed my mind, I found myself standing toe to toe with cutie. "Hi, baby, my name is Mike. I just got here. I need someone to show me around, maybe give me a blow or two. Don't worry, I like to reciprocate." Cutie giggled.

Ow! Who the fuck is this dude and why the hell does he have me shoved up against a wall? "Stay the hell away from my mate fucker!"

I raised my hands in surrender. I'm a non-violent guy and I didn't want to cause trouble on my first day in hell. "Dude, I had no idea she was with you. I mean no harm. You should be proud. She's really cute. In fact, she's the second cutest blonde chick I've ever seen. Rosalie Hale is the cutest. No, you know what? Your mate is the cutest blonde chick ever. Rosalie Hale is the hottest. Now, the hottest brunette is Bella Swan, but I digress, you wouldn't know Rosalie Hale or Bella Swan and I doubt they'd be going to hell. They send angels like them straight to heaven. My name's Mike by the way, what's yours?" I stuck my hand out to shake my bully's hand.

"Is this guy for real?" My bully asked, then released his hold on me.

Jasper Hale who was laughing uncontrollably, then spoke. "Mike, do you remember me?"

"Uh, yeah. How are you Jasper? How did you get to hell?"

"You're not in hell, Mike. You're in New Hampshire. Don't you remember coming here with Alice?"

"Alice? Alice? Hmm...oh yeah, short, skinny-chick, no tits, squeaky, annoying fucking voice, fucks like a dead board?"

"That's her." Jasper chuckled. "What do you remember about her?"

"Uh, I met her in Walmart in Oregon. She has some kind of weird men's underwear fetish. She's a vampire and, holy fuck, so are you and the doc. We were dating because she's my mate. I was supposed to be changed into a vampire, that's why I'm in New Hampshire. Wait a minute! Am I a vampire?"

"Yes, you are."

"Huh. How did that happen? I thought it was supposed to be all planned and shit. Hey, is Bella Swan still single? I'd really like a chance to date her. She's really hot and her voice isn't as annoying as Alice's."

"Mike, this is very important. Bella is off limits to you. She's my wife."

"Really? Dude, congratulations! You scored the hottest babe in the world. You fucking lucky piece of shit. I don't blame you for marrying her, man. I would have tied the knot with her as soon as I could too. I wouldn't want anyone else snagging her."

"Uh, thanks." Jasper said with a surprised look on his face.

"Hey, can I get a beer or something? I'm kind of parched."

"We need to take him for a hunt." My bully said. "Should we bring Psycho Bitch with us?"

"Who's Psycho Bitch?" I asked. I wasn't sure I wanted to meet anyone named Psycho Bitch.

"Your mate." Everyone said all at once. Great, my mate is known as Psycho Bitch to her family.

"Haha! That's a good one for her! The ol' ball and chain is a pain in the ass. If it weren't for that incessant pain in the chest when I'm away from her, I wouldn't be with her at all. She's not really my type. I like more adventurous girls in bed. That Lauren Mallory was really good in bed. I fucked her a few times in college, but who didn't. I bet you dove into that pussy a few times while you were in Forks, Jasper. You know, I think almost every guy in my graduating class at Forks High lost their virginity to her."

"Hehehehe! Hey, I like this guy! He's a riot!" My bully said. "Mike, I'm Peter. Cutie is my wife Charlotte and the gorgeous red head with the hot ass is Vicky. She's Bella's sister in law, you may have met her while she was in Forks. We're gonna get you fed now. We'll leave the ol' ball and chain here for a while. She's busy trying to renovate your wing of the house anyway. Kind of hard with only a finger and a thumb on each hand. Well, come on." Only a finger and a thumb? That's odd. I could swear she had a full set of digits on each hand when we were in Oregon.

I followed Peter and Jasper out of the house. We were flying through the woods! Shit! "Dudes! If I had this speed while I was playing football in high school, I could have been like Riley Biers—two time All American quarterback of the Washington Huskies. The guy was so fast, he once outstripped the running back on his team. He could have gone pro—he was so good, but he went for his Master's Degree instead. Fucking idiot!"

For some reason, Jasper and Peter both started laughing when I said that. I was about to ask them what was so funny when I smelled something so delicious, I started drooling—literally. I stopped to inhale the delicious scent. "Uh, hey guys. It smells like someone's having a barbeque in the woods. Maybe we can go crash it—see if they'll share some ribs with us." I suggested.

"Okay, Mike, you're obviously smelling something pretty wonderful." Peter chuckled. "I want you to close your eyes and tell me where you think that mouthwatering smell is coming from."

"Um, that way" I pointed beyond the trees. "It's pretty easy. I've always had a built in GPS of sorts for good barbeque. I hope they have beer there too."

Jasper and Peter both got perplexed expressions on their faces. "Why don't you follow your barbeque GPS and go in the direction it's telling you to." Peter said.

I found myself running through the woods as I followed the scent. I inhaled a deep breath as I approached it. That's funny. I know I have the right spot, but all I see is a moose. "Guys, we must have just missed them, all I see is this moose." Holy fuck! I'm super thirsty and my throat really hurts. "Guys! I need to see the doc when I get back. I think I might be coming down with strep throat. I have a scorching pain in my throat. My tonsils feel like they're on fire. Hey, I wonder if Lauren Mallory had the clap or something. I went down on her right before coming here. Maybe that's what's causing the burning pain in my throat."

"Mike, you need to go after that moose. You're thirsty." Jasper encouraged.

"Dude! Seriously? I don't do raw meat, man! That shit needs to be well done." I objected. "Besides, I've never even had moose. I had venison once, but only because my dad made me eat it."

Jasper and Peter both had seriously confused looks. "Uh, Mike. Just close your eyes and keep them shut. Don't open them until I say you can." Jasper said to me. I felt a rush of wind swoop by me and then a loud snap as someone approached me. "Keep your eyes closed, Mike. What do you smell?"

I inhaled a deep breath and said, "Barbequed ribs." I, then, leaned down and bit straight into it. I tried to chew it, but I couldn't.

"Mike, suck on it like you're sucking on a girl's titties." Peter instructed.

Well, fuck, now that I can do. I was a titty man. I imagined I was taking turns sucking on Bella Swan, Rosalie Hale, and Charlotte's titties. What Jasper and Peter didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Hey, my strep throat is going away. Cool!

"Okay, you can open your eyes now, Mike." Jasper said.

I looked down and was horrified by what I saw. I was covered in blood and the moose was dead. "Did I do that?" I asked.

"Some of it, yes, but Peter actually snapped the moose's neck for you to make it easier." Jasper took a deep breath. "Mike, what did Alice tell you about the feeding habits of vampires?"

"Nothing. I assumed you guys ate like we do. I only had dinner with Alice a few times so I wouldn't really know. You see, I have three stores—two in Washington and one in Oregon so I'm always on the road driving between them. Speaking of which, you guys have internet connection, right? I really have to check-in with my stores."

**Jasper's POV**

Bitch! The little fucking idiot! God damn it! It appears my twit of an ex-wife didn't bother telling her mate a thing about being a vampire. For God's sake, he didn't even know that we hunted animals or consumed blood even.

I have to admit that he wasn't as bad as I remembered him to be. After being threatened for coming on to Char, he complemented Peter on how cute she was and diffused the situation. Later, when he asked whether Bella was available or not and I told him that she and I were married, he actually congratulated me. He even said that he would have married her as soon as possible to get her off the market too. Of all the people in the world, I never imagined Mike Newton would be the first one to congratulate me on my nuptials.

His control for a newborn was pretty surprising. He had bloodlust, but he was able to somehow tamper down on it. He didn't attack the moose right away. Peter had to actually present it to him then he tried to masticate it instead of draining it. It wasn't until Pete told him to make like it was a girl's titties that he started actually sucking down the blood. He follows directions well, so he'll be fairly easy to train.

I decided we needed to sit down and have a chat with Mike away from Psycho Bitch so I hunkered down into the snow. Pete and Mike followed my lead. "So, Mike, how did you discover that you and Alice were mates?"

"Well, I was shopping at Walmart one day for new underwear when I ran into Alice. I recognized her and said hello to her. She grabs my hand and tells me that she'd been hanging out in the men's underwear section waiting for me all day. The weird thing was, as soon as she touched my hand I felt a jolt of electricity and tingles. Anyway, I asked her out to dinner and she accepted so that's what we did."

Mike continued with his story. "After that, we started dating. She was living at a Motel 6 at the time so I'd always pick her up there. I already told you that I own three stores so I'm on the road a lot—anyway, whenever I was away from her, I felt this horrific pain in my chest. It was almost like I was being buried under cement or something. I went to the emergency room a couple of times for that and the doctors all said that I was having panic attacks. I went to break up with Alice because I figured, if she's making me have panic attacks, she must not be good for me. That's when she explained about how you guys were all vampires and how she and I were mates."

"After you found out we were vampires and that you guys were mated, what else did she explain to you?" I asked.

"Let's see, she said vampires live forever and she explained that the pain in the chest, the pull, and the electricity were all part of mating. She said that we'd have to be together forever. I figured that if I have to be with her forever, I'd take her out on a test run. I, then, cursed whoever it was that decided that she was my mate because, fuck, she just lays on her back with her knees bent and expects to be serviced. Hey, didn't you date her or something at one point?" He asked me.

"Jasper was married to her for over sixty years. Biggest fuck-up of his life." Peter answered.

"If you were married to her for so long, couldn't you teach her a thing or two about sex? I mean, it's like a fucking sack of potatoes, no potatoes have curves at least. It's like fucking a corpse. Damn it! I'm not into necrophilia. She doesn't even do oral. Hey, do they have vampire hookers?"

Peter and I started hooting and hollering. "Truth is, Mike," I said, "I rarely fucked her. I had 'friends' that I visited. No expectations. No strings attached. I think you call them fuckbuddies nowadays."

"Yeah, I had a couple of those myself. Lauren Mallory was a great fuckbuddy. I think I'll have to keep her number on file cause I don't know if I can go through an eternity fucking a board."

"Well, Mike, you might want to hold off on calling Lauren until you get over your bloodlust and learn some control. You're doing pretty good though." I added.

"Okay, what's bloodlust?" Mike asked.

Peter took over. Mike, bloodlust is what you felt when you smelled the barbeque and started craving beer. The barbeque was actually the moose blood that you smelled and the craving for beer was your bloodlust. The pain in your throat that you thought was strep throat was actually your body telling you that you need blood now. Didn't you watch vampire movies and stuff when you were a kid?"

"Yeah, but I figured it wasn't real because Alice ate with me the few times that I did see her. I let her move into my apartment after a couple of weeks since she said we have to be together forever. It did make my chest feel better. Like I said, I was never there anyway. All I know is this, thank God I got that last fuck in with Lauren Mallory the day before we left. My dick's gonna miss her."

Peter and I started laughing. I really felt bad for Mike. I wouldn't wish anyone an eternity with Alice on anyone—even on Satan. I'll have to introduce him to some of the 'friends' I used to visit.

"How did you make the decision to become a vampire?" I asked.

"Oh, Alice said that I had to become one—that it was in the stars or some bullshit like that. I figured it couldn't hurt so I went with it. She said that the doc would change me, but I don't think that happened. All I remember is a blonde girl in High School Musical pajamas pants lunging for me. Now I have a question, why were the last things I saw, before I became a vampire, Rose and Bella's titties?"

"Mike, that's because Rose and Bella were the ones who changed you. They were leaning over you to bite you." Peter explained while laughing.

"Shit, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was a glorious way to go, let me tell ya. Jasper, you sure are a lucky dude—your woman has the most perfect breasts I've ever seen." Mike sighed. "I don't even think Jessica Stanley's tits can hold a candle to Bella's."

"Yeah, I know she does—not too big, not too small, just right." I sighed thinking about my mate's tits.

"Now, how about we take you back to meet the family?" I stood up and started heading home. I missed Bella, she was out with Emmett picking up a snow blower, more shovels, and ice melt for Esme. I also told her to pick up a couple of snow shovels for our house. We had a massive blizzard that lasted for two days after Christmas and had piles and piles of snow to clean up. Usually, Esme hired someone to come and plow the driveway, but with so many newborns around the house, we couldn't take the risk.

The three of us walked into the house where half the family was gathered around the TV. Laurent, Riley, and Rose were on their way home from work and it looked like Emmett and Bella were still out getting supplies.

"Oh, Mike, you're an absolute mess. Go take a shower, dear. Peter, honey, will you go start the shower for him. I'm sure he doesn't have control of his strength yet." Esme said. "Jasper, have you heard form Emmett and Bella at all? They left hours ago. They should have been back by now."

I felt a dull pain in my chest, but nothing so powerful indicating my mate was in distress. "They're probably just stuck in traffic or something." I assured my mother.

Peter went to turn the shower on for Mike. "Just let me know when you're ready for me to shut it off. I'll be right outside." I heard him say.

"Dude, I can shower by myself. I..." Mike's voice trailed off and I heard the sound of clothes ripping. "Hey, what the hell? I just shredded my clothes!"

"You're a newborn vampire, Mike." I heard Peter say. "You don't have control of your motor skills yet. You'll need to learn how to control things at human strength and speed over the next year. We've all been there, well almost all of us. Bella and Rye are freaks of nature, but we'll talk about them later."

"Uh, maybe you can just wait out here for me. I think I'm going to need help." Mike sounded resigned.

Just then, Riley, Rose, and Laurent walked into the house. The three of them often commute together because they work in the same city anyway.

"I just heard Pete call me and Bells freaks of nature. What a welcome home." Riley chuckled as he gave Vicky a kiss on the lips.

"Hey, where's Em?" Rose asked.

"He and Bella are out running an errand for me. I sent them out hours ago." Esme said.

Rose put her hand on her chest. "They're fine. The pull isn't bad at all." She confirmed my earlier observation. All of a sudden, her cell vibrated and she picked it up. "Hi Em. Where are you guys? Mom's getting worried."

"We're in a bit of a jam, we need someone to come and get us at the Home Depot in Merrimack. There's a problem with Bella's truck." We heard Emmett say.

"How could there be a problem? That's a brand new truck." Rosalie asked exactly what I was thinking.

"You ready for this one?" Emmett paused. "Someone actually swapped out all the wheels and tires with their bald ones. I think one's even flat."

Fuck me. What kind of assholes do that kind of thing?

"What? Are you fucking with me?" Rose seethed. "Call Triple A and have them tow the truck to my shop in Boston. I'll take a look at it in the morning. There's no telling what else these fuckers did. Meanwhile, Jasper and I will come down and get you guys. Do you have a lot of stuff?"

"Yeah, we do. We have about twenty shovels, a snow blower, and ten bags of ice melt. You're gonna have to come in Riley's Suburban or Char's truck." Em said.

"Come on, let's go." Riley said to us.

With the roads being so icy, the normally half hour ride took us over an hour. The three of us were still trying to figure out what kind of peons would actually steal tires from a truck. Riley told us to look at it as if it were charity. Maybe the people who stole the wheels and tires couldn't afford new ones—they did go to the trouble of actually swapping them out, after all. It still didn't make what they did right, but thinking about it that way made us feel better.

By the time, we got to Home Depot, Emmett and Bella had built three snowmen in the parking lot using the new shovels. They were currently building a fort and as soon as we got out of the truck, I was impaled by a giant snowball. "Really mature guys!" I said, irritated.

"Sorry, Jasper we were aiming for Riley, but he dodged it." Bella said. "Do you think we'll ever be able to get him, Em?"

"It'll be our mission, sissy." Just as the words tumbled out of his mouth, he and Bella were both hit by snowballs.

Riley stood wagging his eyebrows with a smirk on his face. "Never underestimate me. I have perfect aim—I played college ball, remember?"

The tow truck still hadn't gotten there so we took a look at the truck. Sure enough, the tires were bald and the wheels were rusted out. Rose went on a tirade until the Triple A guy showed up. He just shrugged his shoulders and said that it happens more often than not. Afterwards, he tried to ask Rose out on a date, but soon rescinded the offer after receiving one of her deadly glares and a growl from all the men. Emmett then tried stripping and scenting her in the middle of the parking lot. Geez and Bella says I'm bad.

We finally made it back to Amherst and unloaded Esme's stuff. As soon as Riley walked in, Mike did a double take. "I've seen you before in Forks, you're Bella's brother." He said. "You used to drop her off and pick her up from work.

"That's right, I guess we were never properly introduced. I'm Riley Swan-Biers." He extended his hand out to Mike who promptly started hyperventilating.

"Holy fuck! Holy shit! You're Riley Biers—two time All American quarterback for the U of Washington Huskies! You're like my all time favorite hero! You're a vampire! You weren't a vampire then were you? No wonder Pete and Jasper were laughing when I made that comment about you! Can you show me some moves, man? I played football in high school—I was a wide receiver."

"Michael, watch your language, dear." Esme seemed to have taken a shine to Mike.

Uh, hero worship much? Damn and I thought Emmett worshiped the ground Riley walked on.

"The guys and I throw the football around a lot here, Mike. You can join us next time."

"Really? You'd play ball with me?" Mike was completely awestruck. "You know, I was a Phi Gamma Delta too."

"No shit! You were a Fiji? Brother!" Riley exclaimed, then strode over to Mike and they did some kind of secret handshake. He seemed lost reminiscing about his fraternity days. "Those were good times, weren't they?"

"Dude! You were a fucking legend. You once went on a 48 hour drinking spree. How the hell did you manage to do that and pass all your finals? Your toga parties were epic. I can't believe that you rented a horse and galloped through campus wearing a toga to announce that a toga party was happening at Fiji House. Hey, did you really sneak into the Chi Omega sorority house and steal all of their underwear?"

Mike had everyone's undivided attention. It seemed as though Carlisle's new golden boy, Riley, was once a bonafide, prank pulling, beer swilling frat rat.

"Yeah, I did. After I snuck into their house, I brought back the girls' bras and panties back to Fiji House. My frat brothers and I strung every piece together in one long line then we hung them all up like party streamers in the student center."

"Dude, I bow down to you. I'm not worthy."

"Well, Mike, occasionally we get into some hijinx in this house too. Maybe you and I can buddy up sometime."

"Awesome! This is gonna be better than titty fucking fucking Jessica Stanley!"

"Language, Michael!"

"Sorry!"

"You titty fucked Jessica Stanley?" Emmett asked. Rose and Bella both gave him an exasperated glare. "What? I always thought she had a pretty decent rack for a human."

"I thought so, too." Edward agreed. "She was pert."

"I've gotta meet this girl. Where do I find her?" Pete chimed in.

"She's from Forks, but she lives in Seattle now. You want her number?" Mike asked.

"Not today, Mike, but thanks."

"Yeah, better not. Charlotte's titties look way more fuckable than Jessica's. She's cuter too. With Jessica, there's always the possibility of losing wood because of her incessant chatter. At least she's adventurous though. She likes being on top. That's a glorious view in itself. I wish Alice had tits."

"Oh my God, Mike, that is like way too much info. Seriously, I don't need to hear about Jessica Stanley's favorite sexual positions or her breasts." Bella said.

"Shut up, Bella. Who else have you fucked from Forks High? You better dish now, Mike." Rosalie demanded.

Mike then went on to tell us all about his sex life. Apparently, he dated Jessica for a couple of years during college, but kept Lauren Mallory on the side. Jessica broke up with him after she found out about his extracurricular activities. "She kept trying to make me into someone I wasn't anyway and I couldn't put up with that." Mike stated. "Speaking of control freaks, where's Alice anyway?"

Alice soon came sauntering out into the living room completely livid. "I'm here and I can't believe you're discussing your sex life with the family. That is so inappropriate!"

"Why don't you dig the fucking stick out of your ass, Alice? We're just talking here." Mike didn't take any shit from the Psycho Bitch.

"Aaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh!" Alice shrieked.

"What the hell is your problem? I told you before that I don't like it when chicks try to dictate what I say or do. I've been there and done that with Jessica and I refuse to do it again. This is who I am, Alice. Take it or leave it." Mike just handed Alice her ass.

"Why meeeeee?" Alice screamed in frustration and trotted off to her room.

We all stared at Mike completely stunned. "You've sure changed a lot." Bella commented. "You're not as annoying as you were in high school."

"No, I guess I'm not. I did a lot of growing up, losing your parents will do that to you. You know what that's like, don't you Bella?" My wife nodded in affirmation. "I was in the middle of my junior year at the University of Washington, in a fraternity, and having the time of life when I got the call that my parents were killed in a car accident in Port Angeles. Naturally, I freaked out and drove straight home. When I met with the lawyer after the funeral I found that my parents had everything set up for me. Newton's Olympic Outfitters was now mine, of course. College tuition was paid for and there was even a small inheritance for me. I had promised my parents that I would earn my degree so quitting college wasn't an option, but somehow I had to run two stores—the one in Port Angeles and the new one in Olympia. I knew that my dad trusted Frank, you remember him, don't you Bella?"

"Yeah, he was really sweet. He was always trying to save me from you."

"Yeah, that's him." Mike chuckled. "Anyway, I made Frank my second in command and had him run the two stores for me while I finished up college. I even gave him a 20% share in the company. I would help whenever I could—on the weekends, during breaks, even after classes sometimes. By the time I graduated, we were ready to expand the business again. So, we crossed over the state line and opened up a Newton's Olympic Outfitters in Portland. It's actually my highest grossing store. Speaking of which, I need to call Frank and tell him that this is going to take longer than I planned. Alice didn't tell me that being a newborn vampire was going to be this complex. I got the impression that we'd shoot into New Hampshire, doc would change me, and then we'd fly back home."

Interesting. Alice has some explaining to do. It appears she just glazed over the facts and made it seem as easy as possible to poor Mike.

"Uh, Mike," I said, "You might want to let one of us dial the number for you and you can talk to Frank on speaker phone. You'll probably end up crushing your phone."

"Holy hell! I didn't know it was going to be this much work. No offense, but had I known all of this in advance, I would have never agreed to be changed."

Yep, there we have it. Psycho Bitch probably simplified vampirism to Mike because she didn't want to live an eternity alone. In fact, I can almost guarantee that's what she did. I looked over at Carlisle and he looked pissed off.

"Um, I'll need someone to operate my laptop for me while I place the call." Mike said.

Alice suddenly came bounding out of nowhere with Mike's laptop. "I'll do it for you!" She chirped.

"Uh, no offense, Alice, but I like to keep my personal life and my business and financial life separate. Maybe Bella can do it since she used to work at the store and knows a little about it."

"B...B...Bella? B...b...but I'm your mate." She stuttered.

"Yeah, I realize that. I've built this business up with my own two hands. I can't risk being careless with it and I really need to have people that I trust by my side."

"Are you saying that you trust Bella more than me?" Alice asked seething.

"Listen, when Bella was working in the store, she was the only employee that never tried to short us on hours or steal from us. I know she's honest. Plus, all those times I pestered her to go out with me,

she always let me down easy. The only time I was truly scared was when her dad greeted me at the door with a rifle pointed at my face."

"How could you trust her more than me. Bella Swan is nothing, but a whore!"

"Bella Swan a whore? That's a new one." Mike chuckled. "She was so faithful to Cullen that she didn't even bat an eyelash at anyone else. After he broke up with her, she was totally devastated—wouldn't even sit at our table for lunch anymore. She just kept to herself and cried in her truck until it was time for her to go back to class. So, I think whore isn't exactly the correct word to describe her. Anyway, Alice, Bella's my friend so don't insult her again or you'll have me to answer to.

Fuck me! I had no idea that Bella was that depressed. Edward looked like someone kicked him in the gut. He was sitting on the sofa with his face in his hands.

Bella looked mortified and shocked. "How did you know I was crying in my truck, Mike?"

"I was worried about you so I'd come and check on you. I didn't want you to do anything stupid. You seemed suicidal."

"Thanks, Mike." Bella said simply, her eyes glistening with venom. She walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, anytime. That's what friends do—even annoying, pestering ones."

"See! Look at her—she's a slut! Jasper, aren't you upset? Bella just threw herself onto my mate." Alice cried out.

"Shut the fuck up, Alice! It was just a friendly peck on the cheek, anyone can see that you delusional bitch!" Rose was glaring daggers at Psycho Bitch.

At this point, Alice looked maniacal. Her teeth were gritted, her nostrils were flaring, and her eyes were bulging out. She looked like a raging bull ready to attack and her anger was directed right at Bella. I placed my mate behind me and sent Alice a dose of fear while staring her down. She simmered down a bit after that, then she spoke. "Michael, I'm your mate. I'll be your wife soon, I've seen it. You're going to have to share your business and finances with me then."

"Whoa there! I don't care what the fuck you see or don't see. I don't believe in that bullshit. I have no plans on tying the knot with you. I'm only twenty-three. Besides, even if we ever do get married, I won't do so without a prenuptial agreement. I won't lose my business in case we get divorced. That's neither here nor there though, cause there's no way in hell I'm marrying you. I'm just with you because I don't like that throbbing pain in my chest. As far as finances are concerned, you've got to earn your own money. I never agreed to support you in any way. Even if we ever got married, I'd expect you to earn your fair share. I've seen the way you spend money, Alice, and I'm telling you now that money doesn't grow on trees."

Alice gritted her teeth and she looked ready to hurl the laptop. Carlisle quickly noticed this and said. "Easy with the laptop, Alice. You wouldn't want to do anything foolish, would you? Why don't you just bring it over to me."

Alice handed the laptop over to Carlisle. She then stormed off to her room in a fit of rage.

"Um, do I have to share a room with Alice?" Mike asked. "She might slit my throat while I'm asleep."

"About that, Mike." I said. "We don't sleep."

"Huh?"

"Vampires don't sleep at all." I repeated.

"Dude! That's messed up! I really liked sleeping." He paused. "I've got to make that phone call. Bella, would you mind helping me? Maybe Rosalie can help too, in case I need to take notes."

"Dad, can we use your office?" Rose asked, grabbing Mike's laptop.

"Of course, kitten." Carlisle kissed Rose on top of her head and patted Bella's as they made their way past him, with Mike, to his office."

"Well, that was interesting." Esme said. "I need to set up a room for my new son. Edward, Amanda? Would you mind if we gave him the room at the end of the corridor in your wing of the house?"

"You mean the one next to Jasper, Garrett, and Rex's War Strategies Room?" Edward asked.

"Yes, that one." Esme confirmed.

"Sure, go right ahead. As long as it's made clear that Psycho Bitch isn't allowed in that wing of the house, I'm fine with it."

"Don't worry, Edward. I'll make sure she understands the rules." Vicky said then turned to Riley. "So, stealing bras and panties out of a sorority, huh? Is that what you meant when you told Bells that you wanted her to fully experience college life?"

"You have to admit that she did follow my advice to the T. I told her to study hard and play harder and that's exactly what she did. Kiddo's getting her master's degree at Harvard for God's sake."

"Riley, will you give me that advice before I go to college too?" Amanda asked.

"Of course I will, little one. You have to get through high school first though." He winked.

Carlisle, then, changed the subject. "I'm deeply concerned that Alice didn't explain anything to Michael and that he was changed against his will."

"Dad, Peter and I have the same concerns. When we took Mike hunting, he had no idea that vampire's consumed blood. Alice had never broached the subject and whenever he was with her, she'd actually eat in front of him so he just assumed that we ate human food. The only things she told him were that vampires live forever and that they're mates."

Carlisle looked repulsed. "It seems as though Alice has a lot more explaining to do."

"You think?" Vicky blurted out. "What the hell is her problem? The girl is obviously delusional, but she seems to have a whole host of other issues."

Riley joined into the conversation at that point. "I've been observing her for the last few days and I'm almost positive that she suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The main traits of someone with NPD is an over-inflated sense of self-importance, a complete lack of empathy for others, and a need to control and manipulate everything. The way she is preoccupied with power and vanity and requires constant attention is typical of someone with her condition. When she isn't given undivided attention, something doesn't go her way, or she is criticized—she reacts with rage and jealousy. This too is prototypical of someone with NPD. She also has a severe inability to develop any interpersonal relationships because of her narcissism."

Well, fuck me, I was married to a nutter for over sixty years. Gee whiz. No wonder I have issues stemming from Alice. I'm glad Riley was smart enough to figure things out.

"How does someone develop Narcissistic Personality Disorder?" Carlisle asked concerned.

"First of all, I want to emphasize that people with NPD suffer from extremely low self-esteem which they cover up with their grandiose behavior. Most people with NPD suffered from a severely dysfunctional childhood. However, we know nothing about Alice's childhood. We only know that she was sent to an asylum for her visions." Riley inhaled a deep breath. "Later in life, people with NPD are given constant praise for their behavior, looks, or talents. In Alice's case, her visions provided her with constant praise and approval from those around her. I'm assuming that she was never disciplined or spoken to for any wrong doings or excessive behavior. Case in point, Jasper, you said you paid Carlisle back for many of her spending sprees. Did you ever speak to Alice about it and give her consequences for her actions?"

I looked down at my feet and answered, "No. I didn't want to deal with her rants so I just let her be."

"Carlisle, did you ever correct her on her overspending or the way she manipulated the family down to their clothing choices?"

"No, son, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't. I too didn't want to deal with her constant whining. I also excused much of her behavior because of her visions."

"You see what I mean? You both unknowingly enabled her. Alice was placed on a pedestal for the majority of the time she spent with your family. She was given permission to rule the roost with absolutely no limitations. She was bound to develop a grandiose feeling of herself. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm in no way placing the blame of Alice's NPD on you at all. The origins of her condition are hard to pinpoint, but there were tons of contributing factors. The most important thing is finding a way for her to live with her illness. I'm thinking that a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy will be the ticket, but I have to warn you that NPD is one of the most difficult mental illnesses to break through. There is no known cure and the most we can probably do is teach her to co-exist with others and work on improving her self-esteem. Carlisle, I think the boundaries you've set for her is a great start. Mike also seems to have set limitations of his own with her which is exactly what she needs. I can start counseling sessions with her by casually talking to her. She won't come to me on her own."

"Thank you, son. I really don't know what I'd do without you. I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again—you've taught me so much about raising a family."

"No problem, Dad. I actually enjoy what I do, you know that." Riley said.

Just then, Mike, Rose, and Bella came downstairs. "Man oh man! My eyes are bright red. I look messed up."

"Don't worry, they'll turn gold in a couple of months. I was just changed in September and mine are already gold." Amanda said.

"How come Bella has brown eyes?"

"Contact lenses—force of habit." Bella popped her contacts out. "See—they're golden. I started grad school with brown contacts and I can't exactly switch to gold eyes all of a sudden, can I? Besides, I have tons of friends in Boston who knew me when I was a brown-eyed human so I just wear my contacts everyday."

"Wait, when were you changed?" Mike asked.

"On the same day as Amanda." Bella stated.

"So, how come you get to go to graduate school and run to Home Depot and stuff?"

"Bella's a freak of nature." Edward pointed out. "She was born with full control of her motor skills and she has absolutely no bloodlust. Riley's the same way."

"Lucky." Mike sighed.

"Aw, it'll all get better soon, Mike. I can promise you that." I tried to comfort the poor guy. "What do you say we all go help Esme clear the snow?"

With that, we all went outside and grabbed a shovel and started clearing the snow—even Mike. It was going to be a long road for the kid, but I had a feeling that he'd come through it like a champ. With all that manpower, the snow was cleared in no time. I looked around to watch my big, crazy family. Bella and Amanda were laying in the snow making snow angels, Char and Peter were making out up against a tree, and Rose announced that she was going to the garage to see if she could boost the power in the new snowblower. Riley walked out of the garage throwing a football in the air, Mike was the first one by his side, and soon the men were all tossing around the old pigskin—even dad joined us. The game ended after Mike popped the football when he caught it.

After a while, we all retreated inside where the women, minus Alice, were sitting in front of the TV watching a soppy chick flick. Rose was still in the garage fiddling with the engine and Vicky was showing Amanda how to make jewelry while Esme was brushing out Char's hair for her. Bella and Irina were both locked in some kind of weird yoga pose where they were on their knees, bending backwards, and grabbing their ankles.

I couldn't help, but chuckle at the sight. Everyone was together, but doing their own thing. The girls were all content—just being themselves. We soon found our own thing to do in the living room as well. Pete went to join Rose in the garage to do some engine fiddling. Emmett was carving something out of wood, Edward was downloading music onto his iPod with Mike by his side, while Carlisle and Riley both buried their noses in books about mental health disorders. Laurent soon grabbed me and we cleared a space where he started teaching me some basic karate moves. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of my ex-wife hiding behind a corner watching everyone in their contented state. I zoned in on her emotions and she was emanating jealousy, fear, anger, and sadness. I don't know what made me do it, but I sent her some feelings of peace. She nodded her head in thanks and quickly retreated back to her room. Maybe one day, Alice will be able to join us all. I hope so, for her sake.

**Okay everyone, I'm a bit nervous here-what did you think of Mike? Alice certainly wasn't being honest with him, was she? Did you think that Riley was pretty accurate in his diagnosis of Alice's disorder? I'd love to hear from you and I will always respond! XOXO**


	29. Chapter 29

**Wow! I mean, wow! I was so overwhelmed by all your wonderful reviews, faves, and alerts. Thank you for caring so much about this story. It means so much to me. You can wash Jasper and Emmett or Bella and Rose. Take your pick!**

**The next few chapters will be lighthearted and fun. We've had a few weighty issues that we've dealt with and it's time for a break. The chapters will still address some important points though.**

**This chapter contains lust, pool, and typical male behavior. Oh, before I forget, look up Brad Paisley's songs "Ticks" and "I'm Still A Guy" on YouTube. You'll see what Rose and Bella mean by the songs fitting Em and Jasper to a T.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Rosalie's POV**

New Year's Eve came and went and now we were a few days into the new year. I was taking a week off from work so we could get away from all of the chaos at home. Fortunately, Peter is just as good as I am with cars so he's running the shop for me while we're on vacation. With Psycho Bitch coming home and Mike being changed, we needed a break from the family—just the two of us.

Mike was surprising. He wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be, in fact, he was pretty cool. He had matured a lot since high school and he was pretty sure of himself. When Bella jumped in to change him, my initial thoughts were to pull her off of him and snap the kid's neck. Then I heard the selfish bitch screaming about how she didn't want Bella changing her mate. Rage took over. I wasn't about to let her fuck with my baby sister anymore so I clocked Alice with an uppercut then kneeled down to help Bella change Mike. The deed was done and afterwards, Bella and I simply held onto each other for comfort.

Emmett and I were taking some time at our hideaway in Gatlinburg, Tennessee—Emmett's boyhood home. We had two hideaways, one here and one in Rochester, New York where I grew up. The townhouse in Rochester was a recent purchase, but Gatlinburg has been ours now for decades. Emmett had been keeping tabs on his family and somehow managed to find out that they were in financial trouble and would lose the family home. My husband, who has a heart of gold, purchased the land and house and allowed his family to live their lives out there as long as they maintained the property. I went in acting as an intermediary between them and their anonymous benefactor. As soon as I saw all of his brother's babies, my nieces and nephews, I knew that we had made the right decision. We even funded their college educations so they would be able to make something of themselves and have a chance at a decent life. Five years ago, Emmett's older brother died at the ripe old age of 97. He left a handwritten note to his benefactor in a sealed envelope in Emmett's old room—it simply read: "Thank you, Emmett. Now it's my turn to look after you. I love you little brother. P.S. How did you get such a knockout for a wife?" How he figured out that Emmett was his benefactor was a mystery to us. It's just one of those mysteries in life, I suppose.

We had driven a few hours west to Nashville so we could tour the Music City for a change. Emmett was a huge country music fan so it was fitting that we were here for a short two day visit. We were in a men's shop called Abernathy Road where Emmett was going crazy shopping for the first time ever.

"Rosie, look at this stuff? Hey, how do I look in this leather jacket? Do I look sexy, baby? Do I turn you on?"

As I was eyeing my husband, I was suddenly overcome by an incredible urge to ravage him. I licked my lips and started furiously kissing him. My wandering hands made their way into the front of his pants and I was stroking his dick in the middle of the store.

"Uh, Rosie, sweetheart, can we wait until we get back to the hotel. Baby, everyone's staring at us. Um, don't stop whatever you're doing cause it feels incredible. Shit! Rosie, I'm gonna blast my load in your hand."

My husband came with a grunt. What the hell made me put on a such a public display? That's so unlike me. I had no idea what to do with my sticky hand so I wiped it on one of the shirts they had for sale and bought the shirt too. The poor salesman looked disgusted as he threw the shirt into a bag as quickly as possible.

After leaving the store, we then headed to cute little ladies clothing boutique that I saw along the way. I was in the fitting room trying on a dress when Emmett suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He ripped the dress that I was trying on right off of me and in no time we were fucking like rabbits inside the fitting room. "Yes, Emmett, yes, Emmett, yesssss!" I screamed as I shuddered to my peak and his teeth sunk into the area above my collarbone.

When we walked out of the fitting room, it seemed as though the horrified eyes of everyone in the entire store was on us. We quickly paid for the ripped dress, purchased another one just like it, then left the store. "Hope you enjoyed the show!" Emmett hollered on his way out.

"I don't know what came over me, Rosie. I had a sudden urge to mate with you."

"It's okay, Em, I really liked it. It was amazing. Besides, I deserved a little payback for that handjob I gave you in the middle of the other store."

We were walking hand in hand back to our hotel when, again, we were both struck with an overwhelming feeling of lust. Emmett dove into an alley and claimed me right up against a building.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, as we tried our best to straighten out our disheveled clothes. "I needed you to take me right then and there. If this keeps up, we're going to have to start carrying a bag of clothes along with us."

"Come on, honey, let's go back to the hotel and I'll make love to you, soft and tender, the way you like it." Em whispered. I shivered as he ran his tongue over his mark.

We made it back to the hotel in record time and climbed into the elevator. Just as the door's shut, we were both struck again with a desire to rip each other's clothes off. By the time we got to our floor we were stark naked. Fortunately it was just the two of us on the elevator. Unfortunately when the doors opened there was a housekeeper with a vacuum, a room service attendant with an empty tray of food, and a family of four waiting to get inside. The parents instantly shielded their kids' eyes.

I held my head up high and exited the elevator saying "excuse me" as I walked past them.

"Mama, that man had a big pee-pee." I heard one of the children saying.

"He sure did." The mother breathed dreamily.

Emmett and I both looked aghast at each other as we finally made it to our room. "What the fuck was that?" We both announced simultaneously. We sat in front of the TV completely flummoxed until it was time for us to leave. This time Emmett carried a backpack filled with clothes with him.

"These are great seats, Rose! Second row!" Em exclaimed.

"I got these tickets as soon as they were released, Em. I know how much you love..." I narrowed my eyes as I caught sight of the happy couple that were making their way to their seats in the row in front of us. I put my finger up to my lips to silence my mate, but I was too late.

Just as they made their way to the two open seats directly in front of us, my mate opened his mouth. "Jasper, you fucker! Have you been sending lust to us all day? Do you fucking realize that we had to walk naked out of our hotel elevator in front of children? One of the kids said that I had a big pee-pee. Do you realize how fucked up that is?"

"Oh, hey Em, Rose? What brings you folks to Nashville?" Jasper greeted us casually.

"Don't you hey us Jasper Whitlock! I gave Emmett a handjob in the middle of Abernathy Road. We scared the shit out of all the customers and employees."

"You didn't?" Bella questioned her husband.

Jasper simply looked at Emmett and said, "Consider it payback for the kilt incident."

"What kilt incident?" Bella and I asked at the same time.

"Um...Riley and I told Jasper that we all wore kilts to spinning class and he showed up in one." Emmett said, ashamed. "We told Peter that he had to wear a tutu, though, and he actually believed us."

Bella and I both started laughing.

"Oh my God! I would have loved to see that." I giggled. "Peter in a tutu and you in a kilt? Why didn't you guys research it on the internet? When did this happen anyway?"

"The night sissy was changed." Emmett said. "I guess we were so caught up with everything that night that we forgot to mention it.."

"That was an awful night. I think we were all focused on something else." I shuddered at the thought of the events that evening. I honestly thought that my sister was dead. Everyone was completely unhinged. Emmett and Jasper looked as if they were going to set themselves aflame when they arrived on scene and I probably would have joined them. Thank goodness everything worked out okay.

The opening act soon started and we were all jamming along to the music. It was now time for Brad Paisley. As soon as he came on stage, the entire audience stood up and roared to life. Jasper pulled Bella in front of him and Emmett and I climbed over the seats to join them in the front row. Our husbands were singing along and swaying to the tunes. As soon as Brad Paisley started playing "Ticks," Em and Jasper high-fived each other and announced, "It's the scenting song!"

I listened to the words and sure enough it was the scenting song. No wonder they like Brad Paisley so much. I chuckled when I heard, "I'm Still A Guy" because the words described Em and Jasper so much. Bella nudged me while she was listening to the song too. "Rose! This song was written for our hubbies. Maybe Brad Paisley's a vampire? I mean he sings about scenting and he's got the male vampire persona down pat."

As soon as he left the stage. The audience started holding up lighters and screaming for an encore. This part was a bit disconcerting for all of us. I mean, come on now. Someone could accidentally light us on fire and "poof" we'd be gone. Brad Paisley came back out on stage, played one final song and was done for the night. We followed the droves of concert goers out of the venue.

"Hey, it's still early. You guys want to go for drinks?" I suggested.

"Sure! We'd love to." Bella agreed.

We found a place with pool tables called Buffalo Billiards. I knew Jasper, Emmett, and I played pool from time to time, but I was pretty sure Bella didn't play. No better way to find out than to start playing. Emmett racked up.

"Why don't you break Bella?" I suggested.

Bella nodded. Jasper and Emmett were both mumbling instructions to her, then abruptly stopped when she executed a perfect power break. "I'll take solids," she said, then proceeded to sink every single solid ball on the table—saving the eight ball for last.

Jasper, Emmett, and I were standing aghast at the end of the pool table with our arms crossed in front of our chest and our jaws hanging open. Jasper was the first to break the silence. "Uh, baby, who taught you how to play billiards?"

"Oh, my dad taught me how to play on his pool table in the basement. He'd play whenever his friends came over and they'd always teach me some new tricks. For some reason, my mom would always date guys who played pool too so whenever I'd have to tag along on a date, I'd end up in a seedy pool hall with them. They'd always teach me some moves, just to make it seem like they liked the kid too. Then, when Phil moved into my mom's house, he brought a pool table with him. I was always alone when I wasn't at school or working so I'd kill time playing pool." She admitted.

Well fuck, that's a surprise. Bella could hustle pool with the best of them. I'm definitely bringing her with me next time I want to burn off steam and hit the pool hall. Emmett had no idea that I hustled pool once a month for kicks. Men were so gullible, they see a pretty girl and they think that they could make a quick buck. I usually played a couple of shit rounds then I'd go in for the kill. I once made ten thousand bucks off of an asshole who was cheating everyone left and right. He didn't know when to quit and kept bumping up the bet once he started losing. Shithead.

We played a few more rounds of pool then quit when it was clear that no one could best Bella. Jasper and Emmett were swearing up a storm insisting that they were off their game. I knew the truth, though, they sucked at pool. Edward beat the shit out of them all the time and he was good. All of them weren't nearly as good as I am. I just let them win from time to time to stroke their egos—men needed that. Bella could kick my ass at pool clear across the country. Oh the fun sis and I were going to have together. I chuckled at the thought.

The four of us walked back to the hotel. It turns out that Bella and Jasper were staying at the Hutton Hotel just like we were. They were even on the same floor. We parted ways and agreed to meet in the morning to check out the Belle Meade Plantation and then the Grand Ole Opry later.

"That was so weird, running into Bella and Jasper. Who would have thought that they would have been at the Brad Paisley concert in Nashville of all places?" Emmett mused. He must have noticed that I was off in my own world because the next thing out of his mouth was, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Em, do you think we should tell them about our hideaway in Gatlinburg?" I asked. "It's just Bella and Jasper and I doubt they'd tell the others. They respect people's privacy more than anyone."

"Let's think about it, Rosie, I kind of like the idea of Gatlinburg being just yours and mine." Em pulled me onto his lap and kissed me. I just let myself relax into his strong chest. My mate made me feel safe, secure, and loved. On the worst days, I'd find myself falling back into that dreaded memory of the last day of my human life. Emmett was so tuned in to me that somehow he'd know—he'd coax me back into the present using his gentle words, sometimes he'd just simply hold me.

We knocked on Bella and Jasper's door around ten in the morning. Since we were leaving Nashville tonight, they let us leave our bags in their room. After touring the plantation, Jasper and Emmett wanted to go to Abernathy Road so Bella and I decided to go shopping elsewhere and meet up with them later at the hotel.

As soon as we were out of hearing distance, I spoke. "Hey, sis, want to go back to Buffalo Billiards?"

"Okay, Rose. I'm game for anything." Bella said. "Besides, I never say no to a game of pool."

"Have you ever hustled pool?" I asked casually.

"N...no." Bella looked worried. "Do we really need to?"

"Yes! This is an order from your big sister! We have a rare moment away from our walking scenting machines and we're going to take advantage of it. Besides, you know you like to let naughty Bella out to play. Now how much cash do you have on you?"

"I don't know—um, let me see." Bella did a quick scan of her wallet. "Six hundred dollars."

"Okay, good. Hand it over!"

"All of it?" She hesitated.

"Yes, all of it, damn it! Hand over the fucking cash now!"

My sister reluctantly gave me the cash. "Why did I just give you six hundred dollars, Rose?"

"Well, duh, we need some play money. I have seven hundred bucks. We're going to set a hundred aside for drinks and wager twelve hundred. When we get there, I want you to follow my lead. Oh and you need to fuck up the first few games—no clean breaks, make like you're Jasper fixing the house or something. Oh, and when I order two Jack Daniels straight—that's your cue to bring your A-game."

We got to Buffalo Billiards and found an empty table. It was mid afternoon so the place was crawling with sharks. I ran up to it, looking all excited, and squealed. "Oh my God, Jessica! Look a pool table. I've always wanted to try it. Do you know how to play?"

Bella got the picture really quick. She jumped up and down like Alice at a fashion show and replied. "I have no idea Lauren. Maybe one of those really hot guys can show us. You know what, forget it. I think I figured it out. I think we just throw those golf ball looking thingies into one of those triangle thingies and hit them with those long sticks so they go into those holes."

Bella and I proceeded to randomly rack up the balls and find pool cues. Every single shark had their eyes trained on us. I broke first, making sure to fuck it up. We then took turns screwing up every shot, sometimes missing completely. "Jess, I can't seem to put the golf balls into the holes."

"Ahem! My name is Floyd Parker. How can I be of assistance to you beautiful ladies." A greasy pool shark slinked over to us. He was eyefucking us up and down while waiting for an answer.

"Ew." Bella whispered so only I could hear.

"We found our bitch, sis." I whispered back to her, then turned to Mr. Greasy. "Why Floyd, how kind of you. My sorority sister and I are trying to figure out how to play pool and we'd be tickled if you taught us how to play.

Floyd, of course, obliged. After a few rounds, Bella and I made like we improved enough to sink some shots. I saw Floyd motioning to an equally oily friend of his. His friend immediately appeared at the table. "This is my good friend Wes Crisco."

Bella and I looked at each other with perplexed expressions on our faces. "Did he say Crisco as in Crisco Oil?" Bella whispered.

"Yeah, he did. His name's kind of fitting, don't you think?"

"Ladies, since you two have improved so much, we thought maybe we can have some fun and place a wager." Floyd said.

"Ooh! I've never bet anything before. I've never even played the lottery. What do you think Jess?"

"That sounds like so much fun Lauren! Let's do it!"

"Wonderful!" Floyd clapped his hands together. "I really hate to ask such a personal question, but how much do you have?"

I took the cash out of my purse and openly counted it. "Um, we only have twelve hundred dollars. Is that enough?" I asked innocently.

Floyd and Crisco's eyes widened greedily, they both flashed creepy smiles at us. "Perfect! That's exactly how much I have." Floyd showed us his money. "You girls are quite good so I'm sure you won't lose. I've never had such quick studies."

"Okay Floyd." I said. "How do we do this betting stuff."

"It's really simple. If you win, I give you twelve hundred dollars and if I win, you give me yours." Floyd smirked at Crisco.

"Ooh! It is easy!" Bella giggled and batted her eyelashes at Floyd and Crisco.

"It's a bet then!" Floyd and Crisco both extended their hands to ours to make the deal.

Floyd racked up the balls. "Lauren, why don't you break first?"

I did a clean break and took stripes. I sunk most of the balls in until I fucked up and sunk a solid in.

Floyd took his turn and sunk in most of the solids, until he tried bouncing a ball off of the side and missed.

I quickly took the opportunity to sink the remaining striped balls in, then sunk the eight ball.

Floyd looked annoyed. He quickly recovered and flashed his greasy smile at us. "Lauren, I told you, you were good. You've won." He handed me our winnings.

Crisco then jumped in to the conversation. "Ladies, how would you like to play one more game. Now, I happen to have twenty-four hundred dollars on me, which is exactly how much you have. You girls are on a lucky streak, I want to give you a chance to double your money. What do you say?"

"Uh, I don't know. I don't want to press our luck." I said.

"Come on, Lauren. These guys are obviously upstanding citizens. They've been nothing, but nice to us. Can you show us the twenty-four hundred? I think it would make Lauren feel better." Bella said.

"Sure, Jessica." Crisco counted his cash out.

"Well, I guess just one more game." I said.

"You won't regret it." Crisco assured. "Can we buy you fine ladies drinks? Some wine, perhaps?"

"We'll take two glasses of Jack—straight." I stated. They looked a little startled, but ordered the drinks for us. As soon as the waitress brought the drinks, Bella and I both downed them in one go. She nodded at me acknowledging that she was going to bring her A game.

"Your turn to break, Jessica." Crisco smirked.

Bella rolled her eyes and did a power break. "I'll take solids." She stated then sunk every single solid ball in, ending with the eight ball. "Pay up guys." She ordered to a stunned Floyd and Crisco.

Crisco reluctantly handed over the cash. "Another game?" I asked sweetly.

The grease balls both shook their heads no.

As Bella and I left the pool hall, I heard Crisco chastising Floyd. "We were fucking played by those bitches! I didn't even get a chance to sink a ball in! Fuck!"

We hightailed it back to the hotel. In the elevator, I split the money evenly between us and we ended up with twenty-four hundred dollars each. "Not bad considering we both started off wagering six hundred, don't you think?"

"Oh my God, Rose! That was such a blast! We have to do this again!" Bella said excitedly.

"Don't worry. I plan on taking you with me. Just don't say anything to our mates. You know how fucking overprotective they get."

"My lips are sealed." Bella made like she was zipping her mouth shut.

We got back to Jasper and Bella's room where our mates were sitting on the floor going through their purchases. They had a bunch of bags from Abernathy Road and about fifty bags from Bass Pro Shops. They each grabbed a rifle out of one of the Bass Pro Shops bag.

"Why the hell do you guys have rifles?" I asked.

"We're going hunting." Emmett stated.

"Hunting?" Bella and I both blurted out.

"Yeah, hunting. I invited Jasper to Gatlinburg and we're gonna go hunt deer." Hmm...it seems as though my husband has conveniently changed his mind about telling Jasper and Bella about his boyhood home.

"I hate to tell you this guys, but we don't need guns to hunt deer." I reminded them.

"We're hunting deer for sport, silly." Emmett stated.

"For sport?" I asked. "What about the blood?"

"Oh, we've got this all figured out. We're gonna hunt first, then hunt for sport." Jasper explained.

Bella who had her forehead in her hands, shook her head, and looked up. "Why?"

"Well, we went to Abernathy Road and they sold non-firing replica guns there. That got Em and I talking about how we used to go hunting when we were kids. So, we asked where we could get hunting gear and we were directed to Bass Pro Shops. Let me tell ya, that was the most awesome store in the world. They had all sorts of hunting rifles and hunting gear. They even have this spray shit to mask your scent." Jasper said excitedly.

"Oh and we found out that they have one in Foxborough, Massachusetts. We can go there with all the guys when we get back." My husband said looking like a kid in a candy store.

Bella's eyes scanned the room—they bulged out when she zoomed in on the object standing up in the corner of the room. My jaw dropped when I saw what she was looking at. "Is that a canoe?" She asked.

"Yeah, Sissy. Ain't it great? Jasper and I are going canoeing when we get back to Gatlinburg."

"How the fuck are you going to canoe in the middle of winter?" I asked.

"Hey, the Native Americans used to do it all the time. I don't see why we can't." Jasper defended.

"Now, let's get the gear loaded up in my Jeep, Jasper. If we leave now, we can make it to Gatlinburg by nine pm."

"Hang on, where the hell is Gatlinburg and why are we going there?" Bella asked.

"Gatlinburg is the town where Em grew up in. I'll explain everything to you on the way." I said.

"Um, okay." Bella said then brought up a really good point. "It's nice that you guys want to load everything up in your Jeep, but where the fuck are Rose and I supposed to ride?"

The two dumb fucks gave us confused looks. Duhhhhhhh! Geez! They get so caught up in their shit sometimes.

"I got it!" Jasper exclaimed. "Em and I will ride in his Jeep with the gear and you girls can rent a car."

"Great idea, bro. Let's roll!" Em and Jasper called up a bellhop to have them bring their items down. They were lost in their own world and had completely forgotten about me and Bella.

Jasper gave Bella a lingering kiss on the lips. "Would you mind checking out for us, baby? Emmett and I want to get a head start before the traffic hits."

"Whatever you say, Jasper." Bella replied sweetly as her husband hopped into Emmett's fully packed Jeep. Our mates waved goodbye and left us standing there in the lobby like idiots.

"What the fuck was that? They're suddenly so buddy-buddy that they completely forget about us?" I complained.

"Rose, Rose, Rose." Bella smiled mischievously as she shook her head. "Let's look at this as an opportunity, sis. Our mates are obviously caught up in their bromance and we've been asked to tie up all the loose ends. I happen to have a hotel room that I'm going to get charged for through tomorrow morning. They're not going to let us check out at this hour without charging us for the day. It's already after five so all the car rental offices in town are closed and the only way we'll be able to rent a car is if we go all the way to the airport. I don't feel like hailing a cab and going all the way there, do you?"

I gave my brilliant sister a sly smile. "Oh, no sis. The Nashville traffic at this hour is horrific. There's no way we can rent a car now. We'll have to wait it out until morning so we can rent the car out of a local office. Too bad. Let's go pick up a change of clothes for tomorrow and get our nails done."

"Sure, then we can go to the Grand Ole Opry like we planned since the numbnuts seemed to have conveniently forgotten about that." Bella suggested.

"I like that plan—after that, we'll have to go to a honky tonk and get some drinks. Maybe we'll even have to grab a couple of bottles of Jack Daniels to bring back to the hotel." I added.

Bella and I quickly grabbed some clothes, underwear, and toiletries for tomorrow at a Target. What a great idea my sister had—we were able to get it all done in one stop. Never in my life did I think I'd set foot in a Target. Alice had warned us not to go in—stating that their clothes were extremely poor quality and, therefore, beneath us. Foolishly, I believed her. The clothes here weren't bad at all and the prices were incredible. I made a decision right then and there to shop at Target more often.

"Bella? Do you shop at Target a lot?" I asked.

"Yeah, Vicky, Irina, and I usually do a combination of Marshalls, Target, and Old Navy when we go clothes shopping. Some stuff, like tank tops and basic tees, we do at Walmart. There's no point in spending an arm and a leg on clothes." She said.

"I feel like such an idiot Bella. To this day, I only shopped at the stores where Alice told me I could shop. I put so much faith in her shopping knowledge that I never ventured elsewhere. I noticed that even Edward has changed his style lately. He looks more laid back."

"That would be Riley's doing. He took him to American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch to shop. The fucked up t-shirts—he found on his on. Maybe we can go shopping together when we get back home." Bella suggested.

"That would be so nice. Sometimes, I can't help, but feel that I look snobby and pretentious, Bella." I admitted.

"It's what's inside that counts, sis." She said, simply.

I really love my sister. She knew just the right thing to say to make me feel better.

We headed off to the Grand Ole Opry and were able to tour the building. It turned out that they only had acts scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights. We'll just have to leave it for next time. The gift shop was open so we browsed around when we saw the most delightful pair of cowboy boots. We each got a pair for ourselves and our loveable, but idiotic husbands then left to find a place to get a manicure and pedicure.

My nails were an absolute disaster because I worked with cars all day long. The manicurist was horrified when she saw the state of my nails. It's pretty bad when your toenails are actually faring better than your fingernails. While we were there, we got our eyebrows waxed too. "We might as well get it over with." Bella wisely stated.

We headed off to the Wildhorse Saloon and had a couple of drinks while watching some live entertainment. I told Bella all about our secret hideaway in Gatlinburg and she was mesmerized by the tale of Em's brother. I asked her to keep Gatlinburg a secret and, just as I thought, she completely understood our need for privacy and even thanked me for sharing it with her. We grabbed a couple of bottles of Jack Daniels at a liquor store and settled in for the night at the hotel around midnight. An hour later, both of our cells chimed. It was our mates.

"What is it Emmett?" I asked.

"Where the motherfuck are you two girls? It's one o clock in the morning! You should have been here hours ago."

"Really? I didn't know that there was a set schedule."

"Well? Where the hell are you? Jasper and I are out of our minds worrying about you!" He yelled.

"Nice of you two to show you care all of a sudden." I said sarcastically. "Bella and I decided to drive up in the morning instead so we could tour Nashville a little more."

"What? How could you make a decision like that without us?"

"Hmm...let's see. Oh, yeah, we figured it would be okay seeing that you and Jasper made the decision to leave for Gatlinburg without running it by us first." I said. "Now, don't bother coming down here. Bella and I are safe in the hotel and just talking. We'll be there sometime tomorrow." With that, I snapped my cell phone shut.

Bella hung up a minute later with, "Next time, you'd better think about who you're speaking to before you decide to go all neanderthal on me, mister! Don't you guys dare run down to Nashville and disrupt Rose and my bonding time either. We'll get there when we get there sometime tomorrow!"

"Can you believe the nerve of them? They wanted to play with their new toys so they decide to drive up to Gatlinburg immediately and expected us to do as they say. Then, they freak out because we didn't drop everything and follow them there!" I seethed.

"Don't worry, sis, I told Jasper where he could stick it. He actually suggested that you and I run there right now. I told him to run straight to hell. I think I got the point across though." Bella looked just as angry as I was. We both uncapped our bottles of Jack Daniels and took a big swig.

"Rose? Can I ask you something personal?"

"Sure, Bella, what is it?"

"How often does Emmett scent you in a day?"

"Jasper going a little overboard, is he?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just that he scents me twice in the morning before school and sometimes during the day, even. He pulled me into a janitor's closet once to scent me. He even scents me before I come home to Amherst to visit."

"Actually, Jasper's not as bad as Emmett is. Almost as bad, but not quite. Emmett scents me twice in the morning then he shows up midday at my job to do it again. As soon as I get home, he pulls me upstairs to scent me yet again." I paused. "You have to understand that scenting is a part of a male vampire's psyche—it's primal and instinctual. Believe it or not, the two biggest scenters in our family are Garrett and Carlisle. I think Emmett and Jasper stand out more because they have no qualms about doing it in public. I don't know what causes some men to scent their women more than the others, but there's no sense arguing the point so just go with it."

"Rose, there's something else bothering me—it's about Mike. Do you think we made a mistake in changing him I'm not so sure he wanted to become a vampire, Alice clearly lied to us about that as well."

"You know something Bella? Even if he didn't want to be a vampire, we can't dwell on it. We did what we thought was right at the moment, that's all that matters. Transforming Mike has actually helped me to forgive Carlisle for changing me. I finally understand that Dad changed me because he thought it was the right thing to do at the time. It took me seventy-five years to forgive him. I hold onto grudges a lot longer than you do, sis." I chuckled. "Hey, I have an idea! Let's get Daddy a pair of those cowboy boots before we leave Nashville tomorrow. I bet he'd get a kick out of them."

"Sounds great Rose! Check out isn't until noon anyway. I think the car rental place is in that direction anyway."

We spent the rest of the night bonding. We talked about a whole slew of things, from Amanda's prom to Charlotte's lack of restraint when it came to sex. I told Bella that I'd give Amanda a haircut and highlights since she's been itching to update her looks. Bella and I colored her hair for her right before Christmas. It was a really pretty blonde color now. I actually have a hairdresser license from the late eighties when I decided to go to beauty school on a whim. I soon realized that I hated it and got my license as an auto mechanic. I've been to college, of course, but I've never really been studious. I always preferred working with my hands.

We called the hotel concierge and had him set it up so that a rental car was waiting for us when we checked out. It worked out perfectly, we threw our bags in, made one stop for Carlisle's boots, then made our way towards Gatlinburg. When we got there, Jasper and Emmett were both waiting anxiously on the front porch. They led us inside the house, Bella and I were greeted with hundreds and hundreds of pink and red roses—our favorite flowers and a message written in black sharpie on poster board that read "We're sorry for being cavemen." How could we not forgive them after that.

The next day, Jasper and Emmett went hunting while Bella helped me strip some wallpaper off of the walls. They were decked out in camouflage from head to toe with a rifle in one hand and some gear in the other and, quite frankly, looked ridiculous. A few hours later, the guys returned hollering at us to come help.

I opened the door, took one whiff, and immediately shut it. "Hey! Why'd you go and shut the door on us for. You've got to help us get rid of this fucking smell!"

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"Um, we were hunting and we heard something moving in the forest. We thought it was a deer or something so we aimed our gun at it. That's when we were sprayed by three skunks." Jasper said.

"Are you out of your fucking minds?" Bella yelled. "You're fucking vampires with highly tuned senses. You know what deer fucking smells like, how the hell do you fuck that up?"

"Baby, we were trying to hunt like humans do without using our senses." Jasper explained.

"No, shit!" Bella and I both shouted out sarcastically.

"Hold on then. I'll go grab a couple of black garbage bags. You can strip your clothes off and put them in there. I'll hose you both down before you come in. Bella can you grab some shampoo for them."

She grabbed the shampoo and I hosed down Dumb and Dumber as much as possible. They still stunk to high heaven. "Any idea of how to get rid of the stink?" I asked Bella.

"Actually yes. My dad got sprayed while he was hunting once. He had to douse himself in gallons and gallons of vinegar and tomato juice. We're also going to need tons of soap and shampoo for afterwards. Oh and we have to get rid of any towels they use until the stink's gone." Bella instructed.

"Okay, Emmett, you take the bathtub upstairs and Jasper, you take the one downstairs. Sit in the tubs and don't move until Bella and I get back.

We climbed into rental car and drove to the Walmart Supercenter in nearby Sevierville. "Welcome to Walmart. Have a nice day." Some weird, old lady in a blue vest greeted us as we walked in.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked.

"Uh, no. I'm just wishing you a nice day." She said, then added. "It's my job."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Do you like your job?"

"No, but it's work and I need the money." She said.

"Oh, well, it's good that you're working then." I responded before Bella pulled me away.

She was giggling. "They're called greeters. Every Walmart has them. Garrett actually started talking about the weather the first time he encountered one. Grab a shopping cart, Rose. Let's grab the body wash and shampoo first. We might want to grab more towels too."

Oh! I love this store. Walmart is actually a blast! We didn't have stores like this when I was human. They have everything from clothes to groceries to tires. Tires! What kind of a place carries groceries and tires? They do oil changes too—for really cheap! I'm gonna have to knock down the prices of my oil changes with competition like this. Their tire prices are low too.

We grabbed about twenty gallons each of tomato juice and vinegar. We cashed out and headed home to our skunk juice doused mates. "Rose? They're not gonna want to scent us are they?" Bella asked.

Holy fuck! I didn't think of that. There's no way in hell they're gonna scent us. I won't let them. "Bella, once we get home we stick together like glue. I don't care if Jasper sends us a year's worth of lust. We don't spend any time alone with them until they completely get rid of the stench. Got it, sis?"

"Got it." Bella assured me.

We walked into the house with our supplies and started off with Emmett. "Uh, sweetie. Bella's going to help me, okay?"

"Rosie, honey, don't you think that bathing's a bit personal?" My mate asked.

"No, think of this more like a medical procedure." I said. Bella and I scrubbed Emmett as best as we could with the vinegar and tomato juice. After we rinsed him off, we told him to shower using the body wash and shampoo.

"Rosie, I thought maybe you could help me shower." He winked at me. I ignored him and left the bathroom with Bella.

We, then, went to work on Jasper. "It took you long enough, babe, the little guy's been waiting for...uh, Rose, what are you doing in here?"

"We're scrubbing you down, bro." I stated. "Sit down." Jasper sat down, hard-on and all, on the tub floor. Bella and I doused him with the vinegar and tomato juice and started working on getting rid of the skunk smell.

"Okay, Jasper, just use the shampoo and body wash and rinse off." Bella said.

"Well, thanks, Rose. I think Bella and I can handle it from here." Jasper tried getting rid of me. You could tell he was sending Bella loads of lust by the way she was licking her lips.

"No dice, fucker." I said and dragged my sister out of the bathroom with me. "Not until you completely de-skunk yourself."

"Thanks, sis." She said gratefully.

"No problem."

Jasper and Emmett soon joined us in the living room. They now smelled like muted skunk mixed with tomato juice, vinegar, coconut scented shampoo, and Axe body wash. In other words, they were rank.

"Why don't you sit with us girls? Come closer." Emmett encouraged.

"How much of the tomato juice and vinegar did we use?" I asked.

"We still have about ten gallons of each left." Bella said. "I don't know if it's because of our heightened sense of smell, but this shit isn't going away."

"What the hell are we supposed to do and why are you girls standing so far away from us?" Jasper asked.

"You guys stink. Oh and don't you even consider scenting either one of us. In fact, don't touch us until you get rid of that odor."

"What?" Emmett and Jasper both blurted out.

"You know something. I bet you Mike would know what to do. Think about it? He owns an outdoor sporting goods store. All the hunters in that vicinity go to Newton's for their supplies." Bella said. "I'll call him."

"NO! Don't call Mike." Our mates desperately shouted out.

"Why not?" I asked.

"If you call him we'll be the butt of all jokes in the family. They'll never let us live this shit down." Emmett said.

"Good point. Oh, I know! Why don't we just research it on the internet?" Bella suggested wisely.

My sister and I scoured the internet and finally came up with what we thought was a possible solution.

"It says here that in order to remove the skunk stench from dogs the owners bathe their dogs in a solution of a quart of hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup of baking soda, and two tablespoons of dish soap. It says to double or triple the recipe depending on the size of dog." I said. "Apparently, the recipe is enough to de-skunk a small poodle.

We both started sizing up our husbands' tall frames. "About how many poodles do you think Jasper and Emmett equal?" Bella asked.

"I don't know, how many inches is a small poodle?" I asked.

"Hey, we're still here, you know." Jasper said.

"Yeah, what the fuck? We're not dogs you know." Em whined.

"You're right, dogs actually smell better than you do." I pointed out.

"Okay, Rose and I are going to grab the stuff we need to make the skunk stench remover. Meanwhile, why don't you guys try the vinegar and tomato juice again."

"You're leaving us again?" Emmett asked.

"Uh, yeah, we need to if we're going to get the Eau de Pepe Le Pew off your sparkly asses." Bella replied as she shut the door behind us. We then headed back to Walmart for more supplies.

"Sis, grab a box of hair color for your man." I said. "I don't know if you noticed, but his hair is stained pink from the tomato juice."

"Do I look like I know anything about hair color? You're the expert, you pick."

We quickly grabbed our stuff, went home, and started mixing. This time we delivered buckets of the solution to our hubbies while they scrubbed themselves clean.

An hour later, they came out of the bathrooms smelling almost like themselves. The skunk scent was barely detectable. We still weren't gonna let them near us though. "I ain't ever hunting for sport again. My hair is as pink as one of those roses—even my pubes are pink."

"Definitely, bro. Next time, let's go fishing instead." Emmett agreed with Jasper. "My skin actually feels raw from all the scrubbing and I'm a vampire."

Jasper, then turned to us. "Are you ladies gonna avoid us all night?"

"Yes." We both said without hesitation.

"What's it gonna take for our wives to give us some one on one attention?" Jasper used his sexy southern drawl and sent us both some lust. I grabbed Bella's hand, the keys, and both of our pocketbooks.

"We'll see you in the morning. Bathe in that stuff if you have to— just get it off of you." I urged before shutting the door and leaving. As Bella and I hopped in the car, I couldn't help, but smile. For the first time in five years, my brother, husband, and I were completely relaxed. Sure the men, stunk to high heaven from their encounter with the skunk, but they got themselves in that predicament by trying something that brought them joy as boys. This time last year, we were still worried sick about what could have happened to Bella, enjoying ourselves was the furthest thing from any of our minds. Now, however, that worry was lifted and we could concentrate on living our lives to the fullest. That would have never happened if it weren't for the little girl sitting next to me.

Yeah, I know—Bella wasn't exactly a little girl anymore. Physically, she was older than me by four years, but in actual age I was ninety-five and she would always be my baby sister. I glanced at the passenger seat and saw her peering out the window with wide eyes full of wonder. I grabbed her hand and smiled at her knowing that I would always protect her. A text buzzed in from Jasper at that moment. I opened it up to take a peek at it.

**From: J Whitlock**

**To: R Hale**

**Take your baby sis hunting. She hasn't been in three days. I love you both. Stay safe. Jasper.**

Correction, we would always protect her.

**Gotta hand it to Jasper for throwing lust at an unsuspecting Em and Rose. I wish he'd throw some my way. Pretty selfish of the men to make decisions without including their mates if you ask me. I think they deserved what they got from Rose and Bella. Speaking of our favorite two girls, what did you think of Rose's thoughts on Bella? What about their newfound secret career as pool sharks? Let me know what you think. I'll always write back. XOXO**


	30. Chapter 30

**So, you all enjoyed the Whitlock/McCarty misadventures, wow! Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story. I truly appreciate all the support you've given me. You can go pool sharking with Bella or Rose-maybe they'll win you a bundle.**

**This chapter contains Alice begging, Carlisle in Crocs, and a Jasper who doesn't believe in waste.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18 and over only please.**

**Alice's POV**

It's been well over a month since my return and I'm absolutely miserable. I have no money so I can't shop. I'm stuck in a room in the servant's quarters and I'm horny because my mate refuses to have intercourse with me. To make matters worse, Carlisle came in last week to tell me that I needed to find a job. When I brought up the fact that my mate was still a newborn, he said that the other family members have taken over his care so I wasn't to worry. Yeah, sure they were taking care of him, more like turning him against me, I bet.

The only person that was actually nice to me was Riley. He would take me hunting, occasionally, and he'd stop in just to talk everyday. Victoria would, of course, come in to check in on me daily. She has me on a daily checklist. I feel like I'm in kindergarten. The checklist has stupid shit on it like if I treated everyone with respect or if I washed, folded, and put away my laundry. I never used to have to do my own laundry. Esme or Amanda did it for me. A few weeks ago, I told Amanda to take care of my housekeeping and laundry. She had the nerve to act like a belligerent teenager and told me to fuck off. I couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth. I yelled at her for that. Unfortunately, Victoria overheard everything and had me on my knees for an entire day then had me clean the entire house from top to bottom by myself. She warned me not to speak to Amanda again or the consequences would be worse. I haven't spoken to Amanda since, Victoria's consequences usually involved limbs being removed.

No one in the family was really speaking to me. They treated me as if I were a pariah. I don't even know why I deserve to be treated this way. Ironically, Bella and Jasper were actually civil to me. When they would come home to Amherst. They'd always say hello and ask how I was doing. Of course, I hated that husband stealing whore with my entire being so I couldn't care less. I was pissed off. Apparently, they had their own house in Cambridge where they lived in peace and privacy. They'd stay with us over the weekends when they weren't jaunting around the world. That could have been life if my lying sack of shit ex-husband had fully disclosed his finances with me.

Speaking of homes, Esme and Carlisle have sold the Hanover home that Edward and I lived in. I was planning on moving back in there with Mike, but I was told that the assets were liquidated to pay off my debts. Two weeks ago, they closed on the sale and the men went to collect our belongings and brought them to Amherst. My beloved Porsche was brought back as was Edward's Aston Martin. Apparently, he's selling that car and his Volvo opting for a Ford Escape instead. Who the hell goes from two luxury vehicles to an American hunk of junk?

"Alice, I'd like to speak with you." It was Carlisle. Now, what the hell does he want.

"Yes, Daddy." I answered sweetly.

"Have you found employment yet?"

"No, Daddy, I haven't even started looking. You only told me last week."

"So you've had a week and you've done nothing?"

"I haven't done nothing, I've been so busy with cleaning and laundry. You have no idea how much work that is. If you would allow Amanda to help me, I can look for a job."

"Alice, everyone in this house pitches in. You actually have the least amount of chores with only your wing of the house to take care of. Amanda does more than her fair share and asking her is out of the question since she and her parents request that you have no contact with her."

I seethed at hearing that. "I don't see how Peter and Bella can be her parents. They're not even good examples. They're both sexually promiscuous and they're white trash."

"Alice, I'm warning you. One more negative thing about my son and daughter and I'll personally phone Aro myself."

I inhaled a deep breath to calm myself. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"I wanted to give you your car insurance bill Alice." He said, handing me an envelope. "I told you before that you would be responsible for your own insurance."

Oh that's right, he did say that didn't he. I opened up the bill and was floored. "Dad, this bill is for three thousand dollars. I don't have that kind of money!"

"Auto insurance is a necessary part of car ownership. I suggest you find a means to pay for it quickly. Now I need to leave. My shift at the hospital starts in an hour."

I sighed. Then, I had an idea. "Okay, Dad. Um...do you think that you could have my mate come in here."

"Of course." Carlisle said as he left the room.

Mike showed up a few minutes later. "What's up, Alice?"

"Um...Mike. I'm in a bit of a pickle. I have to pay for my car insurance and I don't have any money."

"So, what do you want me to do about it."

"I thought maybe you could pay it for me."

"How much is it?"

"It's only three thousand dollars."

"Excuse me?" Mike asked, aghast.

"My car insurance is three thousand dollars." I repeated.

"Oh, is that all." He said sarcastically for some reason. "No."

"No?" I asked.

"No." He repeated.

"Why not?"

"Alice, I don't know what kind of car you have, but three thousand dollars for car insurance is outrageous. You're gonna have to get a job to pay for it."

"Work?" I asked, shocked that he'd even suggest it.

"Yes, work."

"B...b...but you own three businesses. Three thousand dollars is nothing to you."

"It's not nothing, Alice. I have to pay for the goods that I sell and I have to pay for the leases on three stores, pay for the employees, and pay for upkeep. Those don't come cheap, you know."

"If I were you, Alice, I'd sell the car. Clearly, you can't afford it."

"Sell? How dare you!" I slapped my mate across the face for even suggesting such a thing.

He turned around and walked out of my room. Now, I was in a pickle. Maybe Jasper will pay for it. If he can pay for that whore's car insurance, he can certainly pay for mine.

I dialed Jasper's number and waited for him to answer.

"What do you need Alice? I'm in the middle of a re-enactment, I can't talk long."

What the hell is a re-enactment? Oh, who gives a shit? I have a major problem that my husband needs to deal with now. "Jazzy Pooh, I'm in a bit of a bind. I need three thousand dollars to pay for my car insurance. You'll take care of it for me, won't you?"

"No."

"No? Why not? You have the money and you pay for B...Bella's!" I really hated saying her name.

"Bella's my wife, Alice."

"Ugh! I'm so disgusted in you! Adulterer!" I hung the phone up on him.

Now what was I supposed to do? Edward. I'll ask Edward. After all I've done for him, I'm sure he'll pay for my car insurance.

"Don't bother asking me, Alice. The answer is no." I heard him say from across the house. God damn it! Now what?

"Get a job, Alice." Edward said.

"Stay out of my head and why don't you have to work?"

"I do, in September. I have Amanda to take care of right now."

"Well, I have Mike to take care of!" I yelled.

"I don't want you taking care of me." Mike said.

"Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!" I screamed. I decided to go for a quick hunt to clear my thoughts. They all had no idea what I was going through.

**Bella's POV**

"Hi Daddy." I said.

"What brings you to the hospital, baby girl." Carlisle kissed the top of my head.

"Try these on." I said. I placed a pair of clogs at his feet. Carlisle looked a little perplexed so I explained. "They're Medical Crocs. I saw them when I went to the store to grab some of those Winter Crocs for me and Jasper. They're super comfy. Apparently, they're all the rage with doctors and nurses."

Carlisle scanned the footwear of his colleagues and sure enough, a good chunk of them seemed to be donning Medical Crocs. He took his shoes off and tried them on. He put his weight on his left leg, then his right, then did a little jog in place.

"You're right, Bella. These are comfortable. Thanks!"

"You're welcome. You're on your feet all day so I figured you might as well be comfortable. They have a whole bunch of different colors too." I said. "I got you the gold colored ones to match your eyes."

"Well, I'd love to chat with you all day, but I need to get back to work. What are you up to today?"

"Oh, I'm going out to dinner with Megan and Kelly. I'm gonna have to eat human food, but oh well. I know I'm lucky to be able to keep my friends. Jasper, Garrett, and Rex are at a Revolutionary War re-enactment in Pennsylvania." I said.

"So, you're coming home to your mom and me afterwards." It wasn't a question, it was a command.

"Yes, Daddy. I'll be in Amherst afterwards. I promised Jasper anyway." I said.

"Good girl." He kissed me on my cheek and we parted ways. I left the hospital and hopped the T to meet Megan and Kelly. They were already waiting.

"Took you long enough!" Megan huffed.

"Sorry, I had to go to drop something off at the hospital for Jasper's dad." I said.

"You mean Dr. DILF?" Kelly asked.

"Uh, guys. That's my father in law."

"I don't give a fuck what he is to you, the man is still fine. F-I-N-E—fine." Megan stated.

"Too bad, he's married. His wife is hot. Did you see her? I would kill to have arms like hers. She probably spends hours at the gym." Kelly said. "Is she a bitch?"

"No, not really. She has a temper though." I said.

"So, she's a bitch." Kelly concluded.

We grabbed some burgers and fries and met up with the guys at McGreevy's for drinks. I excused myself to go the ladies room so I could bring up the food that I ingested. I used to love burgers and fries, but damn that was nasty. I'm gonna have to meet my friends for drinks after dinner from now on—I can't handle human food. Ugh!

I ordered some Jack, straight, and downed it.

"Oh, yeah! Sugar Lips is getting toasted tonight!" Tommy cheered.

"Tommy, why doesn't it surprise me that you're already drunk?" I asked.

"Baby, it's Friday night—there's no work tomorrow, there are tons of pretty girls here, I plan on finding one, getting my dick wet, and forgetting about her in the morning. That is—unless you wanna come home and play with me, Bella. I won't say anything to your hubby."

"Fuck off, Tommy." I said. "You're not half the man that Jasper is in bed."

"Pfft. You're fucking with me Bella. No man can best me in the sack." Tommy stood up on the table and announced. "I'm a fucking sex god."

Oh boy, I hate it when he gets this drunk. Tommy's actually a good guy with a great heart, but man oh man does he drink. He can't handle his liquor either.

A few hours later, I was nice and toasty. I snuck in a half gallon bottle of Jack into the bar so I could party right along with my friends. I couldn't get drunk on a glass of Jack at a time. My human friends and I were having a great time reminiscing about our college days. Tommy was passed out cold with his head on my lap. Thank fuck, Jasper was out of town. He'd get bent out of shape with just one whiff of Tommy's scent on me even if nothing happened.

"Hey, aren't those the bitches from Tufts University that landed us in jail the last time?" Megan asked.

My eyes narrowed towards the entrance and sure enough it was them. The last time Megan, Kelly, and I had a run in with those whores, we tore up an entire bar. Riley had to come and bail me out. He lectured me all night about responsible drinking, violent behavior, whatever. Then Vicky had her turn with me. As punishment, she had me sit in the corner on my knees for six hours. It may not seem so bad, but when you're human, six hours on your knees feels like an eternity. After that, I was grounded for a week. I was even picked up and dropped off everywhere by one of my four overprotective vampires.

"Don't start anything girls, those bitches look drunk. They're just looking for a fight." Brian warned us.

"Well, well, well...if it isn't the sluts from Boston University." The pug faced redhead sneered. She was drunk and looking for a fight, you could tell.

"Takes one to know one." Kelly spat back.

"You know, you bitches cost us eight hundred bucks in bail money each." The skinny blonde bitch sneered.

"Hey, we weren't the ones who threw the first punch, blondie. If I can recall, you were." I pointed out.

"Come on girls. Let's get out of here. We don't need to be starting anything with these hoes." The big brunette tried to pull her friends away.

"Who the fuck are you calling hoes, bitch?" Oh, shit. Megan's plastered and on the defensive. Not good. Not good at all.

"Megan, honey, why don't you just sit and calm down. Ignore them, please." Brian tried diffusing the situation.

Tommy chose now to get up and open his big mouth. "Hey, look guys, it's those scary bitches from Tufts University!"

The big brunette threw the first punch and clocked Megan in the nose. She was bleeding profusely. Fuck! I can't be involved in a human brawl, I'm a vampire. Kelly pushed big brunette out of the way and she was given a slap by blondie which Kelly returned right away. Pug red, not wanting to be left out of the loop decided to tackle me at that point, I moved out of the way and she landed head first into our table. The big brunette helped her up then tried to hit me. I kept avoiding them because I didn't want to hurt them.

"What the fuck, Bella? Have you gone all Ghandi and pacifist on us all of a sudden?" Megan asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm trying to resolve this in a non-violent manner." That sounded good, didn't it?

"Well, it's too fucking late now!" Megan replied. "These bitches are out for blood."

Uh, no, not quite. Alice was out for blood on Christmas when she tried to bash my head in. This was nothing. Of course, I started that fight, didn't I?

Suddenly, we heard an incredible crash and the sound of glass breaking. The big bitch and the pug were pounding the shit out of Kelly. Oh, hell no. That shit don't fly! Two on one is a big no-no in my books.

I rushed over to the scene and pulled the two girls off of my friend. I might have pulled too hard because I heard the sound of glass crashing.

Oh God! Now what?

Blondie rushed over to check on her friends. They were perfectly fine. I heard sirens and a minute later we were all being restrained by the cops. Well, I had to pretend like I was being restrained. Megan, Kelly, and I were handcuffed and placed into a paddy wagon along with the three Tufts University bitches.

Well this is deja vu. I remember this happening a year and a half ago too—only I didn't hurl anyone through a window then.

I was using my Isabella Cullen license that Carlisle gave me tonight. I actually had a few aliases and licenses. I switched them up depending on the situation. I used the Isabella Cullen one tonight because I knew that I would need to call Carlisle in case of an emergency. I just wasn't expecting the emergency to be an arrest.

We were booked and fingerprinted and thrown into a jail cell. One of the officers came to get me. "One phone call, Cullen."

Hmm...who should I call? Carlisle, Esme, Vicky, Riley, Irina, and Laurent—definitely out. Edward? No, I think his new license has him at sixteen. Peter? No, he'd blab to Jasper. Char would probably try to seduce an officer and get arrested herself. Same with Tanya. Rose. It has to be Rose.

She always had my back just like I always had hers. She was the sister that I felt closest to. I could talk to her about anything just like she could with me.

I dialed Rose's number and she picked up immediately.

"Hello?" She sounded concerned. She probably saw Boston Police Department on her caller id.

"Rose, it's Isabella Cullen." I enunciated, hoping that she'd understand that she was to use the Cullen last name.

"Bella, where are you? Are you okay?" She asked.

"No, I've been arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct." I said. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah, it's just me and Em. You don't have to whisper, we're at the Boston penthouse. You want us to come get you?" She asked.

"Please." I said.

"Okay, we'll be right there." She hung up her phone with a gasp. Emmett probably scared her.

Phew! That was a close call. Rose and Em will definitely get me out of this mess without telling the parents.

**Carlisle's POV**

"Kitten, may I speak to you?" I asked.

"Yes, Daddy?" She replied sweetly.

"Who were you speaking to on the phone?"

"Um, no one, Daddy." She lied.

"Don't lie to me, kitten. You know it'll do no good."

She gulped. Rose always was a horrific liar, worse than Bella—I dare say.

"Daddy, it was just a work related phone call. Nothing to worry about."

"Kitten?"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Which police station is she at? She didn't mention it in her phone conversation. I assume it's on your caller id."

"Boston." She sighed.

"I'll see you and Emmett at home." I said and left immediately to bail my youngest daughter out of jail.

_**15 Minutes Later...**_

"Hello. My name is Carlisle Cullen. I understand that my daughter, Isabella, is being kept here."

"Fill these out and pay at the cashier." The officer handed me a couple of forms without even looking at my face. "Next!"

I quickly filled out the paperwork and brought it to the cashier. She brought it to another police officer for approval and returned. "Fifteen hundred dollars cash, money order, certified check, Visa, or Mastercard." She demanded.

I gave her the cash. I wanted to leave as little a paper trail as possible. This arrest must and will be cleared.

The woman counted the cash and handed me a receipt. "Wait for the suspect in the reception area, down the hall and to the left."

A few minutes later, the door to the holding area clicked open and a jubilant looking Bella appeared. "Rose! Em! Tha...fuck!"

"Language, Bella." I corrected.

"Hi, Daddy." She cringed.

"Is she all set to go?" I asked the guard. He nodded in affirmation.

"Okay, baby girl. Time to go home." I led Bella out to my car. I was outraged, but I was determined to keep my cool.

I buckled her into the passenger seat and set off towards Amherst. The ride home was silent. Neither one of us saying a word. I pulled into the garage and Bella sat still in her seat. I got out, opened her door, and went as far as unbuckling her seat belt for her. She still didn't move.

"Bella, you're going to have to face me sooner or later." I said. No movement still.

"Fine, let's do it your way. I threw her over my shoulder and carried her into the house. Everyone stared, shocked at our entrance. "Esme, meet us in my office please." I said, on the way upstairs. My wife, immediately, followed. She closed my office door behind her.

I placed Bella on a chair, folded my arms in front of me and said, "Explain." Bella turned her head to the side and stared at my books. I turned her head towards me.

Bella sighed. "I went out with my college friends and we had a little to drink. We were provoked by three girls that we had a previous run-in with. They threw the first punch and Kelly and Megan started fighting. I tried my best to avoid fighting, but when two of the girls started attacking Kelly I jumped in to pull them off of her. I might have pulled too hard because I think I flung them through a window. I'm sorry. I really am."

She was remorseful—that much was true.

"Why didn't you just come out and say so instead of going through all the trouble of me carrying you upstairs? I'd also like to know why you called Rose instead of me or Esme."

"I was embarrassed at my behavior, I guess. I really am sorry. I really didn't mean to fling those girls through a window. I guess I couldn't gage my strength. I called Rose because I didn't want you to find out, I knew you'd be ashamed of me." Bella looked as if she were about to cry.

"Bella, your father and I aren't ashamed of you. We can never be ashamed of you. We are, however, disappointed in your behavior. We're not upset about you drinking with your friends or the fact that you defended your friend the best way you knew how. It's the fact that you didn't call us when you were in trouble and that you tried to hide it from us." My wife explained.

"Now, let's go to the topic of your inability to gage your strength. This is precisely why I said that you needed to be with another vampire during your newborn year. Now, I understand that the lack of independence bothers you, but until next September—you need to have another vampire with you at all times. Oh, and yes, Bella, I will be telling Jasper about this." I informed her.

"I understand." Bella said. "Had someone else been with me, they would have stopped me from jumping in, right?"

"Not only that, Bella, but they would have been able to pull those girls off of your friend without throwing them through a window." I said. "Now for consequences. Any ideas, Esme?"

"You're not going to make me sit in a corner on my knees, are you?" Bella asked.

"Why would we do that?" I asked, shocked that she would even ask such a thing.

"Oh, no reason." Bella said, clearly relieved.

"Bella, tomorrow morning, beginning at 8 am, you'll be cleaning the entire house from top to bottom. That includes dusting, mopping, vacuuming, and windows." Esme said, prepared for an argument.

"Sounds fair." Bella agreed. She didn't argue the punishment like the other kids usually do. She just accepted the consequences of her actions gracefully.

Esme seemed equally as shocked as I was because she looked at me with a "what do we do now?" type of look. We generally started with a harsh punishment and reduced it when the kids argued with us. We weren't expecting her to agree so easily.

I called Rose and Emmett upstairs. Emmett had nothing to do with this fiasco, he was just an innocent bystander, but Rose was prepared to bail Bella out and hide this from us. They both came up to my office right away.

"Emmett, I need you to hack into the Boston Police Department's computer system and wipe all traces of Bella and her friend's arrests. There were also three other girls involved. Wipe their records clean as well. After that, I need you to call the bar they were out and find out how much damages were. Let them know that I'll take care of it all. There's no need for them to call their insurance company. Oh, and make sure you don't use the Cullen name. Use the Fred Johnson one we use in these circumstances."

"Okay, Dad." Emmett left to clean up the mess. Rose tried to follow him out.

"Not you, young lady." I said. She stopped to face me. "You lied to me, Kitten."

"I know Dad, it won't happen again." She tried to leave the room.

"Rose, I know you were trying to cover for Bella and I admire the loyalty and closeness that you two share, but this is the kind of situation that you can't keep from us."

"Okay, Dad, I understand. If it happens again, I'll be sure to tell you." Rose, clearly, had no understanding of the severity of her actions.

"Kitten, this is precisely the type of incident that could have exposed us. What would have happened if you successfully hid it from us, but failed to clean up all the loose ends? What if the Volturi were to find out and became involved?"

Bella started sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." I held her on my lap to comfort her.

"I...I guess I didn't think it through." Rose said.

"Rose, as punishment for your actions, you will clean the house from top to bottom alongside Bella."

"What?" Rose and Bella both argued.

"Dad, Rose was only trying to protect me. She shouldn't be punished at all. She wouldn't be in this mess if hadn't called her." Bella argued.

Rose sighed, "Sis, he's right. I shouldn't have lied to Daddy when he asked me about your phone call. He gave me several chances."

"Okay, you girls are free to go." I said. They left the room immediately, hand in hand. Out of all the girls, Rose and Bella had grown the closest. They frequently spent time together and they went to each other for advice.

"I love seeing how close those two have gotten. I remember how they did their best to avoid each other in Forks." Esme voiced exactly how I was feeling.

I gave my wife a lingering kiss and we made our way downstairs. The kids were all scattered around the living room watching a movie. Bella was snuggled up in Riley's arms and he was running his fingers through her hair. It was nice to see everyone simply spend time together.

_**8 a.m., Saturday Morning**_

True to their word, Bella and Rose started cleaning bright and early. I chuckled at the sight of them. They were both dressed in overalls and had bandanas covering their hair. Alice was following them around, begging them to let her take over the cleaning in exchange for three thousand dollars.

"Alice, Rose and I are being punished. It would defeat the whole purpose if we paid you to take over the cleaning. Besides, it wouldn't be worth three thousand dollars anyway."

"Oh, please, please. I really need the money. Carlisle's making me pay for the car insurance by myself. I asked everyone from my mate to Jazzy Pooh. They all refused. You two are my last hope before I have to get a job. Please!" She begged.

"Alice, I paid for my own car insurance while I was in high school with a minimum wage job. You have tons of college degrees, I'm sure you'll be able to find a job that pays better than minimum wage."

"Oh! Why is everyone so dead set against helping me, damn it! What have I ever done to you? To any of you! Damn it all to hell!" Alice cried. "You have no idea how horrible my life is. You, Bella, you stole my life from me! You stole my husband from me! You stole..."

"Okay, Alice, time for a hunt." Riley interrupted. "I thought maybe we could run to Maine for a change. What do you say?"

"Okay, I could use a hunt." Alice whimpered.

Riley winked at Rose and Bella as he led Alice out of the house. He was a good boy, my Riley. He cared about everyone's well being—even Alice's.

With the Pixie out of the way, Rose and Bella were able to finish up their chores quickly. They worked well together. I noticed everyone else pitching in, but didn't say a word. As soon as they were done, Rose and Bella excused themselves. They didn't come home until after midnight and I didn't intrude on their privacy to find out where they were. As long as they weren't doing anything illegal, I was determined to give them as much personal freedom as possible.

**Jasper's POV**

Boy that was fun! Garrett, Rex, and I spent a weekend at a re-enactment of the winter at Valley Forge. Garrett and I could speak the way we did when we were kids and Rex proved to be a skilled actor. We showed everyone how to make hardtack and johnny cakes the real way. Garrett wanted to pretend that he had frostbite and kept begging us to amputate his foot. I explained to him that it really wouldn't make sense if he walked out of Valley Forge on two feet after the re-enactment was over. How the hell were we supposed to explain the sudden reattachment of his foot to the humans? We were invited back next year and the three of us were already making plans to go. Sure, we all missed our mates, but this shit was worth it.

Garrett dropped me off at the house in Amherst, then he and Rex left right away for the Denali home.

Carlisle came out to greet me on the front porch. "May I have a word with you, Jasper."

"Sure, just let me put my bag in the house." I said.

"Uh, I thought maybe we could go for a quick run before we go inside."

Must be serious. "Okay." I agreed.

We ran into the forest and took down a couple of deer each. Then, we sat on the forest floor to talk.

"Jasper, Bella ran into a little trouble on Friday night." He said.

Holy fuck! What the hell happened. I leave her alone for one weekend and she runs into trouble. She is a danger magnet. I didn't feel any extreme mating pull, though

"What happened?" I asked.

Carlisle immediately started telling the story. "She went out with her human friends and was involved in a bar fight. She and her friends were provoked. Bella tried to stay out of it, but when two girls attacked her friend Kelly, she stepped in to pull them off of her. She didn't gage her strength enough and flung them both through a window instead. The girls were all taken to jail where I bailed her out. Esme and I gave her an appropriate punishment—she and Rose had to clean the entire house from top to bottom by themselves."

"Wait a minute! How was Rose involved?'

"Oh, Bella called Rose to have her bail her out. I happened to overhear the phone conversation. When I asked Rose about the phone call, she lied to try and cover for Bella." He admitted.

Well, shit. Is that all? I thought she had a run-in with another vampire or something.

"Jasper, Bella is still a newborn. Maybe it's not such a good idea to let her go out with her human friends without another vampire to supervise her. She wasn't able to gage her strength—those girls could have been seriously hurt, but another vampire would have been able to stop her from getting involved."

Eh, maybe. Bella was okay. I agree with what Carlisle said to an extent, but he over thinks these matters way too much. Besides, I highly doubt that Bella wasn't able to gage her strength. I think there was more to the story and neither Bella nor Carlisle bothered to investigate it. I planned to, though.

"Okay Carlisle." I said to appease him.

He seemed satisfied so we both ran home.

"I'm home!" I yelled as I ran inside. I quickly found Bella and pulled her into my arms. I took a deep whiff of her scent. God, I missed her.

"I want to go home." She whispered in my ear. She looked frustrated. Okay, woman, your wish is my command.

"Well, guys, Bella and I are heading home." I said.

"You just got here!" Esme protested. "You didn't even have a chance to tell us about your trip."

"I know, but I've had a long weekend and we both have classes tomorrow." I answered. "We'll try to come up mid-week for a visit."

Bella grabbed her purse and we left the house. "Where's the truck?" I asked.

"I wasn't allowed to go back and get it." She sighed. She must have been under constant supervision all weekend. No wonder she wanted to get the hell out of there.

"Well, then, we're running I guess." I said. "It'll be faster anyway."

We zoomed through the forest and hopped a train once we got to a more populated area. As soon as we got home, we ran inside, and locked the door. Before I could take another step, Bella ripped my clothes off of my body. Well, shit. Two can play that game, I'm horny too. I shredded her clothes, picked her up, and plunged my rock-hard cock straight into her pussy. I shoved her up against a wall and fucked her like there was no tomorrow. We were screaming each other's names in no time.

"Thank you, Jasper, I needed that." She breathed.

"Rough weekend, baby?"

"Yes." She grumbled. "I know Carlisle told you about what happened. I'm sorry about that."

"Why? I'm not upset. The only part that has me confused is the part where he said that you flung the two girls out of the window. I have a feeling that they fell out on their own. Did you see what happened, Bella?"

"No, I just heard the sound of glass breaking."

"So, it's possible that you didn't throw them through the window, but you told Carlisle that you did?"

"Well, I assumed..."

"No, baby, let's call the bar and clear up the facts. I bet the bartender witnessed everything. Where'd you go?"

"Mc Greevy's"

"Let's get this shit cleared up now because I really can't see you losing that much control of your motor skills all of a sudden. Baby?" I looked down and Bella was looking up at me with my cock, balls deep, in her mouth—her big doe eyes staring right into mine. "Okay, we'll wait until we're done. Yeah, that's what we'll do."

Seems silly to let a blow go to waste, especially after a weekend away from my mate.

God, I'm a lucky fucker.

**So, Jasper is gonna do a bit of investigating. Who do you think is correct about Bella losing sudden control of her strength, Jasper or Carlisle? I thought Carlisle and Esme may have been a bit harsh with Bella and Rose. It seems as though they're held to higher standards than everyone else in the family, don't you? Alice is in a bit of a bind. I'd say reality was thrown at her really quick when she was handed the car insurance bill. Unfortunately, it hasn't sunk in yet. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I enjoy writing back to you so you'll definitely hear back from me.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Thank you very much for all your sweet reviews, faves, and alerts. I truly appreciate each and every one of them. Kisses from Jasper to all of you or from Bella for those who prefer the female variety of vampire.**

**This chapter contains swearing, references to sex, a clinical explanation of vibrators, and vampires watching TV.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Mature readers 18 and over only please.**

**Jasper's POV**

"Cut it out, Jasper!" Bella whispered. "The poor guy is going to jizz his pants. Look at him! He's sweating bullets in the middle of February."

"My facts were accurate, Bella. I was in Galveston during that skirmish. You know that fucker's just a Yankee sympathizer. I didn't deserve a fucking F, Bella."

"Yeah, well, argue the point, then. Don't embarrass the guy in the middle of class. Stop sending the guy lust! He's like eighty years old. He's probably gonna have a heart attack!"

"I didn't deserve the F, Bella." I reiterated.

"Jasper, just because you got a bad gr..."

"Ungh...Mercyyyy!" The old geezer clutched on to his desk for support as he came. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he had a permagrin plastered on his face.

"Professor, Professor are you okay?" Several concerned students inquired.

"Can we call an ambulance for you?" Another student asked.

"I can't fucking believe that you actually did it." Bella said between her gritted teeth.

"Hey, I did the asshole a favor, damn it! He's probably never cum this good in his life."

The fucking Yankee recovered, cleared his throat, and said, "Class is dismissed for the day. I will see all of you next week. Please complete your research on tactical errors made by the Confederate Army which led to their ultimate demise." What the fuck? Failures. We lost because the fucking North cheated—those goddamn, no good sneaks.

We all started filing out of the classroom. Bella and I were stopped on the way out.

"Miss Swan your paper was quite exemplary. It's clear that you researched your facts thoroughly and I'm quite impressed at how you've backed up every single fact that you presented to me—unlike some people." Yankee geezer directed that final jab at me. "Mr. Whitlock, perhaps since you and Miss Swan are so close, she can advise you on how to write a proper research paper. I don't quite understand where you got the idea that presenting a fictitious story in place of a research paper would be acceptable in my class."

Fictitious story? Hey, fuck you, asshole. I was at the actual battle. I bet you don't know what it's like to be fired upon by four fucking boatloads of psychotic yankees. You know what, we're moving down south next time. I'm sick of living in Yankee territory.

I was about to give the professor a piece of my mind when my traitor wife opened her mouth. "Thank you, Professor, I'll be sure to offer Mr. Whitlock some assistance." Bella yanked me out of the classroom before I could actually say anything.

"Thank you, Professor, I'll be sure to offer Mr. Whitlock some assistance." I mimicked my wife and murmured, "Brown noser."

"You're just jealous because I got an A! Jasper, while I'm sure you didn't lie in your paper, you can't just hand in twenty pages without any footnotes or a bibliography to back up your facts."

"Well, I can't help it. That shit's all stored in my head." I defended.

"What's up, guys?" Garrett, walked up to us just then. "You okay, Jasper?"

"No, he's flipping out because he got a F on a research paper." Bella said.

"Tough break, man. You think you can boost your grade later?"

"I doubt it, the fucking loser prof is a Yankee."

"Yeah, I have a class taught by a Tory—I'm sure of it."

"Um, guys. I hate to tell you this, but those wars happened over a hundred years ago—two hundred in your case Garrett. There are no Yankees or Tories anymore."

We both narrowed our eyes at Bella. "Look around you Bella, the world is full of our enemies." Garrett said.

"Oh geez!" My mate said and smacked her forehead with her hand. "Will you two get your archaic nut sacks into this century for fuck's sake? We're no longer at war with Britain and the North and the South stopped fighting over a century ago. You're both going to get tossed out of Harvard if you keep this stubborn shit up. Now, suck it up and get with the program!"

"Fine." Garrett and I both muttered that followed by a string of profanities under our breath.

"Hey, Bella, can you come with me to the hairdresser's right now?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah, sure, why?"

"Tomorrow's Valentine's Day and Katie's been asking me to modernize my looks. She said the ponytail with the ribbon went out a couple of centuries ago. I wanted to surprise her."

"Okay, let's go." She said. "Meet you back at the house?"

"Yep, I have a few calls to make anyway." I gave Bella a kiss and went on my way. I wasn't threatened in the least by Garrett. I knew he'd protect her with everything he had. The only two that emitted lust when they were around Bella were Peter and Mike now, but they were that way around all the women. Well, almost all—everyone except for Alice and Esme. Poor Mike! The dude doesn't even feel an ounce of lust around his mate.

I got home and called Carlisle. I wanted to catch him before he and Esme left for London. Carlisle was taking her away for a ten day getaway as a Valentine's Day present. At the same time, Carmen and Eleazar were off to tour Costa Rica.

There were a few purposes to this call. One was to tell Carlisle that Bella actually didn't lose control at the bar. The bartender and two bouncers confirmed that she stayed out of the action and that she only stepped in to pull the two women off of her friends and gently, at that. The girls from Tufts apparently threw a chair through the window themselves then proceeded to act as if they were somehow thrown out so that they could file a lawsuit against the bar and Bella and her friends. The bartender witnessed the whole thing and even asked the cops not to arrest Bella, but they hauled her in anyway. Carlisle was relieved to hear that.

The second reason was to tell them that they needed to lay off of Bella. The call to the bar confirmed that she had a handle on things and there was no reason for them to supervise her all the time. When we went for our mid-week visit, they were on her like white on rice again. It got so bad that part way through the visit, Eleazar had to come and grab her and take her to his house so that she could relax. Carlisle agreed with me and said that he'd talk to the others. Apparently, he tried to reign in Vicky and Esme, but they became uber-protective and stayed on top of Bella as if she was a hardened criminal.

The third reason was to pay Carlisle back for any expenses relating to Bella's arrest. She's my mate and my responsibility. Carlisle argued that Bella was his daughter and as such, his responsibility. I told him that a mate trumps a father in the vampire world. We kept arguing until he finally gave in and let me handle it all.

The final reason was a bit tougher. I needed to set up some firm boundaries between us and the parents. The fact was that we weren't kids and we didn't need to be coddled or taken care of. The others could play whatever charade they wanted with Esme and Carlisle, they really weren't my problem and I could care less. Some of us needed to be treated like children more than others. Hey, I get that, but Bella and I definitely did not.

"Carlisle, I know you and Esme felt the need to punish Bella, but, to be honest, you really overstepped your boundaries there."

"Jasper, Bella's my daughter and, as such, we wanted to make sure that she understood the ground rules."

"Carlisle, I really hate to tell you this, but Bella's my wife and we live separately from your family. She's never lived with you on a full time basis, ever, and, to be honest, you really have no parental claim on her whatsoever. You hopped back into her life five years after you abandoned her. Five years during which she was raised by Riley, Victoria, Irina, and Laurent. They have more of a right to parent her than you and Esme do. In the future, I'd appreciate it if you'd let Bella and I deal with situations like these on our own." I hated bringing this up, but the man needed to see that Bella was no longer a little girl, and frankly, never really his.

"Jasper, you weren't home. You were in Pennsylvania. How were you supposed to deal with it from there?"

"She had the situation under control. Rose would have dealt with it." I explained. "In any case, in a normal household, once the daughter is married and has left the nest, would the parents still punish her as if she was a petulant teenager?"

Carlisle sighed and admitted I was correct.

I told Carlisle that Bella still needed him and that she'd always think of him as a father figure. He was a bit sad, but assured me that he'd accede to my wishes. I really hated doing that to him. I knew my words were harsh, but they were the truth. He really loved Bella like a true father, but he needed to let her go.

My next call was to my bank in Switzerland. I recently sold off some stock that I owned in a pharmaceutical firm at a high. I made a few million off of that transaction and I wanted to transfer that money into Bella's personal account that I had recently opened up for her. Sure enough, it was in there.

My final call was to a local bank in Massachusetts where Bella had her account. I tried to get her to combine accounts with me, but she didn't want to give up the account she's had for five years. I wanted to see how much Bella's spent and if I needed to add more money to it. Jesus Christ! She's so fucking careful with her spending. Since our trip to Nashville, she's only purchased gas, $4.39 at CVS—probably for shampoo or something, $8.47 at Border's, and she pulled out a hundred bucks for her night out with her friends. After having been married to Psycho Bitch, I never thought I'd ever say this, but I really wish she'd go shopping or something. She's not exactly a penny pincher, far from it. She just doesn't spend unnecessarily.

My cell phone rang a few minutes later. It was Riley. "Hey, Jasper. I got out of work early and I was wondering if I could kick back at your place?"

"Come on over." I said.

Twenty minutes later, Riley walked into the house. "What's up, bro?"

"Nothing much. I wanted to relax before going home. If I left now, I'd hit tons of traffic. Are you guys coming up tonight? Carlisle and Esme are gone for ten days—thank fuck. We're just gonna hang out, Vicky picked up a DVD of some TV show that everyone's been talking about."

"Yeah, but you need to have your wife lay off of Bella, man. I called the bar and she wasn't even involved in the fight."

"I know, Carlisle called me. I thought there was something fishy there. You know, Carlisle and I got into it after you guys left on Sunday. I didn't think that they had a right to punish her that way. It was different from when she got arrested during college. Back then, we were responsible for her well being, physically, emotionally, and financially. Of course, I lectured her then, but I had a right to. Vicky's punishment was more severe. When I got home from work the next day, Bella had been sitting in a corner on her knees for six hours. I had to explain to Vicky that we just didn't punish humans like that unless they were being tortured or something. Apparently, that's the way things were handled in Maria's army for minor offenses."

"Ouch. Poor Bella! Her knees must have been stuck in that position." I remember having unruly vampires sit on their knees for days myself, but that was actually to have them learn their place. It wasn't painful at all to a vampire, just boring. For a human, though, it would have been excruciatingly painful.

"Yeah, I had to pick her up and put her to bed. Laurent came in and massaged her legs and her back out for her. Vicky apologized profusely after that. Bella, being Bella, took it all in stride and laughed afterwards. As far as my wife is concerned now, she just worries about Bella, tremendously—I'll talk to Vicky when I get home."

"I know she worries and thanks." I was about to say something else when my cell rang.

"I'm done with classes. Can I come over?" It was Emmett.

"Sure, Riley's here too, come on over."

Ten minutes later, Emmett was sitting on the sofa. "Where's Sissy?"

"She's out with Garrett." I said.

"Oh, got any whiskey?" Emmett asked.

"You know I do. Just go grab a bottle." I said. I always had a couple of cases each of Jack Daniels and Patron on hand. The local package store loved me.

Emmett grabbed three and threw one each to me and Riley. He downed the whole bottle in one go and went to grab another one. Riley and I just looked at each other. This wasn't like Em at all. He cracked open that one and chugged about half of it.

You okay, Em?" I asked concerned. He finished off the other half before talking to us.

"I think Rosie likes Pete better than me." He said.

What the hell? Is Em getting all jealous about my smart ass brother? "What the fuck gave you that idea. Rose loves you. I feel it whenever she's near you."

"Well, then how come whenever she comes home she goes straight to the garage with Pete?" Emmett sounded like a whiney brat. He grabbed two more bottles and pretty much inhaled one of them. A drunk Emmett was never a good thing and he was well on his way already.

"They both have a shared hobby, Emmett. You've got to give her some space." Riley said. "You'll do more harm than good if you don't."

"Yeah, well yesterday they were in the garage for eight hours." Emmett said scathingly chugging another half of a bottle.

"Em, they were rebuilding the transmission on my Suburban. It's still out of commission." Riley explained. By the way, I'm driving your Jeep up. There's no way in hell I'm letting you get behind the wheel in your condition. Hand over the key."

"Fuck no!" Aw...shit! Fucker is drunker than a skunk. He gets ornery when he's drunk and violent too.

"Give him the key, Em." I reiterated.

"You can't make me." Emmett said, then the dipshit went and swallowed the key to his Jeep.

"Well, that works too." I chuckled. Riley looked like he was gonna die laughing. I must have been projecting because we were all rolling with laughter when Garrett and Bella walked inside. They couldn't stop laughing either.

"What the fuck are we laughing about?" Garrett dove straight for my stash of whiskey.

"Emmett just swallowed the key to his Jeep." Riley explained.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Bella asked.

"I didn't want Riley to have it." Emmett said simply.

"So you swallowed it? Couldn't you just give it to Jasper?" Bella asked.

"Nope." Emmett said stubbornly. I looked over to Garrett who was sitting by my whiskey stash on his third bottle.

"Garrett? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Hell, no. Your woman's evil. She took me for my haircut and then she made me go to Waxorama to get my manbush trimmed for Katie's sake." He said. "Do you know that they spread your legs out and yank the hair off of you without warning. I felt so violated."

The rest of us started rolling again. "I wouldn't know. Bella trims mine." I said.

"Are you saying that I could have just trimmed my bush with a pair of scissors?" Garrett asked.

"More like wire cutters in your case." Bella giggled.

"Wait a minute? When the fuck did you look at Garrett's bush?" I asked, a little pissed.

"Oh, just today. I had to. He was screaming to holy hell and growling like a pitbull so I ran in to check on him. There were four women trying to hold him down so I had to help restrain him.

"You have no idea what they do to you in there. That place is like a torture chamber. They even ripped the hairs off of my inner thighs and underneath my balls." He cringed as he downed another bottle of Jack.

"I know, it made my little guy want to curl up and hide." Emmett added, clearly remembering his own painful experience at Waxorama. "I had to coax him out in order to make love to Rosie later. Poor little dude." Emmett patted the front of his pants as if it were a pet ferret.

"Oh my God! You guys are such wimps. Do you realize that we women hit that place every six weeks? Laurent goes without complaining." Bella said.

"Yeah, well, Laurent has a higher pain threshold. He does all that karate and yoga internal breathing crap!" Garrett snapped.

"How the fuck does internal breathing work for a vampire anyway? We don't need to breathe." I asked.

Emmett's phone rang so he picked it up just then. "Where the fuck are you and Riley? I've been waiting for forty-five minutes already!" Rosalie snapped on the other end.

"I'm at Jasper's. I lost my key." Emmett stated. More like ate it. I was trying to figure out how we were going to get the key out of him. I could hear Rose on the phone shouting profanities at him. Emmett just handed the phone to Riley who explained about her mate swallowing the key and told her to get herself over to our place.

Twenty minutes later, Rosie arrived. By then, Em and Garrett were both singing at the top of their lungs, drunk as hell, totally oblivious to everyone else.

"What the hell happened?" Rosalie asked aghast.

"Oh, they're both suffering from a case of stripped manhood." I explained. "Come on, we'll take Bella and Garrett's trucks up to Amherst. You sure I can't drive the Vette yet?" I asked.

"No! It's winter. You'll ruin the undercarriage!" Rose yelled.

I put my hands up in surrender.

"Garrett, where are the keys to your truck?" I asked.

"Truck? I have a truck?" He asked as he and Emmett clinked their bottles of Jack together.

"Motherfucker!" Rosalie cursed. She then sauntered up to Garrett and thrust her hands into his pants pocket and grabbed his keys.

"Just a little more to the left, baby." Garrett joked seductively to Rose. She gave his wiener a good squeeze and he yelped in pain. He immediately downed another bottle of whiskey.

We were herding the drunks into Garrett's truck when Riley's phone buzzed with a text. "Um, guys, we forgot all about Laurent." He said.

"Okay, you get the drunk dudes home and Bella and I will grab Laurent and head up to Amherst." I suggested.

"Fuck no! You and Riley get Drunk and Drunker home and Bella and I will grab Laurent." Rose shrieked.

I wasn't about to argue with the ice queen right now. Bella was better at keeping her calm anyway. "Sounds good." I agreed. Riley and I climbed into the truck and shot out of there. I don't think he wanted to deal with bitchy Rose either.

_**Cullen Residence, Amherst, New Hampshire**_

_**Three Hours Later...**_

With both sets of parents gone for the week, we were all unusually relaxed and having a great time. The Denalis were over too. Rex and I took Garrett's truck to the liquor store and loaded up the bed with several cases each of Jack Daniels and Patron. We all figured that with Garrett and Emmett already three sheets to the wind, we may as well party it up along with them. Emmett was drowning his sorrows in, yet, another bottle of Jack. He was currently slumped back in an armchair where Amanda had just practiced her manicuring skills on him. I don't even think that he's aware that his finger and toenails each have a different shade of pink on him. She was now working on different shades of red using Garrett's nails.

We were sitting around the family drinking and watching a comedy series about vampires on DVD that Vicky had picked up called True Blood. It was obvious that whoever came up with this stuff knew nothing about vampires.

"Holy fuck! Look at them! They have retractable fangs and shit!" Peter chuckled.

"That's so unfair! I want fangs!" Emmett cried out. "It would make the whole vampire thing more exciting. All we do is sparkle and shit! We don't even get to sleep like these fuckers."

"You know, you'd think that since they get to sleep, they'd set up a nice bedroom for themselves underground." Irina said. "I don't get why they have to sleep on the ground or in coffins. They're so uncivilized."

"I wish I could sleep. I really miss it." Mike mused, then pointed to the TV. "Whoa! That vampire is fucking the cute, blonde chick and he just bit her. Look at all that blood! I thought I was a messy eater, but this guy's a fucking slob. Hey, shouldn't she be dead?"

"Not necessarily," Peter explained, "but she should have passed out by now. Man, he is a slob! I wouldn't be wasting any of that good stuff."

"Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. There's no way she could be awake and and in the tub with him."

Garrett piped in.

"Oh, sure taking Vitamin B12 is definitely going to help replenish her blood." I said sarcastically. "This show is nuts! Vicky who told you about this?"

"Oh, everyone's talking about it. It's all the rage in the staff room at the high school and the kids are crazy about that blonde vampire Eric." Vicky explained, laughing. "Didn't I tell you this was going to be funny, guys? This is bordering on slapstick."

"Oh, I definitely can see why." Bella said. "That guy is fuckhot!"

"Huh? Hang on there. What the hell is so fuckhot about him, Mrs. Whitlock?" I emphasized.

"Oh, I'd do him." Rosalie agreed. Emmett inhaled another bottle of Jack after hearing that.

"I like the girl's brother. The one addicted to V-juice." Amanda joined in the conversation. "He has a really, really nice body."

"Well, he does have a nice body for a human, but honestly, Amanda, the guy's an idiot." Vicky said. "Eric has that sinister, mysterious side to him—he's dangerous too."

"I kind of like Bill." Katie said. "He's trying to mainstream and he's so protective of Sookie."

Alrighty, ladies. You wanna play this game, then let's play. "I think the brunette waitress that was murdered is hot!"

"Oh, hell, yeah! Now, that's what I'm talking about. Her legs, her ass, she had the whole package. She was a fangbanger though." Peter said.

"What the hell is a fangbanger?" I must have missed that part somehow.

"It's a human that fucks vampires." Peter explained.

"Holy shit! Bella, you were a fangbanger when you were human!" Edward suddenly announced.

We all started laughing—even Bella. "You're right, Edward. I was a fangbanger! Hey, technically, Mike and Rex were fangbangers too."

"Wait a minute? If we fucked a vampire when we were human and vampires are dead, doesn't that technically make us necrophiliacs too?" Mike asked.

"Uh, no, Mike. Vampires are dead, but still the living dead so I don't think fucking a vampire while you're human would make you a necrophiliac." Edward explained. "See, even though we don't breathe, we can still move. A necrophiliac has sex with an immobile corpse."

"Oh fuck! I was a fucking necrophiliac!" Mike cried out. "Alice just laid there like a rag doll!"

"Well, then, technically so was Jasper, so don't worry about it." Mike and I both took huge swigs of our drinks. Mike was guzzling Patron and I was guzzling Jack. Meanwhile the girls were all lusting over that Eric dude on TV.

We all went back to watching the fucked up comedy and discussing how ridiculous it was that the vampires in the show actually have blood. "I can't believe that the humans can actually overpower the vampires and steal their blood. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen." Rose said.

"Hey, Edward, when you read people's minds do the voices come in like it does for that girl?" I asked, curiously.

"Yeah, it does. I can really relate to her. It can be overwhelming." Edward explained.

"I know exactly what you're talking about. I can feel what everyone's feeling even now." I admitted.

We settled back into watching True Blood when, suddenly, Alice streaked by us in search of something.

"Alice, we're trying to watch TV here. What the hell are you looking for?" Rosalie asked.

"Have you seen a bunny rabbit?" Alice asked.

I felt something brush my leg. I reached for it and found a cute little pet rabbit. "You mean this bunny?" I asked.

"Yes, now may I please have my rabbit back so I can go back to my business?" Alice asked. That's when I noticed that Alice was completely buck naked on her bottom half.

"Um...Alice, do you know that you have no pants on?" I asked.

"Of course I know, Jasper. That's why I need my rabbit back. As soon as I can figure out how to make it do what I need it to do, I can put my pants back on. Now give me my rabbit."

Rex's eyes suddenly bulged and started chuckling. I think he figured out what was going on.

"Don't give her the bunny, Jasper." Rex warned.

"It's my rabbit and I can do with it what I want. Now Bella, I hate to ask you because, well, I hate you, but would you please show me how to train one of these things so I can have an orgasm. I heard from Edward that you're some sort of an expert rabbit trainer."

It was funny as hell—definitely, but none of us could will ourselves to laugh. We were all in a state of shock.

"Alice, when did Edward tell you that I was an expert rabbit trainer?" Bella asked bewildered.

"I told her during the honeymoon. I had overheard you and your friends talking about how you use rabbits to bring yourselves to an orgasm. Frankly, I was wondering how you did that myself." Edward admitted.

It wasn't too long ago that I was equally confused. I was just thanking heaven that Bella forced me to go to that sex class with her. I had actually been contemplating surprising Bella with a live rabbit back then.

"Dude, she's talking about a mechanical rabbit—not a real one." Mike blurted out.

"Oh, I see!" Edward was suddenly enlightened. "They must be preprogrammed robotic rabbits operated by remote control to bring pleasure to a woman."

"Edward, we were talking about using a vibrator called The Rabbit. It's called that because there's a phallus part that you insert into your vagina and a small vibrating clit stimulator shaped like a little bunny rabbit attached to it." Bella explained. God damn it! There was something sensual about her being all confident and talking clinically like that to Edward. I want to fuck her now.

"Keep going Bella, explain what you do after you put it in your pussy." Mike the fucking perv prompted her.

"Yeah, Bella, do you gently slide it in and out of your pussy or do you ram it in and out really fast until you're crying out Jasper's name in ecstasy." Peter added.

Kate walked up to Peter and Mike, put her hands on their shoulders, and shocked the shit out of them. I threw them an extra dose of pain as reinforcement.

"Ooooowwww! That fucking hurts! What the hell was that?" Mike asked.

"That was fair warning that you need to watch your mouth in front of the ladies, Michael." Vicky warned. "Peter, of course, has a brain the size of a pea so that fact seems to elude him constantly."

"Wait a minute! Are you saying that I went to the trouble of capturing this rabbit for nothing?" Alice asked.

"Yes." Rosalie giggled.

"I have a question." Edward raised his hand as if he was in a classroom. We all nodded at him to go ahead. "If it's not operated by remote control, how does it work?"

Oh, geez. This guy's fucking clueless. Apparently, Char was thinking along the same lines because she screamed, "Ugh! I can't take this shit. Wait here!"

Char ran to her room and came back downstairs with her Rabbit. "This is a Rabbit. This penis shaped part goes into your pussy. You move it in and out of you just like a man would do with his cock. The little bunny ears here go up against your clit for stimulation like so." She turned her Rabbit on and the little latex bunny ears started trembling. "We need this shit because men don't come with built in clit stimulators and not all of us are married to sensitive empaths that think about a woman's needs first. Therefore, this is perfect for getting off after your neanderthal is in the shower." Well damn, I'm feeling pretty good. Char just announced that I'm sensitive to a woman's needs.

"Who the fuck are you calling insensitive Char? Are you saying that you'd rather fuck Jasper? Tanya doesn't think I'm insensitive, do you?"

"Actually, Peter, Jasper is a lot more sensitive to a woman's needs than you are." Tanya smiled. "You know Bella, I don't think it's fair that you're keeping him all to yourself. Char and I think you should share."

No way in hell we're sharing cause if she shared, I'd have to share. I don't share my mate—ever.

"I think Tanya's right. You should share, Jasper. You know, Bella, I can show you what it's like to fuck a real man. I've been told that I fuck like a porn star." Peter said smugly.

"So you fuck like an insensitive prick." Bella stated.

"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but all porn stars fuck the same way. The guy finger fucks the girl for thirty seconds, then he goes down on her for twenty seconds, the girl blows him for twenty minutes, the guy then fucks the girl in her pussy until she's screaming cause she's all raw and sore, then he fucks her in the ass until he cums because she can't handle being fucked in her pussy anymore." Bella explained. "Oh, and by then, she's too sore to cum."

That's it. I'm never watching porn again.

"Damn! She's right." Emmett stated. "Every single porn flick I've seen is almost exactly the same."

"Bella, you've single handedly turned all of us off of porn. Now, how the hell are we supposed to get off?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, use your imagination. Think about titty fucking Jessica Stanley or something. How the fuck am I supposed to know how you get off?"

Mike sat and pondered for a while, eyed Bella and Rose's tits, then smiled to himself. "Don't worry about me. I just thought of a way."

I noticed, then, that Alice was still standing around half naked in the living room. I really wish she'd cover her hairy snatch up. It's something that I never wanted to see again.

"Psycho Bitch, why are your girly parts so hairy?" Amanda asked. "Shouldn't you shave it or something? I read in Seventeen Magazine that girls should shave all the hairy bits that stick out of their bathing suits, otherwise, it would be embarrassing when they go to the beach with their friends."

Alice actually looked mortified. For the first time in her life she had nothing to say. She soon recovered though and said the first nice thing since her return. "Thank you, Amanda, I'll take what you said under advisement."

Amanda looked happy. "The article said you should use your swimsuit bottom as a guide." Alice just smiled at her.

Peter, then, brought back the subject of sharing. "So, Bella, what's it gonna be? Are you coming to bed with me or no?"

"No." Bella said simply.

"No? I've been trying to get you in my bed since I met you! You gave Char a chance. The least you could do is give me a courtesy fuck." Peter argued.

"Hell no and I never gave Char a chance. She appeared out of nowhere when Jasper and I were drunk." Bella stated.

"I just like to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves." Char said with a smug smile.

"Peter, trust me, chasing Bella is a lost cause. I tried for over a year in Forks. She never even gave me a passing glance. Back then, she was so faithful to Edward that no one else could ever turn her head. We all tried, though. Every single one of us." Mike explained. "So, my suggestion would be for you to just give up."

"I'm a Whitlock, I never give up."

"You don't have a chance Peter, I'd rather fuck my Rabbit than fuck you." Bella told my persistent brother.

Peter took the Rabbit from Char and turned it on. He pulled down his pants, popped out his boner, and turned to Bella, "Are you saying that this pink thing is more man than I am?"

Alice was eyeing the Rabbit, or possibly Peter, with desire. She grabbed the vibrator out of Peter's hand and ran to her room.

Char had a disgusted look on her face. "Keep the Rabbit, Alice. I don't want it back—consider it a gift!" She shouted. "Damn it! I need a new Rabbit now."

"I'll give you one of mine. I have five, still brand spanking new, in their packages." Bella said.

"How come you have so many Rabbits?" Char asked.

"Let's just say that Jasper went a little nuts at the sex toy store."

"SEX TOY STORE?" Char flew out of her seat and got in Bella's face. "WHERE?"

"Calm down, Char. It's in Brookline."

"Oh! I don't have to shop online anymore! I'm so excited. When can we go?" Char already had her coat on and her purse slung over her shoulder. She was tapping her foot impatiently by the front door.

"Not now. They're closed. It's already ten pm." Bella said.

"Oh, Bella, please." Char begged. "I just want to peek through the window."

"No." Bella said.

"I'll run there with you. I know where it is. We can look inside and run back." Tanya offered.

The two of them took off into the night.

"Bella! Now my mate's gone, what the fuck am I supposed to do with this?" Peter pointed to his boner.

"Bro, put your shit back in your pants and get away from my mate! You're fucking drunk, Peter!" I yelled.

"Jasper, I'm horny, man! I need to get my dick we...?"

Alice suddenly appeared stark naked, picked Peter up, and carried him to her room. The last thing we heard from him was, "What the fuck? Heeeellllpppp meeee!"

Collectively our jaws dropped, our eyes widened, and we all looked at each other.

Bella and Rose were the first to break out in laughter.

Mike looked up and said, "Poor guy." Not a hint of anger or jealousy at all was emanating from him while his mate took advantage of Peter's drunken state. You would think that Mike and Alice weren't mates, but Char assured as that they were mates using her gift. She said it was a really weak bond, but they were definitely mates.

"Well, I'm not sticking around here." Rose announced. "Bella, let's go get a drink. I need to talk to you about something."

Bella looked up and smiled a mischievous smile. "Uh, sure Rose. We'll be back after our talk." The two of them took off immediately.

What the hell was that? The two of them weren't going for drinks. That much was for sure. I felt the deception ringing off both of them. What the heck were those two up to? I looked over at Riley. He nodded, confirming my thought that they were lying.

Emmett must have sensed something wasn't right because he mumbled, "What the hell?"

"Jasper, Em. Feel like a quick hunt?" Riley asked.

"Yeah." We both said and left the house.

"I'm coming too!" Edward soon joined us outside. Great! Now we were gonna have to hunt first and figure out a way to send Edward away.

When we were out of earshot of the house, Edward said. "Bella dropped her shield for a minute when Alice dragged Pete to her room. I know where they are."

"Well okay, then, lead the way." I said. Rose and Bella have been disappearing for "talks" a little too often, lately. Something was up. Today I felt a fuckton of mischief and deception from the two of them.

"Those two have been really chummy lately, don't you think?" Emmett asked. "They always come back stinking like cigarettes and liquor too."

"So, where are they going, Edward?" Riley asked.

"They're going to Slapshot Sports Bar in Merrimack. They're hustling pool." Edward stated.

"Hustling pool?" Riley, Emmett, and I said all at once.

"All I heard from Rose's thoughts were that they were hustling pool at Slapshots and maybe they could clear twenty grand this time if those jerks from last week were there again."

"Motherfucker." Emmett said. "I wonder how long they've been doing this?"

"I'd say since Nashville, Em. You saw how good Bella was."

"Bella's really good." Riley agreed. I've never beat her once and I can hold my own. You know how good I am, Edward?"

We ran through the forest towards Merrimack and decided to stop for a quick hunt. We each culled some of the wildlife and continued on our run to the bar. I wasn't angry at Bella. I just wanted to know why she felt the need to hustle pool. I also wanted to know why she couldn't tell me about it. I wanted total honesty between us.

We made our way inside the bar. There was a huge crowd surrounding one of the pool tables. The four of us stayed off to the side out of their line of sight.

"You ladies need to give us a chance to earn back what you took from us last weekend." Some sleazy asshole said to Bella and Rose.

"I'm not so sure you can roll with us." Rose chuckled. "Are you sure you even know how to play?"

"Yeah, we know how. We've got our ace in the hole with us today. This is Stan. Show em what you can do, Stan." Sleazy asshole assured.

Stan racked up the balls and started playing. The guy was really good. I'll give him that much.

"We'll take two glasses of Jack—straight." Rose said

The cocktail waitress brought back their drinks and Bella and Rose downed them immediately. "We need to see the cash, gentlemen." Bella ordered.

"Twenty-five grand. Cash." Sleazy asshole showed them the money.

"Count it in front us. Go on." Rose ordered.

The guy counted his cash. All the while he and the other men were eye-fucking Rose and Bella.

"Now your turn." Sleazy asshole said to Rose. She counted out the money.

"Fuck me." Emmett whispered in my ear.

The girls would clear twenty-five grand if they won this round. Leaving them with a total of fifty grand if they included what they were betting.

"I'll break." Stan said. He was good. He sunk in all the solid balls, but missed the eight ball. Bella took her turn, then, and easily sunk in the stripes followed by the eight ball.

"Fuck!" Sleazy asshole and Stan both yelled.

"Give up the cash, asshole." Rose held her hand out. The sleazy asshole handed the money over to her reluctantly. "Thank you, gentlemen. I trust you'll have a good evening."

"We want a fucking rematch next weekend." Stan yelled

Rose and Bella both smirked and left the pool hall immediately. We tailed them. They were giggling and chuckling on their run home about their win.

"Bella, with this win we already have almost two hundred grand in our secret bank account. We'll be able to to surprise Jas and Em with that chartered yacht trip before we know it."

"That's so cool Rose. I can't wait. Just make sure that our men don't find out. You know how they'll become all neanderthal on us."

Riley, Edward, Emmett, and I stopped in our tracks. We let the girls go on ahead of us.

"Damn, Jasper. Our girls are going through the trouble of hustling pool so that they could surprise us with a trip. I feel bad for following them now."

"No kidding. I feel like shit too. Hey, Riley, Edward—could you do us a favor and not mention this to anyone. I think Em and I are just gonna let this one go." I said. I'll never doubt my mate again. A private, chartered yacht with just my mate and Em and Rose sounded pretty wonderful to me.

"Hey, no problem. I was just worried that they were in some kind of trouble." Riley said. "I'm glad they're safe."

"My lips are sealed." Edward made a motion to zip his lips. "By the way, Emmett, your fingernails are hot pink."

"Damn it! I forgot that Amanda was practicing her nail polishing skills on me!"

We ran back to the house. Rose and Bella were already home. Everyone else was still zoned out in front of the TV. I could hear Alice in her room singing at the top of her lungs, "Heaven...I'm in heaven and my heart beats so I can hardly speak..."

Peter walked down the stairs freshly showered. He downed a bottle of Patron. "I was violated, man. Violated! None of you came to rescue me! Jasper, you're my brother. Why didn't you come and rescue me?"

"You're a big boy, Peter. You should be able to handle a little pixie." I said.

"She's crazy, man! She knocked me down on the bed, sat on my cock, and rode me like I was a rodeo bull." Peter cried.

"Alice rode you?" Mike and I questioned at the same time.

"Shit, man, she must have been really desperate. In all the years I was with her, she was nothing, but a dead starfish on the ocean floor." I said.

"No kidding. The few times I was with her, it was like fucking a corpse." Mike agreed.

"Oh, yeah, well she forced me to cum—started screaming like a hyena and slapping me across my face when I said that I couldn't. She refused to get off of my cock until I did and her thighs were clenched tight around me like a vise grip. Now, how the fuck do I get this bleach smell off of my stuff?"

"I used to use the yellow Dial soap." I offered. "It took a couple of days, but it worked."

"Hey, so it wasn't only me?" Mike asked. "I used to mix this solution of a quart of hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup baking soda, and a tablespoon of dish detergent. Dog owners use it to get rid of the stink when their dogs get sprayed by skunks."

Em and I both looked at each other, cringing at the memory of us getting sprayed in Gatlinburg. Our mates wouldn't let us near them for days—not even to scent them.

"Hey, Mike? Were you able to smell Alice when you were human?"

"Yeah, I've always had a heightened sense of smell. Rose smells like cinammon and vanilla and Bella smells like a mix of chocolates, coconuts, and strawberries."

"That's right. What do I smell like?"

"I've always thought that you smell like a mix of hot apple cider and jasmine. Eddie here smells like a fresh Christmas tree and honey and Alice smells like Tide laundry detergent and bleach."

"And you knew all this when you were human?" Pete caught on to my line of questioning. Victoria's curiosity was also peaked.

"Yeah, it's always been that way. For example, even now I can say that Lauren Mallory smells like rum and latex."

"She does smell like that." Emmett agreed. "What do I smell like?"

"You've got the best scent out of everyone. You smell like a combination of fresh grilled hamburgers, french fries, and chocolate shake." Mike said.

"Hey, that's funny. Rex and I were just talking the other day about how Em smells like a combination of a Burger King Whopper and Mc Donald's fries." Bella said.

"Topped off with a Dairy Queen chocolate shake." Rex added.

If my suspicions were correct, Mike was a tracker. He nailed everyone's scents except we had differing opinions about Emmett. Of course, we didn't have Burger King and McDonald's in my day. I always thought Emmett smelled like chopped beef steak and a side of potato patties. Pretty close to Mike's assessment if you ask me. I planned on keeping this information to myself for now. I looked at Pete and Vicky and put my finger to my lips, warning them to stay silent about this. They both nodded that they understood.

Just then, Bella's cell rang. Who the fuck would be calling her at this time of night? It's nearly three in the morning. "Hello." Bella answered.

"Bella!" It was Char. "Um, could you and Jasper come get us? We're at the police station in Brookline. Don't say anything to our mates though."

"A little too late for that, Char. Your mates are sitting the living room listening in. What happened?"

"Oh, we were arrested. Just come get us. Leave our mates at home. We don't feel like dealing with them right now." She hung up on Bella.

Rex and Peter looked like raging bulls as they got ready to leave for Brookline. Riley intervened. "Hey, guys. Obviously your mates want Bella and Jasper to bail them out. Let them go get them—that way, you two can calm down at home and discuss what happened with Tanya and Char without flying off the handle."

"Hey, who the fuck are you to tell us what to do?" Peter asked.

"Peter, he's right man. If you go now, you're gonna flip your shit in the middle of the police station. Besides, you and Rex are both plastered. It wouldn't bode well for you and for them to show up there drunk. Just stay home and sober up. You both know that I'll keep your mates safe." I assured.

Rex and Peter both begrudgingly agreed. Bella and I left right away to go get Char and Tanya.

"What do you think they did to get themselves arrested?" Bella asked.

"Who knows. It must be bad if Char called you instead of Peter." I replied. I pulled my mate in close to my side and kissed her. I kept thinking about the conversation I overheard between her and Rose. Em and I sure were lucky guys. Both girls had more than enough money to charter a private yacht, yet they wanted to surprise us by earning the cash themselves. It may seem ridiculous, but it showed how earnest they both were.

"I love you, Bella." I said, mussing her hair.

"I love you, too, Jasper." I pulled her onto my lap and drove all the way into Brookline like that.

Now to bail out Super Tatas and Sweet Punani—I shuddered thinking about what they could have possibly done.

**Oh my goodness, poor Peter-he was violated by the psychotic pixie. Maybe he deserved it though, I mean, the guy was relentless in his pursuit of Bella. Do you think Jasper did the right thing in setting Carlisle straight regarding parental boundaries? I know that a ton of stuff happened in this chapter. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are. I promise to write back. XOXO**


	32. Chapter 32

**Thank you so much for all your awesome reviews, faves, and alerts. I truly appreciate each and every one of them. You can either make out with Edward for that virginal experience or go wild with Tanya and Char! **

**This chapter contains sexual content, two brainless vampires, and ah...a bit of romance.**

**This story is AU/OOC. AU means Alternate Universe and OOC means Out of Character-just in case you didn't know.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Charlotte's POV**

Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Pete's going to kill me. Tanya and I have been arrested and I don't even think we're going to be allowed to go home tonight. I don't even know what I was thinking. I looked through the window and got an inclination to try all the fun little toys and so did Tanya. So, we just broke in through the back door and started playing with the toys. I was gonna leave them money for all the toys. I even told the officers so, but they didn't believe me.

Tanya and I had a discussion in the back of the squad car and decided to call Bella. Neither of us wanted to face our mates quite yet. Bella and Jasper were more understanding and they would definitely know what to do. Unfortunately, when I called, Peter and Rex were in the same room as them. I could hear both of them growling in the background. I hope they don't show up with Bella and Jasper.

"Put these on!" The female officer told us. She handed me and Tanya ugly orange jumpsuits.

"What are we going to do?" Tanya asked, desperately.

"Jasper will get us out of this." I assured. I was fairly confident in his ability to finagle us out of this pickle.

"Hey, Char?"

"What?"

"I still have that anal plug inside of me. Do you think I should take it out or just leave it in?"

"Hmm...I'm not sure? You should ask Jasper when he gets here." I suggested. "He would know what to do."

"Good idea." Tanya agreed.

**Jasper's POV**

"Hi, I'm here for Charlotte Whitlock and Tanya Denali." I told the officer manning the front desk.

The guy eyed me warily. "Are you their lawyer?"

"No, sir, we're here to bail them out. They're my sister in law and cousin, sir." I said.

"They can't be bailed out. They need to be arraigned in front of a judge on Monday."

Arraigned? What the fuck did they do? "Sir, is there any way you could tell me what the charges against them are?" I asked. I threw a boatload of trust at him, hoping it would sway him. It worked.

"I'm gonna take a smoke break, Hank." The officer said and motioned me with his eyes to meet him outside. Bella and I both went quickly.

The officer soon met us outside and offered us both cigarettes. I took one, Bella didn't. He then spoke. "Listen, I'm not supposed to say anything, but you seem like stand up people. Those girls ain't all there. They were both arrested inside Exotic Erotics after hours. They had broken into the place and tripped the silent alarm. When we got there, they were on the floor testing out all the sex toys on each other and they were filming a pornographic movie of themselves with their iPhones. When some of the officers tried to arrest them, they tried to seduce them. They're being charged with breaking and entering, grand larceny, lewd and lascivious behavior, and attempting to seduce officers of the law."

MOTHERFUCKER! What the hell were they thinking? "Sir, is there a way for my wife and I to see them?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. They're being carted off to the women's correctional center in Framingham around noon. You can see them now if you like." He said. "You look like a good kid. Those girls need a good lawyer and, let me give you some advice, get them some psychological help. In my thirty years on the force, I've never seen anything as nutty as this."

"Yes, sir." I said, then thanked him and sent him a load of gratitude. He told us where we could find Char and Tanya.

"Jasper, I'm blown away by the charges against them. What the fuck were they thinking and how are we gonna get them out of this mess?" Bella asked. "Why the hell would they want to film themselves having sex—are they idiots?"

"I don't know, babe, I have to think. It's gonna have to be done illegally though. The first thing I need for you to do is to text Em and Rose and have them meet us at our place in two hours. Tell Em to bring his laptop. Make sure they don't tell anyone what they're doing."

Bella nodded and did what I asked right away. She got a text back from Rose saying that they'd meet us there.

Bella and I showed our ids and we were shown to a communal visitation room. After greeting Tanya and Char, I warned everyone to speak in our naturally low vampire tone and speed because we were being recorded.

"Alright, you two are facing some pretty serious charges. What the hell happened?"

"Well, we peered through the window and all the toys looked like so much fun. We wanted to try them so we broke in and started playing with them."

"Couldn't you girls wait until tomorrow so you could buy them?" I asked.

"Well, they weren't opening until ten am. That was a full eleven hours away!" Char whined. "I couldn't possibly wait that long."

I'm not gonna lose my cool. I'm not gonna lose my cool. I'm not gonna lose my cool. I had to keep repeating that because Char was completely brainless right now.

"Why couldn't you wait that long?" I asked.

"It's just that Peter hasn't been performing lately. For some reason, he's been losing wood after his fourth orgasm of the night. Tanya's noticed the same thing with him."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe his pecker's a bit tired from overuse?" Bella asked.

"They get tired?" Char asked, stunned.

"Of course they get tired." Bella said.

"Does Jasper's dick get tired?" Tanya asked.

"No, but then again, we don't have sex every night either." Bella said.

"And you're okay with that?" Char said in a disgusted tone.

"Yes, I need a break too. It keeps things exciting." Bella said.

Char and Tanya were staring at us as if we'd lost our minds. Why the fuck are we discussing our sex lives here? We're supposed to be formulating a plan to get them out.

"Alright, I'm gonna figure out a way to get you out of jail before you're arraigned on Monday. For now, I need both of you to be on your best behavior and try and listen to the guards, okay? That includes eating human food if you're offered any."

"Okay." They both agreed. We gave them both hugs and told them not to worry.

"Jasper!" Tanya called as Bella and I were leaving.

"What is it, Tanya?" I answered.

"I need your advice. I have an anal plug still inside of me. Should I take it out?"

Holy hell! I don't know how to answer that.

Apparently, neither did Bella because she currently had her mouth covered with her hand in an attempt to stifle her laughter.

"Um, maybe you should take it out Tanya. What if they do a body cavity search when they move you to the other jail." I said.

Char and Tanya immediately got excited looks on their faces. "You know something, Tanya. You should leave it in there. Can you imagine the look on their faces when they find the plug in there?"

"You're right! It'll be fun." Tanya squealed.

"Well, okay, we're leaving now. Be good." I warned and grabbed Bella's hand and left.

I hopped into the truck and drove us back to Cambridge to meet Rose and Em.

We had about an hour left before Em and Rose's arrival so we hopped in the jacuzzi for a quick soak. I simply held onto Bella—thanking God that she actually had a working brain that she used. I wonder if Char and Tanya's brain cells became fried or mutated during their transformations. It just isn't possible to be that stupid, is it?

"I've been thinking, Jasper." Bella said. "I think we need Edward and Riley here."

"Why is that?"

"Well, Edward's actually been to law school and Riley's crafty as hell. They might actually be able to help."

"Alright, let's make it happen." I said, nuzzling the part on my mate's neck where my mating mark was. She moaned at the sensation and instantly pressed her lips to mine.

I was about to take Bella to our bedroom and make love to her when the doorbell went off. Shit! I've been cockblocked. Oh well, this screwed up situation needs to be taken care of now. "We'll finish this later." I whispered into my mate's ear. She shivered and I felt her lust rise as she kissed my lips one more time.

We quickly got dressed and answered the door. I explained what happened to Rose and Emmett while Bella quickly text messaged Edward and Riley to haul their asses down here.

"Good Lord, how are we going to get them out of this mess?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. We have to find a way to spring them before they're arraigned on Monday, though." I stated.

Edward and Riley soon arrived with Peter, Rex, and Vicky in tow. Apparently, they had all run down. We explained the situation and, for the first time ever, I think Pete became speechless.

Emmett was plugging away on his laptop. "I'm in. There's a fuckload of legal mumbo jumbo on here that I don't get."

"Let me see." Edward took a look at the charges and muttered, "Shit. They're recommending that bail be set at one million dollars each. They also want a full psychological evaluation done on them."

"When we visited them in jail, I don't think the gravity of the situation had sunk in with either of them yet." Bella explained.

"Yeah, I got the same impression." I agreed.

"I'll talk to them about their issues later, but let's focus on getting them out for now." Riley said.

"We're gonna have to break them out of jail guys." Victoria stated. "It's not as hard as you think. When I was with James, I broke him out of prison tons of times. The best time is when they're being transferred between jails."

Riley crossed his arms across his chest and arched his eyebrow at Vicky after hearing that. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Hey, it was before I met you."

"Guys, arrests are public record. We need to stave this off before the press gets wind of it. Em, you need to close the record off to the press and public. Do you have a way of finding out if it hit the news wires yet?" Bella asked. Thank fuck we had two computer hackers in the family.

"Yeah, hold on." Emmett started searching a ton of databases. "Nope, nothing's gone out yet."

Do you have a laptop I can use?" Edward asked. I handed him mine and he started doing some fancy work on it. Compared to Edward and Emmett, Bella and I were completely clueless when it came to computers. Our knowledge base consisted of surfing the internet, downloading iTunes, and typing papers. The two of us were always calling Edward and Emmett up asking for help. Garrett was even worse. He literally typed his papers with two fingers, then asked us to print it out for him because he could never figure out how.

"Alright, I hacked into the store's security tapes. Holy shit! I didn't know you could do that! Char's licking Tanya and testing the toys out on her." Edward was spellbound by what he was witnessing. We all crowded around him and stared at the screen.

"Geez. This is better than any homemade porn movie that I've ever seen. It was still wrong of them, though." Rex quickly added. "Are they filming themselves using their iPhones?"

"Yeah, they are." I replied.

"Oh, no, here come the police. They look shocked. For crying out loud, they're trying to seduce the cops." Peter cried.

They were handcuffed and led away while some investigators gathered up the evidence, in this case, used sex toys.

"Um, I don't know if you guys noticed this, but Tanya still had a plug in her ass when she was taken away." Vicky said.

"Yeah, we know. She told us." I said then focused on the task at hand. "Okay, we're gonna have to break them out of jail. This is exactly the kind of shit we don't need getting out to the Volturi. I know for a fact that they're being moved to the women's prison at noon. That gives us roughly six hours to haul their asses out."

Bella started jumping up and down squealing. "I've got an idea! I've got an idea!"

"Okay, Bella, let's hear it."

"Okay, most cops go on lunch break between eleven and one—that's when police stations are on skeleton crew. Fortunately, the Brookline PD is a smaller station than the Boston Police Station so it should be easy. Emmett, you need to hack into all the cameras inside and around the police station and disable them. As soon as they're disabled, Jasper needs to use his gift and knock everyone out completely—including Char and Tanya. Do you think you can handle that? The building wasn't that big."

"Yeah, piece of cake." I said.

Bella continued, "Meanwhile, Emmett will continue to keep the cameras disabled while the rest of us go inside and grab Char and Tanya plus all the evidence and any of their personal belongings. Also, someone has to go inside and grab any notes or paperwork pertaining to them. That mean's manually scouring through the files. Oh, and we need to grab the visitor log from this morning. The one with Jasper and my name on it. Em, you need to look for any traces of Jasper and me on the security tapes from around four am and wipe it. We were in the police station and their communal visitation room so be sure to check everything."

"Where the fuck do you come up with these ideas?" Peter asked, clearly impressed.

"Well, my dad was a cop so I know a lot about what goes on in a police station. Sure, Forks is a lot smaller, but it was still fairly busy and dad made sure to keep up with the times, technology wise." Bella explained. "Plus I'm really into those James Bond films."

"Nah, you're a smart girl—that's how you come up with these ideas." Peter said with pride.

"It's a pretty good plan, Jasper." Vicky said. "We just have to figure out what to do about the sex shop."

"From the video, the cops did most of the clean up when they took the evidence along with them. I think all we have to do is erase the video of them in the store. I can do that right now and reimburse them for the sex toys and the door. The damages should be well under ten thousand dollars, but I think we can work out a compromise with them if we offered them a hundred grand." Edward said.

"I agree. I'll call Jenks and get him working on that. We also need to get new aliases for Tanya and Char, in case some of the cops remember their names and start looking for them. Emmett, delete what you can from the police computers. I'll knock everyone out by sending them lethargy. Bella, keep our group under your shield, okay? We don't need any of us falling asleep. Vicky, Bella, Riley, and Edward work on retrieving the girls' belongings and any evidence and paperwork. Pete and Rex, you two grab your mates and bring them back to the car. Drive them straight back to the Denali home in Amherst without stopping. Don't let them leave the house either. We need to have a serious talk with those two." I ordered.

We reviewed then re-reviewed our plan and finally it was time to execute it. Emmett gave us the thumbs up that all the security cameras were disabled and we rolled into action. I sent a fuckton of lethargy into the police station and knocked out everyone inside. Bella kept everyone inside her shield so no one was affected. Within fifteen minutes, we had Char and Tanya in our hands and all traces of their arrest were wiped out. I made sure that I sent some tranquil energy inside the police station to wake everyone up. We couldn't have cops out of commission, after all.

When we were out of the city limits, Emmett brought the security cameras back on line. We were all on our way back to Amherst. I dropped everyone off and headed to the Denali home to have a discussion with Char and Tanya. We had called earlier and had everyone clear out and head to the Cullens. I didn't want to call the parents back and ruin their vacations so I decided to take it upon myself to handle it. Besides, Char, Peter, and Rex were Whitlocks so I felt a sense of responsibility there.

Char and Tanya were chirpily sitting in the family room with their glum looking mates. It pissed me off that we had gone through all that trouble and they showed absolutely no remorse at all. Last week, Bella was punished for pretty much doing nothing at all compared to their actions, yet she felt horrible about what had occurred.

I sent Char and Tanya a dose of fear before speaking. "So, do you girls have an explanation for your actions?"

"No, not really. We felt like playing so we did." Char answered.

"Ditto." Tanya said nonchalantly.

"Do you even realize the trouble that we all had to go through to get you out? We had to break about a hundred laws—not to mention the fact that we had to do a rush change on your identities and bribe the store you broke into." I said.

"Jasper, I'll pay you back for the cost of the new identities and what you had to pay out to the stores." Tanya said.

"That's not the point Tanya!" Rex yelled. "That's not even close to the point! You broke the law in so many ways!"

"The fact is that you both couldn't wait a few hours to go to the store when it was open! You both knew better than to break the law! Forcing open a door and breaking open sealed packages is theft no matter how you look at it!" Peter hollered.

"Gee, Peter, when did you get a stick up your ass? Tanya and I were just having a little fun!"

"You know something, Char?" Peter took in a deep, calming breath. "I don't mind if you have a little fun. I like to have a little fun. I really do, but you crossed the line here. When you broke the law the way you did, it went way beyond fun. You and Tanya got into a fuckton of trouble and inconvenienced a whole mess of people. Not to mention the fact that had this shit gotten out, the Volturi would have been hot on our tails. What do you have to say about that?"

"I'm sorry." Char said. "I didn't think. I don't know what I was thinking."

"I apologize too." Tanya said.

Both girls were remorseful, but not enough to my liking.

"Major, I can take it from here." Peter said. "Thank you for all the trouble you went through."

That was my key to leave. Char's not my wife, she's Peter's. Peter would handle it. It was high time that he put his foot down with Char. She wasn't a bad person, she actually was a pretty nice girl. She just had trouble taking things seriously and so did Tanya. Put the two girls together and it spelled trouble with a capital T. Char was only seventeen when she was changed, Tanya eighteen. In many ways they were still teenagers who had been introduced to a world they were completely unprepared for.

I took full responsibility for Char's change. She had been changed for my sexual gratification when I was in Maria's army. She was one of my many transgressions against society and I knew it. In my defense, I knew no other life back then. Char was a turning point. It was when she mated with Peter that my life changed. She held no animosity towards me, neither did he. They both accepted it as fate and saved me from Maria's evil clutches.

I left the Denali home and headed back to the Cullens. Bella was waiting on the front steps with her arms open wide for me. I let her hold me and run her soft fingertips through my hair. What I did to deserve a woman like her, I had no idea. I was just thankful that she was mine.

**Edward's POV**

"Hey guys." I greeted Bella and Jasper. They were sitting on the front steps talking. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not at all. What's up, Edward?" Jasper asked.

"Well, today's Valentine's Day." I stated.

"Yes, we know. What a fucked up start, huh?" Jasper asked.

"Pretty much, but at least it all worked out in the end." I said.

"Yeah, I guess." Jasper fixed his gaze upon me. "So what is it that you really want, Edward?"

I guess I had that coming. Jasper was always to the point. I better tell him the real reason for my coming out here to talk to them. "I need your help. It's nothing bad. Nothing bad at all. It's just that, next weekend is that prom we have planned for..."

"Guys, we're leaving for the night." Garrett suddenly came out holding Kate's hand. Irina and Laurent were with them. They were leaving for an overnight at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont.

"Oh, okay. Have fun." Bella stood up to hug them.

Laurent kissed the top of her head and said, "Be good, baby girl. I'll pick up a t-shirt for your collection." His eyes met with Jasper's, who nodded to him as if to say she'll be safe with me. Laurent was not as outward in his affections, but he was just as protective, if not more, than say Vicky or Irina.

The couples climbed into their vehicles and took off for the night. Jasper motioned with his chin for me to continue. I took a deep breath. "Next weekend is the prom and I need to ask Amanda—only I don't know how to ask her."

"Alright, watch and learn Edward." Jasper said. "Bella, would you go to the prom with me?"

"Hell, no, you've got to make it more special than that. It's Valentine's Day, for fuck's sake."

"What the fuck difference does that make?" Jasper asked.

"It makes a difference because Valentine's Day is the day when couples..."

"See you tomorrow guys. We're leaving now." Riley and Victoria came out of the house. They were off to New York City for the night. Vicky hugged all of us and Riley shook our hands. He, too, gave Jasper the "keep Bella safe" look. He gave Bella a hug, hopped into Vicky's Toyota Camry and drove off.

"I was saying that Valentine's Day is the day when couples around the world declare their love to each other. You have to make it more special for her. She'll be expecting something special." Bella explained.

"Edward, how did you ask Bella to the prom when you were in Forks?" Jasper asked.

"I didn't." I said, at the same time that Bella said, "He didn't."

"Well, then, how the fuck did you end up at the prom?"

"Your fucking ex-wife showed up at my window with a fugly dress, threw me in it, and told me I was going to the prom with Edward because she saw it." Bella told Jasper.

"Yeah and she handed me a suit to wear and told me to go pick up Bella—that she was waiting excitedly to go to the prom. So, I went to pick her up."

"Well, do you wanna hear fucked up?" Jasper asked. "The bitch just shoved me in a suit and said we were going to the prom. After I put my suit on, she handed me a corsage and told me to give it to her."

The three of us started chuckling. "Hey, at least I picked up the corsage to give to Bella on my own. I thought I should since I was taking her to the prom."

"Why thank you, Edward, that was a really pretty corsage." Bella said. "Listen, just put some romantic music on in your room, ask her to dance with you, then ask her. Nice and simple and it'll do the trick."

"Make sure it's music that she likes, Edward. Not what you like. No DeBussy." Jasper advised. "Try Taylor Swift—Amanda really likes her. I picked up the CD for her a couple of weeks ago and she's been playing it non-stop the whole time."

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate your help." I said. I tried to feel as much gratitude as I could so Jasper would feel it. I think he did because he slapped me on my back. Ouch.

Jasper and Bella went off for a quick hunt. They said they'd be back in an hour to hold down the fort so I could ask Amanda. Holding down the fort generally meant keeping Alice at bay these days. We've been exposing both Mike and Amanda to small amounts of human blood and they've both been fine.

The house was fairly quiet with everyone gone on trips. Amanda and Mike were zoned out in front of the TV watching Transformers on DVD. I decided to join them and watch the film. We could hear Rose and Emmett upstairs having sex.

"Jesus Christ. Do those two ever stop?" Mike asked.

"No, they've been like this since 1935." I said.

"Hey, where are Jasper and Bella?"

"They went for a quick hunt. They should be back in an hour."

"That's if they don't have sex in the woods." Amanda added. "They always have sex in the woods."

"If Bella were my wife." Mike said. "I'd require her to hunt naked and have sex with me in the woods afterwards."

"Yes, you probably would." I said to him. "The only problem being that you would never get Bella for a wife."

"I know." Mike sighed. "Jasper's one lucky dude."

We watched the movie for a little longer, then Mike, who now had pretty good fine motor control got out his laptop and checked on the figures for his store. "Shit!" He exclaimed. "I'm having trouble with one of my suppliers again."

"Maybe I can help." I said.

"I doubt it, Edward. I've been running this business for almost three years and I've had trouble with them this whole time." He complained.

"Well, I do have an MBA and a law degree."

Mike's eyes gaped. "Dude, if you have and MBA and a law degree, what the hell were you doing attending high school in Forks? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard."

"I don't know. I guess I became accustomed to playing a charade."

"What else do you have degrees in?"

"Well, I've been to medical school twice and I have a whole gamut of degrees ranging from English to Computer Science. I even have a teaching degree."

"Since you're armed with all that knowledge, smartass, you're gonna get me out of this mess with this asshole supplier." He said, then proceeded to explain the problems he'd been having with that company.

A couple of hours later, we had drafted up a letter to send to the supplier. I told Mike that I'd express it for him on Monday morning. He was grateful and asked if I could help him by taking a trip to Oregon and Washington and physically checking in with his stores for him. I told him it wasn't a problem as long as we had coverage for both him and Amanda.

I had been given the duty of watching the two newborns because, starting Monday, Peter would be going to work full time with Rose. Apparently, business at her shop was exploding since she lowered the price of her oil changes to beat Walmart. People were coming in for oil changes then asking for other services at the same time.

I heard Jasper and Bella's shower turn on. They were finally back from their hunt. "See, I told you they would fuck in the woods." Amanda commented. "You can always tell because they jump up onto their balcony and go straight into their shower."

"Good observation, Amanda." I said. It was true, whenever they were amorous in the woods, they'd always sneak upstairs without coming in through the front door.

A few minutes later, Bella and Jasper made their way downstairs. They were wearing their matching Elvis pajamas. Rose and Emmett came downstairs around the same time. They, too, were dressed in pajamas.

"Isn't it a little early for pajamas?" I asked.

"It's never too early for pajamas, Edward. The parents aren't home to harp on us and we're not planning on leaving the house." Bella stated.

"Good idea!" Amanda said, then ran to her room to change.

"Go ask her! Now's the perfect opportunity!" Jasper shoved me towards my room.

I, suddenly, got nervous. Jasper sent me some confidence. I nodded my head in thanks and ran off to find Amanda.

"What's going on?" I heard Mike ask as I left.

"Shh...I'll tell you later." Bella said. "For now, do him a favor and stay here. Let's pick a movie to watch."

I took a few deep breaths and knocked on Amanda's door. She answered it right away. "Hi, Edward! Aren't you going to put pajamas on?"

"Did you want me to?" I asked.

"Sure!"

"Okay, I'll go change. Wait here, okay? Don't move."

"Okay." Amanda said.

I ran into my room using the adjoining door and dove into my Spongebob Squarepants pajama bottoms. They were Amanda's favorite."

When I got back to the room, less than a minute later, Amanda was still standing in the same exact spot and in the same position. "Amanda, when I said don't move, I meant don't leave the room."

"Oh, I didn't know that." She said. I took a look inside Amanda's CD player. Good. The Taylor Swift CD was already in there. I scrolled to the song I was looking for and started playing it.

I took a calming breath. "Would you dance with me, Amanda?" I held my hand out to her.

She seemed a little shocked, but willingly took my hand. We danced together and I held her close to my chest. I looked her in the eyes and asked, "Amanda, would you go to the prom with me next week Saturday?"

"Really, Edward?" She asked excitedly.

"Really." I said.

"I'd love to go!" She replied, then did something completely unexpected. She kissed me. Not just a peck on the lips, a deep, sweet lingering kiss. "Sorry, I got carried away."

"No, no. I liked it—a lot." I reassured.

"Good." She said, then attacked my lips without abandon. Soon we were sitting on a chair, kissing. I ran my fingers through her beautiful blonde hair and pulled her closer to me. Somewhere along the line we had moved to her bed and we were wrapped in each other's arms making out. I took a chance and moved my hand over her breast. She inhaled a sharp breath at the feeling. My member was now rock hard. Oh God—I don't want to stop, but today's not the day for this.

I sat up suddenly and tilted Amanda's chin up. "We need to stop, Amanda." I said. "We have plenty of time and we still have to go the prom."

She smiled a brilliant smile and kissed me on my lips. "I think I'm falling in love with you, Edward."

"I've always loved you." I replied.

She held out her hand for me to take, I took it, and we walked into the living room to join the others. Everyone had a grin plastered on their faces, but they didn't say anything. They all made like they were completely interested in the six o'clock news.

Suddenly, a story really did peak our interest. "Police in Brookline were baffled today when an apparent sleeping gas was released inside their station causing everyone within, including prisoners awaiting extradition to other jails, to fall asleep for approximately thirty minutes. After further investigation, no other problems were found and, ironically, everyone reported waking up feeling refreshed and peaceful." The newscaster reported.

We all laughed at the story for a few minutes, then turned the channel to something else.

Amanda kept fidgeting on the sofa. I suspect she wanted to tell Bella about the prom. She was tapping her fingers on the sofa now and finally, unable to take it anymore, she blurted out, "Belly Mama, Edward asked me to the prom and then we made out on my bed!"

Okay, I wasn't expecting her to say the second part. Emmett and Jasper crossed their arms in front of their chests and both narrowed their eyes at me. Bella and Rose stood up and hugged Amanda.

"Oh, pipe down you two!" Rose admonished Emmett and Jasper.

"I don't have anything to wear." Amanda said sadly.

"Don't worry, Rose and I will help you." Bella said. I noticed she winked to Rose.

"Are you guys going to the prom too?" Amanda asked.

"Of course we are. We just need dates." Rose said glaring at Emmett.

"Rosie." Emmett got down and walked on his knees to his mate. "He pulled out a single red rose out that he had been hiding under the sofa and presented it to her. "Would you do me the honor of going to the prom with me?"

"Oh, Em!" Rose gushed. "Of course I will."

Jasper slapped his forehead. I saw Bella chuckle at him, then put a stoic expression back on her face as soon as he looked up.

We all settled back onto the sofa and resumed watching TV. By now, Mike was in his pajamas too."

Alice suddenly appeared in the living room. "Um, would you mind if I joined all of you out here?"

"By all means." Bella replied nicely.

We were all watching a James Bond film. The girls were all gushing over how handsome he was. Alice was telling us all about the designer suit he was wearing and how the tie went perfectly with it.

Mike suddenly put his arm around Alice. "So, Alice. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the prom with me?"

"Really?" Alice asked.

"Uh, yeah, you're my mate so I figured we should go to the prom together."

"I've never been asked before." Alice said in wonderment. "Thank you. I'd love to go."

Alice, then, got up and ran to her room saying that she had to prepare for the prom since she only had a week.

"That was really sweet of you to ask her." Bella said.

"Well, I didn't want to be the only one without a date, so I said what the hell and asked her." He whispered. "Besides, I never miss a prom."

"So now, I'm the only one without a date." Bella sighed.

Jasper inhaled a deep breath and ran upstairs. I heard him turn the tub on. A few minutes later, I heard him calling Bella. "Hey, babe, can you help me with something upstairs?"

"That's my cue." Bella smirked and ran upstairs.

**Bella's POV**

I stepped into our room and there were rose petals strewn on the floor in a trail leading to the bathroom. I opened the door and found the tub to be filled with enticing bubbles and a candle in each corner providing the demure lighting in the room. Out of nowhere, Jasper stepped in front of me, clad only in a plush, white towel wrapped around his waist. He slowly undid the buttons on my pajama top and let it slip off of my shoulders. He then tugged on the drawstring of my pajama pants, allowing them to fall gently to the floor. I was now clad only in my panties.

Jasper stepped behind me and ran his hands down my body. He gingerly helped me out of my panties, then picked me up bridal style and carried me into the tub. I had no idea when he lost his towel. He pulled me close to him and ran his tongue over the fresh mating mark he gave me in the woods earlier. I moaned at the sensation and tilted my head back so he could kiss me on the lips.

Instead of kissing me, he traced a single finger around my lips. He ran that same finger from the corner of my lip to the center of my chin and trailed it down my neckline and between my breasts—only stopping when he reached my bundle of nerves, which he started massaging in small circles. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to become engulfed in the scintillating feeling of passion caused by my mate's single finger. Overcome by my senses, I tried to wriggle myself free of his finger. Jasper kept one firm hand around me as his finger continued to massage my clit. I was soon drowning in ecstasy and screaming his name. I plunged myself onto his cock in one fell swoop and rode him, up and down, reverse cowgirl style, until I felt his seed pulsating into my depths and his teeth sinking into my neck.

I leaned back against my mate and let him hold me. His tongue caressing my wound as he sealed it with his venom. "Happy Valentine's Day, Bella." He whispered as he slipped something onto the ring finger of my right hand. I looked down and it was a ring made with the perfect pearl he found during his first year as a vampire. The pearl was surrounded by flawless diamonds making it appear even more stunning.

"Thank you, Jasper." I said simply as I stared at the ring in amazement.

Jasper climbed out of the tub and toweled himself off. He grabbed two fresh towels and wrapped one around his waist. He held the other one open for me and I stepped in to it—allowing him to dry my body gently. He dropped the towel after making sure I was completely dry, then pulled the plug on the tub. I helped him blow the candles out.

He took my hand and led me to our bed. He pulled the covers down and I hopped into bed together with Jasper. We laid in bed lazily, occasionally letting our hands roam freely over each other's bodies. We talked and kissed and made love over and over again.

I was staring into Jasper's magnificent golden eyes when he cradled my face with two hands and asked, "Bella, would you go to the prom with me?"

"I would be honored." I replied simply.

From downstairs we heard Rose saying, "Geez! Took you long enough!"

"No shit! It's about fucking time." Edward yelled.

"Holy hell! You two fuck more than Rose and Em!" Mike shouted.

"Honestly! Don't you two think that once a night is enough? It can't possibly be sexually sound behavior." Alice admonished. "You two are worse than rabbits!"

"They always fuck like rabbits." Amanda chirped cheerfully. "They're just really in love."

"And that's why we live in Cambridge." Jasper whispered in my ear and kissed me again.

"Uh, bro, I know now isn't the most opportune time, but I was wondering if you wanted to drive to the Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro tomorrow?" Emmett asked. "Oh, and you might as well scent her since you've got her naked already—get a head start on things."

Jasper wagged his eyebrows at me and proceeded to do exactly what Emmett suggested. As my mate continued to scent my body, I chuckled and thought, "Yep, this is definitely why we live in Cambridge."

**Char and Tanya were beyond ridiculous, weren't they? I'm kind of upset that they're being so nonchalant about everything especially after what everyone had to go through to break them out of jail. That was a pretty good plan of Bella's though. Edward finally got a little something. I figured, he deserved it-he's been a good boy. Maybe Riley is getting through to Alice or maybe it's the fact that she finally got laid that she's actually being cordial for a change. Tell me, if you were being asked to the prom, do you like Edward, Mike, Emmett, or Jasper's way best? Let me know what you thought. I'll always respond to your reviews. XOXO **


	33. Chapter 33

**So, Jasper's way of asking was by far the most popular, followed by Edward and Emmett who were evenly matched. I think we even had one vote for Mike. Now, since I'm already a mama, I think I like Jasper's way of celebrating V-day and asking Bella to the prom. On the other hand, since most prom goers are in high school, I'd like all of them to stand ten feet away from each other and ask Mike's way. Thanks for all your responses, reviews, faves, and alerts. A fun night out with Bella and Edward for all of you.**

**This chapter contains possible aliens, Drunkward, Bella begging Jasper to scent her, and a rogue rabbit.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only. That means all those eligible to attend a real high school prom shouldn't be reading this.**

**Mike's POV**

I'm bored stiff. It's the day after Valentine's Day and there are no guys left in the house. I'm stuck with Bella, Rose, Amanda, and Alice. Edward, Emmett, and Jasper just left for the Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro, Massachusetts. I'm jealous. I've been housebound for close to two months now and I need to get out. They've exposed me to small amounts of human blood and my control has been excellent. I wish they would have taken me along somewhere, anywhere. Hell, I would have settled for a Slurpee at 7-11. Oh, yeah, I can't drink Slurpees anymore.

I decided to go for a quick hunt to stave off my boredom. I told Bella, Rose, and Amanda my plans and they waved me off and told me to make sure that I had my cell phone with me in case I ran into trouble during the hunt. They really were great girls. Alice was busy going through her closets, yes I said closets with an 's', so that she could figure out how to put together an outfit for the prom.

I took down a couple of deer and a mountain lion and felt completely sated. I looked down at my clothes and noticed that I didn't spill a drop of blood on me for once. The guys would be proud of me, I couldn't wait to tell them. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll go tell them. I took my iPhone out and activated the GPS. I decided to run to Foxboro. I patted the pocket of my jeans—good, I have my wallet. If I'm going to Bass Pro Shops, I'd need some spending cash.

The GPS satellites finally activated and I started running—following the directions. Oh cool! I'm actually in Massachusetts now and I just ran all the way here. Hmm...these directions take me right onto interstate 495. Eh, no better time than to test out my speed. Holy motherfucker, I'm faster than all the cars. Heh, heh, heh. I just passed a speed trap and the state trooper looks fucking confused—I must have set off his speed gun.

I finally arrived at Bass Pro Shops and decided to peruse the store. Huh. I knew I'd be okay around humans, they're not tempting at all. I don't think the guys are here yet. I don't smell them anywhere in the store. Maybe I'll wait by the entrance for them.

**Emmett's POV**

"What the fuck was that?" Jasper asked.

"What?" I was confused. I thought I caught something out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn't sure.

"It was some kind of a blur, I saw it too." Edward said.

"That was some freaky UFO shit man. It just zipped by us. Do you think the aliens have finally landed?" Jasper asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised, man, if vampires and werewolves exist, so do martians."

"Aw, fuck!" Jasper yelled. "Put your seatbelts on guys, I'm being pulled over."

None of us noticed the speed trap or the flashing blue lights behind us. We were so caught up in that weird blur we saw.

Fifteen minutes later, Jasper had his newly issued speeding ticket, and we were back on the road to Bass Pro Shops. "Bella's gonna kill me. She's constantly warning me to go speed limit."

We finally pulled into the parking lot and made our way into the wet dream come true that was Bass Pro Shops. I put my arm around Edward in a brotherly way. "Eddie, today, you're going to learn to be a man. No girly shit here—this store is where we men can be the cavemen that we were born to be. Just don't tell Rose and Bella we said that. They'd whoop our asses into next century."

"Yeah, they can be pretty scary when they're angry." Jasper agreed as we entered the store. "Oh, hey, Mike."

"MIKE!" We all shouted completely shocked and dismayed.

Jasper was the first to speak. "What the fuck are you doing here? How the hell did you get here?"

"I ran—I used the GPS on my iPhone. I wanted to tell you guys that I didn't get a drop of blood on me when I hunted." Mike said outloud.

"Well, now, that's pretty good son. What did you hunt?" A middle aged hunter asked Mike, joining in on our conversation. Pretty awkward, if you ask me.

"A couple of deer and a mountain lion." Mike said.

"Ayuh, those mountain lions can be a nuisance. I'm glad you took him out. Just don't let the park rangers find out that you killed one of them. What kind of rifle do you use?" The hunter asked.

How the hell were we going to get out of this conversation? None of knew that much about human hunting.

"A Winchester Model 70." Mike replied cooly.

"Smart boy. The classic is always the best." The hunter complemented Mike.

"That's what I always say, sir." Mike said nicely. Fucking brown nosing, little shit.

"Well, now, I'll let you boys be. It's good to see solid, young bucks like yourselves in the store that like to do some real hunting. Too many boys these days are either shooting shit on their Xbox or playing piano like pussies, Good luck to ya."

"Thanks." We all muttered.

"I don't want to be a pussy. Someone get me geared up for hunting." Edward said.

"Mike, how did you know about that rifle?"

"Are you fucking dense man? I'm from Forks. We all hunted and fished from the time we could walk. I guarantee you that even Bella knows a little about hunting and fishing. On top of that, did you forget that I own Newton's Olympic Outfitters? Of course I know all about that shit. Now come on, let's take a look around. Just tell me what you guys like and if I sell it at my store—we'll get it shipped to us. I refuse to let my family members get ripped off. I took a look around earlier, these prices are exorbitant. They do have stuff that I just can't get though."

Both Jasper and my eyes widened in excitement at hearing that. We have our own built in man shit supplier in the family.

"How's your bloodlust, Mike?" Edward asked.

"I think I'm doing okay so far. I haven't wanted to eat anyone except for Emmett, but he smells like my favorite meal."

"I haven't felt any bloodlust from you. More from Edward, but that's normal." Jasper said.

"So, you ran all the way here?" I asked.

"Yep, did you know that I can outrun cars on the highway? I even passed a speed trap on 495."

"That was you?" Jasper asked. "Fucker I got a speeding ticket because I thought you were some sort of alien. We need to go over the rules Mike."

"Rules?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, rules. We're vampires and humans can't know of our existence. That's why we can't go out in the sunlight in public. The other thing we can't do is show off our supernatural abilities—one of which is our speed. You can't go running in populated areas and risk detection." Jasper explained.

"I didn't know that. Is that why you guys used to buy lunch at school, but never ate it." He asked.

"Yeah, that's exactly why." I said.

"Well, damn. You do realize you stick out like a sore thumb when you don't eat. Why couldn't you bring a thermos of blood in with you and say it was tomato soup or something? It would have stayed warm through lunch if you heated the blood up before you put it in the thermos."

"Shit. I never thought of that. That's a damn good idea. How'd you get so smart, Mike?" Jasper said.

"I always think with my stomach first." He replied.

We decided to look around the store and let me tell ya, it was a whole new experience with an expert by our side. We all bought some camouflage hunting garb and decided to don them so we could look like hunters.

About an hour later, we detected familiar scents. "What the fuck, Mike. You said you were only going for a quick hunt! What the hell are you doing here?" My mate was angry. Shit!

"No shit! We felt like idiots running on the highway. I can't fucking believe you did that Mike. Couldn't you at least call and let us know where you were?" Bella asked. "We were so worried about you!"

"You ran on the highway? You girls know better!" Edward chastised.

"What the fuck are you girls doing here anyway? With Amanda, too! Didn't you give her bloodlust any thought?" Jasper asked.

"Well, do you feel any bloodlust coming from her?" Rose asked. "Besides, we were worried so we followed his scent all the way here. Did you prefer that we left Amanda at home with Alice?"

Jasper contemplated for a second. "Uh, no and no I don't feel any bloodlust. Hey. Congratulations, little one!" He had a real soft spot for Amanda.

"So this is the famous Bass Pro Shops? You guys aren't hunting again, are you?" Bella asked.

"As a matter of fact we are." Jasper said. "We decided we were real men and real men hunt."

We all high-fived each other. The middle aged hunter shook his head and approached us. "Tsk, tsk. Coming here with the women folk can be a fatal mistake. Those are sound words of advice that you need to heed." He said, shaking his head.

"Excuse me?" Rose asked. The man didn't even flinch.

"Ya see what I mean. Ya give women an inch and they take a mile from you. Take them home while you still have balls left." With that, the man left.

"Who the hell was that?" Rose asked. "Were you bitching about us to them?"

"Why the fuck are you four all dressed in camouflage?" Bella asked.

"I thought you said that camouflage is sexy?" Amanda asked.

"This is the wrong kind of camouflage, this is hunting camouflage. We were talking about military camouflage. You know, like the kind Marines and Army guys wear." Bella explained.

"Yeah, like that guy." Rose pointed at some young army guy garbed in his fatigues."

Amanda gasped. "Ooh! I see what you mean. Can we go up and get a closer look?"

What the fuck? Edward pulled Amanda protectively to his side. Rose and Bella just smirked at us. That guy's right. Jasper and I have no balls left.

"Are you shitting me? I can't believe you two openly ogled some army dude." Jasper said.

"Oh, sure, Jasper. Would you like me to bring up the blonde with the hot legs in our History of Southern Plantations class that you stare at every class out of the corner of your eye? Oops, I just did." Bella said.

"Didn't think you noticed." Jasper mumbled.

"Of course I noticed. Hell, I'm glad you look. You wouldn't be normal if a pretty girl didn't catch your eye every once in a while. It's not like you're gonna do anything with her so why the hell would it bother me." Bella explained, laughing.

Jasper scratched his head. His mate was weird. Thank God, my Rosie isn't like that.

"Here, here!" Rosie cheered. Okay, maybe she is like that.

"You're right!" Amanda said peppily. "Army camouflage is way hotter than the ugly hunter stuff."

Bella and Rose eyed us all with smug expressions on their faces. Damn. My balls are shrinking by the second. Soon, I'll have no nut sacks left.

An hour later, we all left Bass Pro Shops. There wasn't enough room in the truck, even with the extended cab so Edward had to drive and Jasper and I had to sit with our mates on our laps. It really wasn't a problem except Jasper had Bella in a liplock and he was projecting lust throughout the cab.

"I wish we could go to a mall." Amanda said. "It's where I've wanted to go ever since I became a vampire."

Edward suddenly got off the exit in Braintree, Massachusetts. He pulled into the parking lot for the South Shore Plaza and said to Amanda, "Tada! I present to you—a mall."

Amanda started squealing in delight.

"Thank God, it was getting pretty hot and steamy in here because of the horny empath. Besides, I could use a little retail therapy after the testosterone minefield that was Bass Pro Shops." Rose said. "Bella! Jasper! Will you two cut it out! You fucked all last night. I heard you screaming Jasper's name at least four times! Now, come on sis' pry yourself from his lips and lets go shopping!"

"Uh, I wouldn't talk Rose. You screamed Emmett's name three times yesterday during the day and four times at night. I counted." Mike said.

"Hey, the four times at night was because Jasper was projecting again." Why I was defending us having sex, I had no idea.

We all left the truck, except Jasper just sat inside. "Hurry the fuck up, Jasper!" Rose yelled anxiously.

"Hey, I gotta wait til my hard-on goes down, okay?" Jasper yelled.

"Um, sorry." Rose said.

"Imagine yourself fucking Alice." Mike suggested.

Jasper was out of the truck in an instant and we made our way into the mall for Amanda's first foray as a mall rat.

Rosie was going nuts buying shit left to right. Edward was spoiling Amanda.

"For the love of God, Bella, would you buy something—please?" Jasper was begging.

"I want to, but they shut down the bookstore in here." Bella complained.

"Purchase something made out of fabric that you wear or jewelry or shoes maybe. How about some sexy new panties?" Jasper begged.

"Yeah, but I don't need anything. Esme took me shopping this summer and you went nuts in Las Vegas. I'm good for at least a couple of years." Bella said.

"Two years? Bella, buy something, please!" Jasper was pleading now.

"Yeah, but I just spent a bundle at Christmas and I really don't need anything. I don't want to buy something for the sake of buying something." Bella explained.

Jasper looked exasperated. Rose grabbed Bella and forced her into Abercrombie and Fitch.

"Buy something. It'll make Jasper happy. Just do it for him." She said.

"Oh, alright." She perused the store and a few minutes later she came out with a shopping bag and handed it to Jasper.

"Oh good. You bought something." Jasper said with relief.

"Yeah, do you like it?" Bella asked.

He pulled out a hooded sweatshirt. "Uh, isn't this a little big for you, babe?"

"That's cause it's not for me, it's for you."

"Yeah, but I didn't want anything." Jasper said.

"My point, exactly." Bella had a smug expression on her face.

"Alright guys. We're leaving." Jasper sighed. "Bella and I can take the train home from here. You guys take the truck home and Em can drop it off at our place when he goes to school in the morning."

"Aren't you coming back to Amherst?" Amanda asked, sadly.

"No, little one, we have classes tomorrow. It wouldn't make sense for us to drive all the way to New Hampshire and have to make our way back." Jasper explained.

"Okay."

"I'll be up during the week to see you, Amanda. We can go shopping for your prom dress now that you can be out in public." Bella always knew how to make Amanda smile.

With that, we went one way and Jasper and Bella went the other. All in all, I'd say we had a pretty productive day.

**Bella's POV**

It was Thursday afternoon and Jasper and I were done with classes for the week. There were no classes at the university tomorrow due to some kind of professional day. That was actually a good thing because this prom thing was a lot more work than I first thought. Of course, I was a bit annoyed since this was originally my husband's idea and he seemed to have left all the dirty work to me and Edward.

"Jasper, I'm only going out with Edward. I'm sure he's not going to ravage my body." My mate was going nuts scenting me again. I was currently laying flat on my back, naked while he finished his business.

"Bella, I told you. We can never be too careful. It's for my peace of mind and for yours—now flip over." I grabbed a book as I flipped over. "You know, the least you could do is act like you enjoy it."

I put the book down. "Oh Jasper, Jasper! Scent me please! You know how much it turns me on! Good enough for you?" I asked sarcastically.

"That's it, this means war." I heard my mate say with a malicious grin and I was suddenly hit with a ton of lust. I tried to get my shield up, but I couldn't. By now, I was horny as hell and rubbing my clit furiously. I opened my nightstand drawer and reached for my Rabbit.

"Nah-uh." Jasper said, shaking his head with a smile as he continued assaulting me with his lust. He grabbed the Rabbit from me and threw it out of the window, shattering the glass.

"Jasper, please!" I screamed. I ripped his clothes off of him and pulled him down on top of me.

"What was that? I don't think you were clear enough." He chuckled.

"Jasper, put your dick inside of my pussy now." I ordered. I was licking my lips, eyeing his length. I tried to put my hands around it, but with one hand he grabbed hold of my arms and positioned them so they were over my head. I was rendered completely immobile.

"Oh, alright. I guess I could let you cum." He smirked and finally plunged his cock inside of me. He thrust himself in and out of me over and over again—harder, faster with each and every thrust. My evil mate continued to throw lust at me so by the time I came the first time, I was ready for round two.

This time I flipped him over onto his back and rode him—bouncing up and down, enjoying the sensation of his length filling all of me until I was in the throes of ecstasy. My orgasm was so powerful that I couldn't help, but sink my teeth straight into his neck. Coming down from my high, I was still latched onto my mate's neck. I couldn't seem to detach myself from him. If I did, he would no longer be a part of me. Mine.

I felt soft, but firm fingers massage my jaw, easing my mouth open away from my mate's neck. The same fingers pulled me close to my mate's chest and started stroking my hair. "Shh...baby, I'm not going anywhere." Jasper's velvety voice comforted. I felt peace, love, and security blanket me and, at that point, I understood why my mate needed to scent me so often. He needed to make sure that I felt him with me at all times—that I knew he's a part of me, just like I'm a part of him.

I turned my attention to the mating mark that I had just given Jasper and started bathing it with my tongue. It was the deepest bite I had ever given him and I needed to seal the wound to stop his venom from seeping from it. Jasper shuddered at the sensation—I knew from my own experience that he was feeling a combination of pleasure and pain. Finally satisfied, I turned to Jasper and apologized for biting him.

"Bella, you need to stop apologizing whenever you mark me. I've told you time and time again that it's perfectly normal and instinctual for vampires."

"I know, but I still feel guilty for biting you."

"Cut it out, Bella. Stop feeling guilty. I never feel guilty for marking you and I do it a hell of a lot more than you do me." It was true, Jasper would sometimes mark me two or three times in one night. It wasn't that his marks meant less, it was just that he needed to feel the security that marking provided.

"I'll try, Jasper. I promise."

"Let me ask you this, babe. How do you feel whenever I mark you?"

"It stings, but it's worth the pain because I enjoy it even more." I answered honestly.

"Okay, now, how did it feel when you marked me now?"

I thought about it for a second. I didn't really start feeling guilty until afterwards, but while I was marking him, I felt euphoric almost. "I liked it—a lot. I felt blissful and secure, like you were a part of me."

"I am a part of you." Jasper smiled and kissed me. He then looked at the window that was shattered by him hurling my Rabbit through it. "I can fix that. I learned how the last time."

"Honey, don't you have to meet Pete in forty-five minutes at Rose's shop? You can work on the window tomorrow." I really didn't want Jasper anywhere near that window. Desperately, I said. "Besides, you still haven't finished scenting me. You should probably start over again."

"Yeah, you're right. He then proceeded to scent me and I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Not because he was scenting me, but because I averted another home repair disaster. Twenty minutes later, he completed his task, got dressed, kissed me atop my head, and told me that he'd see me later tonight. Phew!

Edward was picking me up in a couple of hours anyway. We had to go get party supplies for the prom we were setting up for Amanda. I called our contractor up to see if he could come in to repair the window today. No luck. The guy was all booked up.

I phoned Home Depot next and begged to see if one of their window specialists could come fix the window. Nope! Too late—it'll have to be tomorrow they said.

I, then, had a thought. I remembered what Carlisle had told me about everyone in the house being handy except for Jasper. I dialed up Edward since he was coming here anyway and explained what had happened.

An hour later, he was over with a brand new window and his tool chest and he had everything installed in a snap. "How the heck did this happen anyway?"

"Um...Jasper hurled a Rabbit through it." I admitted. We both looked outside the window.

"I don't see it anywhere." He said. "I wonder where it landed?"

I wondered the same thing then we both burst out laughing. Someone was going to find a Rabbit laying in the street. Hopefully, it's not some kid.

"Thanks, Edward, for doing this for me." I said and kissed him on his cheek.

"Anytime, I wouldn't want to see you without a home. Though, I wouldn't mind at all if you guys moved back home with us."

We climbed into his new SUV and went shopping for party supplies. "I can't believe that you and I are actually doing the party planning—this is so not us." I commented.

"Yeah, well, Mike and Riley both said they'd help us set up on Saturday. I guess they were both on their high school prom committees for both junior and senior proms. They told us how much everything to get. Mike would have come with us, but he's working on figures for the upcoming season and Riley's at work." Edward said.

"So, Edward, I thought you were going to buy a Ford Escape?" I asked. "This is a Volvo XC90—pretty fancy if you ask me."

"I know. When I went to trade in the Volvo S60, I saw a Volvo XC90 and I couldn't resist test driving it. It was so much nicer than the Escape. Anyway, the insurance is about the same as a Escape so I decided—why not."

"Hey, I'm not gonna say anything. I couldn't picture you in an Escape anyway. This is so much roomier too. I'm not a big fan of small vehicles."

"Whatever happened to your rusty, old truck?" Edward asked.

"It finally kicked the bucket a few months after you left. There was no way to salvage it. We ended up selling the shell to a collector. He actually paid thirty-five hundred dollars for it. Charlie only paid five hundred for the truck so we were happy."

"Okay, we're here. We need to rent a helium tank too and purchase a thousand balloons on top of the rest of the decorations. We also need to stop somewhere and pick up tumblers, champagne glasses, coffee cups and saucers, and a few crock pots. "

"Crock pots? Why? We're fucking vampires." I said.

"Those were my words exactly, but Rose said that we're serving champagne and liquor at the prom because this isn't exactly a traditional prom plus the parents are still in London. Then Mike came up with the idea of keeping heated blood in crock pots. That way, we can serve it out like punch."

"Leave it to Mike to come up with something like that. It's actually a great idea, but why do we have to do cups and saucers—can't we just do styrofoam coffee cups?"

"That would be Rose, Vicky, and Irina. They said that this is a nice party and, as such, should be refined for once."

"It's a fucking prom!" I argued. "You name one high school that serves their punch in cups and saucers?"

"No shit—you and I are the only ones in agreement on that. Emmett, Riley, and Laurent are too pussy whipped to say anything."

"Well, I'm not about to argue with them. I've been at the receiving end of Irina and Vicky's tempers and I've seen Rose at her worst. Let's just get the decorations over with. I think I have a better idea for the blood than the crock pots." I said.

We finished loading up all the decorations in the SUV when Edward's cell phone buzzed. "What's up, Jasper?"

"Don't pick up the liquor—I'll take care of that tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks. We need Champagne too—according to Rose." Edward said.

"Got it. Keep Bella safe."

"You know I will, Jasper." The call ended with that. "Well, that's one less stop we have to make. I don't think we would have had enough room anyway after we pick everything else up."

We went to Crate and Barrel and picked up a hundred tumblers, fifty champagne flutes, and a hundred cups and saucers. I convinced the store manager to give us a twenty-five percent discount for purchasing so much.

"Why the hell do we need so much of everything, Edward? It's just our family and the Denalis. Who the fuck came up with these numbers?"

"That would be Victoria. She said that we're not gonna wash dishes midway through."

"I am not doing the dishes." I said. "I wanted to go with disposables."

"Alright, where to next?" Edward asked.

"Target. They have these hot beverage dispensers that heats up liquid in minutes and keeps it hot for 24 hours. We just push a button and it dispenses too. It'll take up less space and if we run out—we just refill it. With a crock pot, it would take a few hours to heat the blood up and we'd have to worry about the lid and we'd need ladles to put it in the mug too."

"I like that idea. Let's just run with it. We need twenty—we have a lot of blood."

"I'm afraid to ask. What are we doing about the blood?"

"Um, everyone's been collecting blood for the last week. The fridge is packed full and we had to buy another fridge for the basement."

"What are you keeping them in?" I asked, imagining two refrigerators packed with blood.

"Anything and everything—pitchers, Nalgene bottles, tupperware, even gallon sized Ziploc bags. We've all been carrying big reusable shopping bags filled with empty containers whenever we go hunting."

I started cracking up picturing that. Then I thought of something else. "Can you imagine what would happen if a human came over and opened the fridge?"

We got to Target and purchased twenty dispensers. We quickly got out of there and decided that we needed a drink. "There's a place called Jillian's near Fenway that I've always wanted to go to." Edward said.

"I'll tell you what. Park the Volvo at my place and we'll take the train. Parking's a nightmare in that area."

We got to Jillian's about an hour later and bought a couple of drinks, then walked around to tour the place. The place was cool—there was a huge bar and comfortable seating on each floor. The first floor featured a nightclub with dancing, the second floor had ping pong tables, darts, foosball, and thirty pool tables—must come here with Rose, I thought. The third floor was a bowling alley.

Edward and I tried everything. We started off with some dancing, then moved up to try our hand at bowling. Edward bowled only strikes and I sucked at it. Figures. We went to the second floor and tried out the pool tables for about an hour. Edward was actually really good competition. I had fun playing him—he was way better than Rose. I won't tell her that though because she thinks she's better than Edward. We, then, went back down for more dancing.

By the time two am hit, Edward the lightweight was completely inebriated. I had to hail a cab and take him back home with me to Cambridge. Jasper was already home. "What happened to him?"

"Oh, we found a new club called Jillian's and Edward went nuts with the Bacardi 151. It doesn't take much to get him drunk, you know that."

"Yeah, he's the only vampire in history with a human tolerance for alcohol." Jasper noted.

"If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on, sugar, let me know..." Edward started crooning Rod Stewart. "Bella, Bella! Sing something with me. Please!"

"No, Edward, I don't feel like singing anything." I said.

"Can I see you naked, Bella? I just want to look, I promise I won't touch."

"No, Edward. You can't see my wife naked." Jasper answered.

"Aw, phooey. You have a really pretty wife, Jasper. Did you know that I used to date her?"

"Yes, Edward. I knew that."

"I never had sex with her, though. I should have had sex with her." Edward sighed.

Jasper and I started laughing. "What the fuck are we going to do with him?" I chuckled.

"Fuck if I know. We can't let him drive home so we'll have to keep him here. Did you confiscate his car keys?"

"Yep, they're in my purse." I said.

"Jasper, what does sex feel like for a guy the very first time?" Edward asked. I looked at my husband to see how he'd answer that question.

"It feels like nothing you've ever felt before." Jasper answered wisely.

"Did you lose your virginity when you were human, Jasper?" Edward continued his line of curiosity which peaked my curiosity.

"Uh, yeah." Hmm...I want to hear about this one. With whom, I wonder.

"Who with? Did you have a sweetheart?" Edward asked. Good boy, keep asking questions, bro.

"Uh, I had a sweetheart, but I didn't lose my virginity with her." Jasper said.

"Who? Who was it with?" Edward kept prompting him. By now I was staring right at him waiting for an answer.

"Well, you know I was in the army. So, there were places we could go to...when...um...we...uh...needed the services of a woman." Jasper mumbled uncomfortably.

"Holy fuck! You went to a whore house!" I exclaimed.

"Wow! I've never met anyone that's been to a whore house." Edward was in complete awe. "Was she really nice to you? Did she have big boobies? You know, I touched Amanda's boobies under her bra yesterday—they were really nice. I let her touch my penis too."

"Um...yeah, Edward, she was nice, but, then again, she was nice to everyone who could pay her."

Edward suddenly stood up and ripped his clothes off and announced. "I want to take a bath!" He ran upstairs and a few minutes later we found him doing a handstand in our jacuzzi. Edward came back up and peered out of the water. "Jasper? Do you have any nudie magazines? I want to masturbate."

"Uh, sure, Edward. Why don't you get out of the tub and I'll leave them in the guest room for you." Jasper said, scratching his head and looking at me with a 'what the hell are we going to do with drunk boy' expression.

"Oh, yay! There were a lot of pretty girls at Jillian's. Some were even prettier than Bella. I got horny." Edward slurred as he got out of the tub. Jasper showed a naked Edward, hard-on and all, to the guest room. As soon as Edward sat down he was rendered unconscious by my mate. We tucked him in under the covers and let him rest.

"How many drinks did he have?" Jasper asked.

"We each had ten shots of 151. I'm fine, obviously, but damn—I had to haul Edward into a cab. Thank God, I suggested leaving the Volvo here. I don't think I would have been able to restrain him and drive at the same time. He was out of his mind-he kept telling the cab driver to drive at vampire speed." I said.

Jasper pulled me onto his lap and kissed me. He was quiet and contemplative tonight. "Hey, how did your talk with Pete go?"

My husband took a deep breath. "Things aren't going well between Peter and Char. She wants to separate for a while."

"Huh?" I was shocked. "But...but...aren't they mates?"

"Yeah, they're mates. They have a pretty tight bond too. Way tighter than Mike and Alice. Anyway, Char wants to venture off on her own and find herself. Peter is in the pits. He's depressed."

"But...the pull?"

"Exactly, that's part of the problem. The thing is, I don't think she wants to separate from Pete. I think she's just being spoiled and talking out of her ass because Pete laid down some ground rules after she got arrested this weekend. One of the rules was putting a stop to sleeping with others. This pissed her off more than anything. The thing is, I don't think Pete can even stick to that rule."

"Well, maybe some time away from Peter is exactly what she needs then. She was seventeen when she was changed and she never really had the chance to become her own person. I do know that she needs to wise up a little, though. That stunt she and Tanya pulled was outrageous. Why would you film yourself having sex while committing a felony?"

Jasper sighed, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't changed her and used her the way I did, she wouldn't be so promiscuous."

"Uh, no. Hell no. You're not going to blame yourself for Char's behavior and promiscuity. You were with her for one year. She's been with Peter for sixty plus years. They can shoulder the responsibility themselves. Peter's not exactly a beacon of chastity himself. In fact, he instigates a lot of it. They need to reflect on their own actions individually, then sit down and talk together."

"I know. I just hate it when they have problems." Jasper said.

"Jasper, you can't tackle everyone's problems on your own, okay? I know, you're feeling guilty about Alice's Narcissistic Personality Disorder too. Well, you need to stop."

"Yeah, but I feel kind of guilty because I'm so happy. I have such a great relationship with my mate."

"Good God, why the hell would you feel guilty about being happy? You know, our relationship wasn't exactly a bed of roses in the beginning. We each had a fuckton of issues that we had to work out, but we did it together without any interference. We listened to each other's opinions and made compromises. Pete and Char don't do that. Pete decides and expects Char to listen. After that, Char does something outrageous to purposefully piss Pete off. They play mind games, Jasper—that's really not the way to handle things."

"You know something. You're right. They do play mind games with each other. That's so fucked up." Jasper agreed.

I decided to change the subject. "So, Jasper, I was doing some research on Williamsburg and it looks like they have re-enactments running all day and Busch Gardens will be open. Can we go there too? Pretty please? I love roller coasters."

"Hell, yeah. We'll need a break from all the historical stuff and from Garrett. I guarantee he's gonna drive us nuts with all the actors dressed like Red Coats running around. Oh, and he already found out that we can rent costumes from that era and dress up like colonists or Brits. I've already decided to rent a Red Coat uniform just to fuck with Garrett."

"I'm so psyched. This is gonna be the best trip ever."

Jasper kissed my lips then switched on the TV. We'd been talking for so long that it was already seven am. "I'm gonna go start a load of laundry, hon." I said.

"Okay, I'll keep Edward knocked out until the stuff comes out of the dryer. I'll help you fold and put away, okay?"

I started the washer and cuddled up with my husband on the sofa. He was watching the local news.

"Police in Cambridge are searching for the prankster that callously threw a mechanical vibrator, commonly known as a Rabbit, through the windshield of a passing cruiser on Francis Street near Harvard University. The Rabbit, which authorities consider a dangerous weapon since it was lobbed at such a high velocity, was sent to the lab and dusted for fingerprints, but they were unable to find any leads. They are currently awaiting DNA results. At this juncture, they are not ruling out foul play and are asking for the public's help in identifying the perpetrator who committed this heinous crime."

Our jaws dropped. "That's our street." Jasper said.

"That's my Rabbit." I gasped, pointing at the TV screen. We both started rolling. It was a fitting end to a long, wild and crazy day.

**So, Mike and Amanda both got out of the house and it looks like they had firm control of their bloodlust. Bella finally got an idea of why Jasper needs to scent her so much. Edward, oh Edward, the poor drunk virgin. Jasper needs to stop blaming Pete and Char's problems on himself. Can't wait to hear what you think. I promise that you'll hear back from me. XOXO**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hi All! Thanks so much for reading, reviewing, faving, and alerting. I'm so happy that you're enjoying this story. Jasper will throw some lust at all of you.**

**This chapter contains the prom, lust, more lust, clinical lust, and uh...lust.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Charlotte's POV**

"We need to talk Char." Peter said, seriously. We were in the middle of the forest hunting.

"Oh, Pete, I already apologized to you about our arrest, what more is there for us to talk about? Why are you being so serious all of a sudden? I was completely serious when I said that we needed some time apart—I can't handle you when you're being broody and straight-laced." Seriously, Pete was being a complete boob.

"Char, I love you. You know I do. I love you with every fiber of my being, but you've been wanting a separation and at this point, I'm gonna give you what you want. I'm hunting here with you today to tell you that I'll be moving into an apartment in Cambridge and to request just one thing."

What? He's really leaving me. Well, that's a surprise. I was only kidding when I said I wanted a separation. I really didn't think he'd take me seriously. I need to get a grip. I wonder what his request is—maybe he wants me to move in with him. "What's that Peter?"

"Would you go to the prom as my date tomorrow? I don't want to disappoint my daughter—it's her first prom and probably the only one with the whole family."

I had venom tears brimming my eyes. Of course, he'd want Amanda to be happy. He truly felt as if she were his daughter. Truth be told, I couldn't disappoint her either. "Of course, Peter. When will you be moving out?"

"Sunday." He said.

"Sunday, it is then." I tried to keep myself as composed as possible. "Um, I'm gonna finish hunting on my own, Peter."

"Fine, I'll see you." He said, then ran off towards the house.

I ran and ran and when I was far away enough I screamed, "Oh, God! What am I going to do?"

I kept running. I ran until I found myself in front of a small house on Francis Street and pounded on the door. Jasper answered the door and I collapsed into his arms. I was a mess.

Jasper picked me up, shut the door, and carried me to the sofa in his strong arms. I just sobbed into his chest. It was a place where I found comfort. Jasper was there for me always—in ways that Peter was not. Jasper was my advice giver, my rock whereas Peter was my mate that provided more physical comfort than mental and emotional security. There was something wrong with that picture. I knew that.

I looked up into Jasper's golden eyes and cried. "He's leaving me. He said he's getting his own place in Cambridge—without me."

"I thought you wanted a separation, Char. At least, that's the impression that Pete gave me when I talked to him yesterday." He said.

"I did...I mean, I said that I did, but I really didn't. I was just threatening him. He was being such a boob about things. I never dreamt that he'd take me seriously."

"Char, Pete only wants you to be happy. You've threatened him with separation before. He was bound to take you seriously and believe that's what you wanted eventually. You can't keep playing mind games with him." Jasper said.

I knew that, but the games were part of who Pete and I were. It was wrong though. I understood that. "I just can't understand why he was so pissy this week. I apologized so many times for the arrest, but he still insisted on these ridiculous rules."

"Are you fucking serious, Char?" Bella stood in front of me with her hands on her hips looking like a scary vampire. She could give Rose or, hell, Vicky, a run for their money with that look. "You need to pull your head out of your ass. Peter's pissed because what you and Tanya did was beyond ridiculous. You don't go and film yourself having sex in a public place after committing a felony. What you did was so wrong. You needed the assistance of nine vampires to get you out of the mess you were in and I still haven't heard an apology out of your sorry ass."

"You don't have to be a bitch about things, Bella! I'm feeling pretty bad here. My mate's leaving me." I said.

"Gee, maybe he's tired of you trying to manipulate him to get your way." Bella snapped back. "Exactly, what rules did Peter lay down that has you in a tizzy, Char?"

"He wants me to call when I go somewhere and tell him where I am. He also wants me to check in with him every four hours when I do go out. Oh, and he would prefer it if we kept sleeping with other couples to just Rex and Tanya and twice a week at that."

"That's it?" Bella and Jasper both asked shocked.

"Uh, he's acting like a jailer." I replied.

"I'm sorry, Char. Calling and telling your mate where you are and checking in with him seem pretty reasonable to me. As for the sleeping with other couples, Bella and I don't play that game so we won't make any judgments." Jasper had an exasperated expression on his face.

"Guys, it shows that my mate doesn't trust me!" I yelled.

"Char! You do realize that Jasper and I check in with each other every few hours unless one of us is away on a trip like when he was in Pennsylvania. Then, we try to give each other freedom. As for calling to tell him where you are, that's just common sense." Bella said. "As for Pete not trusting you, can you really blame him? I sure as hell don't trust you. I can't see who would after the shit you and Tanya pulled."

I hated the fact that Bella was being brutally honest. It hurt, but she wasn't sugarcoating anything for me. Maybe, I needed her in your face attitude. I gazed into Bella's eyes, they weren't cold, they were warm and showed all the love she had for me. I jumped out of Jasper's arms and into Bella's. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I'm so sorry about all the trouble I caused. I was wrong and I knew it then. I don't ever want to lose you as a friend, a sister. I'll work hard to earn your trust back, I promise."

"I know you will, Char, but I think you need to work on regaining your mate's trust too. You literally drove him away. Jasper and I can only do so much. You brought this onto yourself and you're gonna have to dig yourself out of this mess. You'll never lose me, I'll always be here for you—so will Jasper." She reassured.

"Oh God!" I cried, plopping down on the sofa with a thud that literally broke one side of it—now it was sitting at a strange, lopsided angle. "My mate's leaving me on Sunday. What am I going to do? I've never been without him."

"What exactly did he say to you, Char?" Jasper asked. So, I told him. I told him how his only request was that I attend the prom with him to which I replied yes.

"Okay, so you have the prom tomorrow night. Are you ready for it?" Bella asked.

"No." I whimpered.

"So, get ready for it. Go to the prom with Peter and show your enthusiasm for both him and the prom. Don't hang all over Rex. Hang all over Peter." Jasper suggested. "Frankly, I get completely turned on whenever Bella hangs all over me."

"I'll have to remember that." Bella winked.

"Okay, I'll start with the prom." I said. "Will you come dress shopping with me, Bella? I need to look hot and sexy."

"Why don't you go for looking elegant this time. Sometimes, the less you do—the sexier you look." Jasper suggested. "We'll both go dress shopping with you. We were heading out in a little while anyway. We just have to finish folding the laundry and wake Edward up."

"Edward's here? What's the matter with him? Why do you have to wake him up?" I asked.

"Oh, he went a little nuts with the 151 last night when he and Bella went clubbing." Jasper said.

Bella brought the laundry out. "Feel free to help fold, Char."

I actually missed doing laundry. Esme did most of it and in some ways, I kind of missed running my own household. "Um, do you guys have a thing with doing your laundry separately? Jasper's clothes are the only ones in here."

"Oh, Jasper's on a mission to get me to go shopping so he's been ripping all of my clothes off of me." Bella sighed. "He knows not to rip any of my souvenir t-shirts or my Elvis pajamas though."

Gee, I thought Pete and I were weird, but this couple was strange. What kind of a husband intentionally shreds all of his wife's clothes so she'd go shopping? Maybe Alice really did rub off on the Major a little.

"Alright, let's go wake Eddie boy up." Jasper got up off of the broken sofa and made his way up the stairs. I took a peek around the house as we made our way around the second floor.

"That jacuzzi looks just like the one in Provincetown." I commented. "Is that a round bed in your room?"

"Uh, yeah, it rotates too." Jasper said.

"They have one like that in the Hugh Hefner Skyline Villas in Las Vegas." I said. "I stayed there with Pete and Tanya last year."

"Oh, really?" Jasper smirked. I noticed that he and Bella exchanged knowing looks. There was another round bed in the guest room that Edward was knocked out in.

"You have two round beds?" I asked.

"That one doesn't rotate—it's for when we're feeling less kinky." Bella stated.

"Okay, here we go." Jasper inhaled a deep breath, then slowly released his hold on Edward while exhaling. Edward stirred awake.

"What happened?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You had quite a night, Edward." Bella said. He lifted the sheet and took a look.

"I'm naked!" He gasped. "Oh God! Did we? Did you and I? Did...did...oh God...Jasper's gonna kill me!"

Jasper, Bella, and I started chuckling. "Trust me, Eddie." I said. "If you had gone to bed with Bella, you would have remembered it. I don't care how drunk you are, a session with Bella is something you'll never forget."

"Thank you, I think." Bella said. "Edward, you were drunk as a skunk last night so I brought you home and Jasper knocked you out so you could get some rest."

"Why am I naked, then?" Edward questioned.

"Well, you ripped your clothes off and declared that you were taking a dip in the jacuzzi." Jasper explained.

"Oh, yeah, now I remember. I wanted to masturbate. Hey, you never gave me any nudie magazines. Peter always gives me some." Eddie complained.

"That's cause I don't have any, Edward." Jasper replied.

"What?" Edward and I both gasped simultaneously.

What kind of a deranged guy is this. No nudie magazines. Even I like masturbating to them. "Not even one?" I asked.

"Nope, cross my heart." Jasper reiterated.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't need any. I have an imaginative brain. Besides, I've got my wife." Jasper pulled Bella close to him and kissed her.

Bella handed Edward some clothes. "Get dressed. We're going to the mall with Char. Hey, maybe you can come with us and help her pick out a prom dress."

"Okay, sure." Edward said as he got dressed under the covers. He's so innocent it's adorable.

Two hours later, we were walking around a mall and searching for a prom dress for me. "Ooh! Look! I love that one!" I pointed to a beautiful midnight blue, skin tight dress with cut out sides and rushed into the store to take a look at it. "Bella! It even comes with a matching thong!"

"Charlotte, Frederick's of Hollywood is not an appropriate store to buy a prom dress. Don't you think, Jasper? Jasper? Jasper!" Bella yelled.

"Hey, Bella, I think you'd look sexy in this set here." Jasper was holding up some kind of a sheer red baby doll with crotchless panties. "Look! It's on clearance too! You like clearance."

"No, Jasper. Not until you finish ripping the clothes you bought in Vegas off of me." Bella said firmly.

"Yeah, but, babe you stay naked in between sex sessions. That's just one outfit a day. How about you redress after each orgasm then I can shred through your clothes faster.

Bella simply narrowed her eyes at her mate.

I noticed the salesgirl watching their banter in abject horror. "Fine." Jasper said, then he slyly handed me the baby doll to me along with a hundred bucks. "Put that back for me, will ya, sug?" He winked.

I grabbed a matching set for myself. "My fee." I whispered, holding it up to him.

"By all means." He said as he left the store to catch up to his mate. I noticed him removing Bella's hand from Edward's and putting it into his own. Jealous fucker.

I paid for the two baby doll sets and left the store. I quickly caught up to the group. We went to the formal dress section at a department store. "Bella, these cover up too much. I liked that other dress better, the sides were cutout and the back dipped down really low."

"Uh, yeah, Char, evening gowns usually don't come with a matching thong." Bella informed me.

"Really? I didn't know that." I said, seriously. "What do they come with? A matching bra? A garter?"

"No, you have to provide those on your own." Bella said.

"No freebies? Well, that's a total rip off!" I was completely outraged.

"Try these on." Bella handed me two dresses. I walked into the dressing room and took my clothes off so I could try them on.

While I was in there, Jasper passed me two more over the door. "I think you'll look nicer in these."

Damn it, I can't reach the zipper. "Hey, Bella, can you help me with this dress?" No response. "Bella? Jasper, I need Bella." That's odd, I can smell them both near me. "Edward?"

"Yeah, Char?"

"Can you help me with this zipper here?"

"Sure." Edward came into the dressing room and zipped the dress up for me. "Wow! You look really beautiful in that dress, Char."

I could sense the honesty in his statement and decided to go with the dress. "Thanks, Edward. Where are Bella and Jasper. I smell them, but...oh, sweet Jesus, he's projecting."

I wanted to rip Edward's clothes off and ride him, but I had to preserve his virginity. I did have some morals, after all.

"Oh God!" Edward moaned and sat on the bench in the fitting room. He was panting. I sat across from him on a chair in the corner, too afraid that I'd rape him if I moved any closer to him.

I was moaning and my breathing was getting more erratic. I was going to kill Jasper. Where the hell were they and how come I couldn't hear them? My pussy was drenched, my nipples were as hard as steel. I could smell my arousal in the air and so could poor Edward. His eyes were pitch black, but the little trooper was trying his best to not attack me.

I could see him struggling. This wasn't the type of lust people could resist. Edward and I were both clutching onto our respective seats—hanging on for dear life. "Edward, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"K...kill...them...both. Char, I'm not gonna make it. I have to c...u...m...B...b...ah!"

At the same time I was screaming, "Peterrrr!" At the top of my lungs.

"Jasper, you fucker, you were projecting again!" I heard Bella chastising her mate. "You made Char and Edward cum!"

"Uh, can one of you go and get me a paper towel. Edward's jizz landed all over my face." I said.

The two sex addicts opened the door and peered into my dressing room. They looked at Edward who was staring angrily at them from his bench, then across at me and my cum covered face. Jasper graciously removed the shirt he was wearing and handed it to me so I could wipe my face off.

"Honestly, couldn't you two wait until you got back home?" I asked. "You do realize that this is a public place, don't you? What if someone caught you or this kind of thing got out to the Volturi?"

"Learned your lesson, huh?" Jasper asked me. Oh, boy, he did have a point. My behavior last weekend was much, much worse than this. No wonder everyone including Pete was pissed off at me. "We weren't having sex. I was just projecting my lust to try and teach you a lesson. Edward just got caught in the crossfire. Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Edward said, standing up, then punching Jasper in the face twice. "That's for me and Char."

"I deserved that." Jasper said. "But, Edward, if we ever had a contest on who has the furthest flying jizz, I think you'd win. You hit Char's face from clear across the dressing room—that's impressive man. Oh and Char, I like that dress on ya."

Edward left the dressing room, I quickly removed the pretty blue dress I was wearing. I took a whiff of it. Good, it only smelled like my arousal. The scent would turn Peter on. I decided to buy it when I realized that I had no purse. It was still at home in New Hampshire.

"Oh, Jasper!" I called. "I don't have my purse on me."

He smiled, grabbed the dress from me, and brought it to the register. "I got it, sug."

_**The next day...**_

**Jasper's POV**

"Riley, you need to move that streamer a quarter of an inch to the right." Vicky directed.

"That's it, that's it! I swear to God, Vicky, you can be fucking OCD sometimes. No one gives a flying fuck whether or not the streamers are precisely aligned on the ceiling! This is a motherfucking prom—normally put on by high school kids who, I can assure you, don't line their streamers up perfectly."

"I just want the prom to be perfect for Amanda!" Victoria sobbed. Great, my female second-in-command was a blithering mess while my male second-in-command, Peter, was wallowing in his own self pity.

"Riley, go talk to your mate. I got the streamers, bro." I took over for Riley and started taping the streamers. I got clear across to the other side of the room when I noticed a nail hanging out from one of the windows. I could pull that out. I reached into my handy dandy tool belt, grabbed my shiny new hammer, and yanked the nail out. Oh, shit! The hammer just went through the window.

"I got this guys. Easy fix." I said as I grabbed my tape measure and measured the window. Fuck! How'd I do that? Now the tape measure is laying outside next to the hammer.

I noticed everyone chatting with Bella. "Jasper, can we go for a quick hunt?" She asked me.

"No, babe, I really want to get this window fixed before the prom. I have to run to Home Depot for supplies. Maybe Rose can go with you." I said.

"Jasper," Bella kissed my neck. "I really, really want to hunt. I need to hunt and I want you to be the one to take me."

"Baby, if I don't get this window fixed the whole prom will be ruined."

"Jasper!" Vicky came downstairs with my tux. She was back to her normal no-nonsense self, thank God. "I need you to try this tux on right now before you go to Home Depot so I can do the alterations while you're there. Go help him Bella."

I went to Vicky's sewing room to try on the tux. As soon as I tried it on, I could smell my wife's arousal. "I want you, Jasper."

She ripped her own clothes off and was now clad simply in a black thong. Fuck me. My dick's twitching and I've gotta fix that window. I...holy shit...she's caressing her own titties...she's...oh, yeah...that's right...slide that thong off slowly...beautiful...that's right, bend over and grab those ankles...show me that gorgeous ass of yours...and...oh...yeah, baby...play with that pretty little pussy of yours...fuck it, I'll get to that window tomorrow, we can throw a curtain over it...my mate needs servicing.

Bella was sitting on the carpeted floor with her legs spread wide for me. She was fondling her breasts with her left hand and running her fingers up and down her slit with her right. She slowly inserted one finger into her folds, then added a second. She moaned as she gently finger fucked herself.

"Take your tux off, Jasper—slowly." She whispered as she eyed my body up and down.

"Yes, ma'am." I said and slowly removed the jacket, then went to work on the buttons of my shirt.

Bella crawled to my side on her hands and knees and ran her fingers up my legs, undoing my pants. I was completely ready for her full lips as she took me into her mouth. "Close your eyes, Jasper. Just feel what I'm doing." I did as she asked. I felt her running her tongue from the shaft to the tip in one fluid stroke up my tongue before taking in my whole length again. She repeated the motion again and again until I pumped my seed straight down her throat.

With the amount of lust we were both feeling, my cock didn't even have time to go down. "Get on your hands and knees, my mate." I ordered. I spanked her plump ass a few time until she was moaning then entered her from behind, anchoring myself using her long, wavy hair.

"Oh God, Jasper!" She gasped as I thrust myself inside her over and over again. God damn—she was dripping wet. In and out—I pounded into her pussy, over and over again, until I felt her walls clench down tight on my cock. "Aaaahhhh!" She screamed as I pumped my seed into her and bit down hard into her neck.

I pulled my mate onto my lap and immediately started caring for her wound with my tongue. She was shivering in both pleasure and pain and I wrapped my arms around her so she could come down off of her high.

Around the house, I could hear various voices crying out in ecstasy.

"Jasper, you fucker, you were projecting again!" Laurent hollered.

"Thank you!" I heard Irina and a whole bunch of others calling down.

"Mike, did you cum all over that new window?" Vicky yelled. "Clean that shit up."

"Hey! It's not my fault. I didn't know I was gonna get hot and bothered while replacing the window. What the hell was that? I don't normally jizz in public like that!" Mike complained.

Peter started explaining to Mike, "Oh that was just..."

"Jaaassssppppeeeerrrr!" Alice's high pitched squeal could be heard, then the sound of a Rabbit turning off.

"There's just all kinds of wrong with that last one." Bella chuckled.

"No shit. How's your mark, baby?" I asked.

"It hurts. Can you run your tongue over it a few more times?" She requested.

I took a look at it and the wound was deeper than my usual. I bathed it with my tongue for about five minutes and threw a ton of lethargy at Bella so she could rest a bit. I carried her to our room and drew the bath. When it was full, I picked my mate up and hopped inside. I washed her hair and body gently, then slowly brought her back sending her peace, joy, and gratitude.

"I think I needed that little nap. Thanks, baby." She said. I kissed her lips tenderly in response. "I really don't want to leave your arms, but I suppose we have to finish setting up for the prom."

"I know. Come on." I got out, wrapped a towel around myself and held one out for her. We quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to help. The scene in the ballroom was a madhouse. Everyone looked disheveled, but completely sated.

"Project much, asshole!" Riley greeted me with a swift punch to the face.

"Thank God, you two live in Cambridge. I feel bad for your neighbors, though." Peter said.

"I kind of enjoyed it." Emmett said, pulling Rose into the room with him.

"Alright, back to work everyone." Vicky said. I noticed her rubbing a fresh mark on her neck.

Actually, I noticed Laurent and Rose doing the same thing. I must have gone nuts with the projection.

_Six hours later..._

The men were all waiting in the foyer for the women to come downstairs. Rex had set a camera up so that we could all have photos. One by one, the women came down to greet their mates. They were all beautiful, but I only had eyes for my Bella. She was a vision in a pure white silk chiffon gown with silver embroidery detailing at the strapless bust line. Damn it. I should have scented her more.

Amanda came down last in an adorable pink prom dress handsewn by Victoria. Bella took her shopping last week and she couldn't find the gown that was featured in Seventeen Magazine. That's when Vicky stepped in and offered to sew one for her. Amanda was absolutely tickled and she was even able to pick the shade of pink she wanted at the fabric store. I thought it was hilarious how Lethal Victoria had such girly talents like sewing, knitting, and jewelry making. Bella and I had enough hats, scarves, and mittens to last us a lifetime courtesy of Vicky's knitting needles.

We were all having a great time. This was the first prom where we could actually be ourselves. Emmett spiked one of the hot beverage dispensers filled with blood with Jack Daniels. We told him he didn't need to spike anything because we were actually serving liquor at this prom. He did it anyway—saying it was tradition.

I was dancing to some Lady Gaga song with my wife. "Bella. We're taking a couple of those blood dispensers home. That's like the best idea ever. Hot blood on tap." I commented.

"Yeah, but how long is blood good for after it's heated?" Bella asked.

"Hmm...I don't know. We'll have to ask Carlisle." I said.

"Jasper, thank you for the earrings." Bella said. "You're spoiling me, you know?"

"I know." I winked. I had gotten Bella earrings to match her wedding ring. This time, I was smart. I purchased them at Harry Winston, but I threw them in a plain cardboard jewelry box from Walmart. She accepted them graciously without any complaint. Yep, I was learning how to get my way with my wife without her even knowing. Now I just have to work on shredding more of her clothes.

The music switched to a slow song and I pulled my wife into my arms. "You look beautiful tonight, baby." I said.

"You do, as well." Bella replied.

"I'm glad you surprised me with the dress, Bella. You were breathtaking walking down the staircase."

"You know I'd be blushing if I were human. By the way, those cowboy boots of yours are turning me on, Jasper." She whispered in my ear.

"Hey, stop hogging the most beautiful girl in the room to yourself, fucker." Rex grabbed Bella and handed Tanya off to me.

"I hope you don't mind Jasper. I wanted to talk to you." Tanya said.

"About what, darlin'?"

"I wanted to thank you for your help last weekend and apologize for my atrocious behavior. It was unacceptable in every way, shape, and form. I'm mortified, looking back on my behavior and the indifference I showed afterwards. I truly am sorry, Jasper."

I could feel her remorse and her honesty. "Thanks, T. I'm always here for you, but you already knew that."

"Yes, I know, Jasper. Last weekend was a new low for me. I'm open sexually, but I've never been that sexually promiscuous in public before. Well, except for this one time in a parking lot in Las Vegas, but that's Vegas—that kind of behavior is acceptable to an extent there.

Bella eyed me with a malicious grin. Ammo, baby, ammo. Yep, we know exactly what you, Char, and Pete were up to. Dual fellatio behind a dumpster at the Forum Shops parking lot and you couldn't even stop for poor Claude.

"We all do stupid things sometimes, T. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes." I advised.

Tanya snuggled up into my chest as we continued dancing. I sent her some appreciation so she knew that her apology was well received by me.

I saw Alice sitting in the corner alone so I decided to make polite conversation with her. "That's a pretty dress Alice." I said.

"Thank you, Jasper, it's vintage Dior. It's from the prom we went to in 1956." Alice stated. "I wish I could have gotten a new dress. Bella's dress is really beautiful—you did well picking it for her."

"I didn't pick it. She chose it on her own."

"Well, she did well. That's a Lanvin gown—they go for eleven thousand dollars."

"She spent money?" I asked happily. Alice nodded to me. I was so happy that I kissed her on the lips and asked her to dance. Well, I had to do my happy dance, my wife spent money.

The prom continued on. Emmett and I soon became bored so we started mixing different types of blood in our cups to see what we could come up with.

"Moose and mountain lion go pretty well together." I commented. "Here, try some."

Em took the cup and saucer from me. "Bro, this rocks! Hey, if we could get a moose and a mountain lion to breed, will their blood taste like this?"

"I don't know if it's possible for a moose and a mountain lion to breed." I stated.

"Guys, try this. It's deer, coyote, and black bear. It tastes like fried chicken." Mike said.

"Holy shit! You're right." I said and handed Mike my cup. "Make me another one."

"Alright, it's 20% deer, 25% coyote, and 55% black bear. Dinner is served." Mike gave me my cup.

"What's this I hear about fried chicken?" Rex asked.

Mike handed him a cup of his concoction. "Try this."

"This is like Kentucky Fried Chicken—now all we have to do is come up with mashed potatoes and gravy." Rex said. The four of us looked at each other, then grabbed all the beverage dispensers filled with blood and ran to the kitchen.

"Get measuring cups!" Mike ordered.

"Check!" I said.

"Notebook and paper?"

"Check!" Rex said.

"Mixing bowls and spoons?"

"Got 'em!" Emmett called out.

About a half an hour later, Bella came looking for us. "What are you guys doing?"

"Here, try this!" Mike shoved a cup of his fried chicken in Bella's face.

She took a sip. "Yummy—do we have any mashed potatoes and gravy?"

"That's what we're trying to come up with, babe. So far, we have what Mike and Rex are calling potato chips. They're very good." I said.

"I keep forgetting how old you are, Jasper. Potato chips probably weren't widely available until food became mass produced after the Industrial Revolution." Bella said.

"I swear, Bella, you're such a nerd. Only you would bring history into the potato chip." Mike commented.

"Hey, I can't help it. My husband's an old fogey."

"He's a cradle robber—that's what he is." Mike joked.

"So, if we have potato chips, then we're getting close to the mashed potatoes. We need less salt content and a little more of that butter and cream taste." Bella sat there analyzing the blood like some sort of mad scientist. Damn—she looked sexy. I wonder if she'd let me pour some blood on her and lick it off of her? It would make her nipples taste extra good.

"Bro, you're projecting again, my dick's getting hard and I'm just standing here mixing blood." Emmett said.

"Bella, try wild boar. I always thought it tasted a little like bacon so we could use it as a base for the gravy." Rex suggested. "By the way, your tits look perky in that dress. Jasper projecting isn't helping me, I feel like licking them."

"What are you talking about, man. Her tits have always looked perky. You should have seen her in gym class during high school. Once, she forgot to wear a bra so her boobs were bouncing up and down during volleyball. I'm not kidding you." Mike reminisced at the expense of my wife's tits and I was getting pretty pissed off.

"Oh, I remember that day. My bra strap snapped during first period so I had to take my bra off and chuck it. Hey, you didn't pick me for your volleyball team that day!" Bella complained. Oh, yeah, I could just picture her taking her bra off. If Malice hadn't hidden the fact that we were mates, I would have taken that bra off for her and maybe squeezed her tits a bit.

"Duh! The view was better from the other side. I wasn't an idiot, you know." Mike stated. "You made me and all the guys at Forks High happy that day." Pretty intelligent, Mr. Newton. I probably would have done the same thing.

"Glad I could brighten your day." Bella chuckled.

"What the fuck is this?" Rosalie came out with Victoria in tow. They looked pissed off.

"Everyone is looking for the blood. What the hell are you guys doing? Are you playing with the blood?" Vicky chastised us as if we were little kids playing in the kitchen. She had her hands on her hips and she looked feral. All we had to do was give her a wooden spoon and she'd remind me of my mama whenever I had my hand in the cookie jar.

"We were experimenting." Rex said. "We were seeing what flavors we could come up with by mixing different types of blood."

"During the prom?" Victoria asked. We all looked down at our toes, shamefully. "Refill those dispensers and get back to the prom! You don't want to piss me off."

"Yes, Medusa." Mike said. Vicky narrowed her eyes at him using one of her lethal glares before stalking back to the prom.

"I hope she doesn't use that expression in her classroom. All the kids would be pissing their pants." Rex cringed.

"Try being raised by her for five years." Bella said. "She was sweet and motherly, but if you crossed the line she became evil, vampire mama. I forgot to call home once to say I was going to a party at Tommy's frat house. Anyway, one thing led to another, I was drunk, so I decided to spend the night. Well, Vicky sniffed me out and entered his room through a window and proceeded to lecture me and Tommy about the perils of drinking and premarital sex. Fortunately, Tommy passed out. Vicky then grabbed me, threw me on her back, jumped out of the window, and ran me home at vampire speed—I was stark naked. Then, she threw me into a cold shower and made me sit there for a half an hour until I was literally blue. Riley had to explain to her that what I did was pretty normal for a college kid while Irina warmed me up under an electric blanket. I ended up getting the flu after that."

"Geez Bella, at least I got to live on campus away from my family during college. You really had it bad, didn't you? I mean, drunk sex after a frat party is a rite of passage." Mike said. "You know, I heard that Riley once had sex with three women at once after a keg party at our frat house?"

"I did." Riley wagged his eyebrows. "It wasn't at our house, though, it was at the Tri Delta sorority house. I thought you guys might need help bringing back the blood."

We were back at the prom, dancing with our mates in no time. Edward and Amanda hadn't left each other's sides. Peter cut in and took Bella from me. I saw Char looking forlorn at the other side of the room. I'd been observing them all night and while Pete danced a couple of songs with Char, for the most part, he stayed away from her. I couldn't blame him. His feelings were hurt by her continued threats to separate.

The guys and I surrounded the liquor table and we started pounding back a few bottles. Edward stayed with Amanda the whole time and kept dancing. Some of the girls were dancing together in groups.

"This prom thing is for the birds." Riley whispered. "Next time the parents are out of town, we're having the fucking toga party to end all toga parties. Mike and I will put it together."

"Hell, yeah." Mike high-fived his frat brother. "Maybe we should send the parents on a long weekend away."

"That's actually a really good idea." Garrett said. "I'd like to see what a toga party is all about."

"Heavy drinking, dancing, and drunk sex. If we were human, we'd be getting stoned too." Rex said.

We were good and drunk by the time Vicky announced, an hour later, that it was time to crown the prom king and queen. She called up Edward and Amanda—threw homemade crowns on their heads, let them have their dance, and the prom was over.

"Are you guys drunk?" Vicky asked.

"Just a little." Riley slurred. "Can I have you reverse cowgirl, it makes your ass look glorious?"

We could all smell Vicky's arousal so we knew she was turned on by her drunk husband. She grabbed his hand and the two disappeared upstairs.

"Where the fuck are Bells and Rose?" Emmett asked.

"Hell if I know, those two are always taking off somewhere. They're probably just talking—it's already two am so they couldn't have gone anywhere." I said.

"Let's go look for them man, I'm drunk and I'm horny." Emmett was always straightforward with what he wanted.

We searched around the entire house, but they weren't anywhere to be found. We started to get a little worried so we searched outside. Suddenly, we smelled something weird and heard giggling. We followed the noise to the roof—Rose and Bella were sitting on top, drunk to the core, with a mostly empty case of Patron and some strange contraption with hoses coming from it. They both started smoking from the hoses.

"Are you two doing drugs now? Is that marijuana?" Emmett asked, angrily. Frankly, I was pissed off too.

"Oh, pipe down, you two! Why the hell would Bella and I need to do drugs? We're fucking vampires, it wouldn't affect us anyway." Rose chastised.

"This is a..." Bella started, but she was interrupted by Rex.

"A hookah! Hot damn, slide over baby and let me have some." Our resident incubus planted himself in between Rose and Bella.

"What the fuck is a hookah?" I asked.

"It's a water pipe, you smoke flavored tobacco through it. The tobacco is filtered through charcoal—it's really fun." Bella explained, then patted the spot next to her. "Come try it."

I went over, grabbed a pipe and gave it a whirl. Huh, not bad. "Where did you girls find out about this?"

"Oh, I used to go to this hookah bar in Charlestown with my human friends during college." My wife answered.

"Tangierino's?" Rex looked pointedly at my wife.

"Yeah, did you go there too?" Bella asked.

"Every Tuesday night. Half price mixed drinks and appetizers!" Rex announced.

"That's when my friends and I used to go. Hey, you got up and danced alongside the belly dancers once. I remember you. Kelly and I invited you to a party that Saturday, but you never showed." Bella admitted.

"That's cause I worked on Saturday nights, sweetie." Rex winked.

"Did I hear 'belly dancers'?" Garrett joined our group, so did Katie, Tanya, and Mike.

"Yep, they have belly dancers there every night of the week." Rex informed us.

"We are so going." Laurent said. Irina glared at him. "I'm just interested in analyzing their dancing techniques honey. No need to feel threatened."

"I do not feel threatened." Irina seethed.

"Irina, we should totally go. These ladies are the real thing. Where do you think I got most of the extra moves for our Wednesday night belly dancing class at the Y?" Bella said.

"Why you little brat! You've been holding out on me and Vicky! Here we thought you were really good at belly dancing." Irina rebuked.

"Well, I needed the advantage, I was human and you two were vampires. I'm not a professional dancer like the Major here." Bella patted Rex's thigh. Damn it—I really hate that nickname for Rex. I'm the only Major here. When the fuck is everyone gonna get that through their thick skulls.

"All I know is that I'm off of bloodlust lockdown and there are live belly dancers somewhere. We're going—next weekend. I'm laying down the fucking law!" Mike punched his fist down on the roof and a few of the shingles went flying off. "Oops."

"I can fix that." I said. For some reason, I felt distress coming from everyone. They must really be worried about Esme's reaction to a few broken shingles. "Don't worry about it guys, Esme won't even find out. I'll put that thing back together before she gets home."

We all sat in a big circle and started drinking and smoking from the hookah. We settled it that we were all hitting Tangierino's, then Jillian's next weekend.

"Oh my God, Bella! I can't believe you're sitting on a roof drinking and smoking in your eleven thousand dollar gown!" Alice chastised. She looked like a raging bull with her hands on her hips and her nostrils flared out.

"What eleven thousand dollar gown?" Bella asked.

"The Lanvin you're wearing!" Alice pointed.

"No, no, no, no! This is an ABS knock-off of the Lanvin gown you're talking about. It was sixty percent off the clearance price of seventy-five bucks—so it was like thirty dollars. Why would I spend eleven thousand bucks on a gown? That's fucking ridiculous." Bella said.

"Thirty dollars?" Alice, Rose, Tanya, and I all asked, shocked.

"Yeah, thirty bucks. Irina did even better—hers was twenty dollars." Bella and Irina both looked self-righteous.

"Where the fuck do you find these deals?" Rose asked.

"Marshall's." Irina and Bella both answered.

Well there goes my high. Here I thought my wife finally spent some of my money. Thirty bucks was less than a tank of gas. I really wish she'd buy something big.

Alice was about to say something when my cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Jasper, I need your help." It was Edward, he sounded desperate.

"Where are you? Are you hurt?" I asked. The look of concern on everyone's face was apparent.

"I'm with Amanda right now, trying to, you know." Edward explained. "The problem is I can't seem to locate the entry point."

Oh, motherfucker, why the hell is he calling me? Everyone's look turned from one of concern to one of bewildered humor. They were all trying to be nice to Edward and stifling their laughter.

"Okay, Edward, what do you mean by you can't find the entry point?" I asked.

"The entry point, you know, to her vaginal canal."

"Edward, use your fingers and look for it." I said. "Hang on, didn't you go to medical school?"

"I skipped those classes. I didn't think they were appropriate." He said. "No, Amanda spread your legs a little wider for me. Maybe you should place a pillow under your buttocks. Okay, Jasper, I've located the anus."

Garrett was laughing so hard that he fell off the roof. "I'm okay!" He yelled, as he landed with a thud.

Why me? Why the hell am I the one to be put in this position? "Slide your finger up a bit from there and you should run into it."

"Edward, that's my belly button." We heard Amanda say. "I wish I could get my belly button pierced."

"Edward, go lower than that by a few inches." I said. "It's between her folds."

"I think I found it—now what do I do?"

"Tell him to start with a finger." Bella suggested.

"Shouldn't he play with her tits or something first." Mike added. "Loosen her up a bit."

"Ouch." We heard Amanda say.

"She's not ready. She's too dry." Rose said.

"Edward, kiss her and play with her tits. Get to know her body first, before trying to insert your finger." I instructed.

"Okay." Edward hung up the phone.

"Someone best be passing me a bottle of Patron right the fuck now." I growled. I downed the whole bottle in one go.

Garrett made his way back up to the roof carrying a case of 151. "I found this downstairs. What is this Ron Bacardi 151? Geez. I didn't think Edward was this naïve."

"No, shit." Irina said. "It's 151 proof rum."

Garrett cracked open a bottle and started drinking. "This is good. That was a hard fall Katie. I actually felt that." He snuggled into his mate's comforting arms.

We were all discussing how inexperienced Edward was when my cell rang again. Fifteen minutes, on the dot, later. "Jasper, it's been fifteen minutes. Do I penetrate her now?"

Everyone had their hands over their mouths. I can't fucking believe this shit. No, I can't fucking believe I'm going to ask this question. "Is she sufficiently lubricated?"

"Where?" The fucking do-do head asked.

"What the fuck do you mean where? Her...her...her pussy, Edward. Is her pussy wet?"

"How do I research this?" He asked.

"Help!" I mouthed to my wife. Rex was currently holding both her and Tanya. They both had their faces buried in his chest in an attempt not to burst out laughing. I was pissed off because I didn't want my mate anywhere near Rex the Sex's chest.

"Edward, slide your finger in her uh...opening." I instructed.

"Okay, did it. Did that hurt Amanda?" He asked.

"No, it didn't." Amanda replied.

"She said it didn't hurt. Should I remove my boxers now?"

What the fuck?

"Shouldn't she suck on his cock or something?" Tanya asked.

"She should at least jerk it a few times." Laurent added.

"No, he might cum prematurely." Irina said.

"Yes, Edward. Take your boxers off now." I said.

"Jasper, can I take my prom gown off now?" Amanda asked. "Aren't we supposed to be naked for sex? They're always naked in the movies." Oh my fucking hell. Has he been fondling her over her gown?

I refuse to answer that one. I decided to put the phone on speaker.

"Edward, did you just take her panties off and lift her skirt up or something?" Alice asked bewildered.

"Uh, yeah. I didn't want to seem too eager." He replied.

"Fucker, you are eager!" Emmett called out. "Get your fucking head out of the Victorian era."

"Edward, slide her zipper down and help her take her gown off slowly." Rex suggested.

"Did it." Edward said.

"Good, now pull her into your arms and kiss her tenderly." Rex instructed.

"Mmm...Edward." We heard Amanda say.

"Now, pick her up, lay her on the bed, and lay down next to her. Kiss her again." Rex stated.

"Okay, Edward, now take your hand move it up to her tits and play with them a little." Mike said.

"Edward, gently play with her nipples. Don't squeeze too hard. Just flick them a tad." Garrett suggested.

"Move your mouth down to her breast and suckle on it a bit. Not hard. Roll your tongue on her nipples." Laurent suggested.

"Make sure you pay equal attention to both breasts." Riley piped in. He and Vicky had just joined us on the roof.

"Aah." Amanda moaned.

"Done!" Edward said. "I timed myself so I spent exactly twelve seconds on each breast."

"Uh, gage it next time instead of timing yourself, Edward." I said taking a long drag out of the hookah.

"Move the fuck over, I want some." Riley planted himself next to me and grabbed the hookah pipe. "They've got these at Tangierino's."

I noticed Rex's hand wandering dangerously close to my mate's left breast. I was about to step in when, Laurent, who had been eyeing Rex with a stern expression grabbed Bella from him and put her on his lap. I knew I liked him.

"Okay, Edward, I want you to make your way down to her pussy now." Tanya instructed.

"I'm looking at it." Edward said.

"Put your mouth on it and lick." Tanya said.

"Excuse me, do I do it in an up and down motion or go in circles?" Edward asked.

"You take this one, Jasper." Bella said.

For some reason, Tanya, Kate, Irina, and Alice all looked to me. Oh, yeah, I've slept with them all at one point in my life. I'm such a fucking man whore.

"Start with up and down, then go around in circles." I said.

"Play with her clit at the same time." Emmett added.

"How many seconds up and down before I move on to circles and by clit, do you mean clitoris?"

I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "Edward, don't time it—just stay down there for however long you feel is right and yes, he means clitoris."

"Okay, don't hang up." Edward said.

Bella started humming the theme song to Jeopardy.

We all became uncomfortable when we heard Amanda moaning and panting. Everyone started chugging either Patron or 151 and we were all taking turns with the hookah.

"Ahem! I'm done. What should I do now, Jasper?" He asked.

Oh, God, help me. Please? How the hell is this even possible? Why? Why?

"Um, try putting your finger in now." Bella jumped in to save me.

"Thanks." I mouthed to my wife.

"Did it. There's a lot of moisture in here." Edward answered.

"Okay, now try two fingers." Rose suggested.

"Are you uncomfortable, love?" Edward questioned Amanda.

"No! Will you hurry the fuck up and put your cock inside of me!" Amanda ordered.

"Uh, okay." Edward said.

"Slowly!" We all chorused simultaneously.

"Oh...ow...um...ow." Amanda groaned.

"Amanda inhale and exhale slowly." Bella instructed. "Edward, go slower. It hurts the first time."

"Oh, right. I'm sorry, Amanda." Edward apologized.

"Oh!" We heard Amanda gasp. "Ouch!"

"I think I've broken through her hymen." Edward stated.

"Edward, stay right there and don't move. Let her get used to your size." I instructed.

"Um, excuse me. Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Amanda asked.

"It hurts more when you're a vampire." Victoria whispered, sadly. "Amanda, honey, take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale from your mouth. Edward's not going to move until you give him the go ahead. It only hurts the first time. You'll be fine, sweetheart.

Amanda must have given Edward the go ahead because the next think out of his mouth was, "Are you sure, love?"

"Okay, in and out slowly, Edward." Riley instructed.

We could hear them both moaning. "Should I hang up?" I asked, in a whisper.

Before anyone could answer, we heard Edward holler at the top of his lungs, "B...e...ll...A...manda!"

I ended the call. Bella gasped, "Now that was just fucked up!"

"Were my ears deceiving me or did Edward almost yell out Bella's name?" Laurent asked, horrified.

"No shit!" Alice even agreed. "He's got to stop screaming your name when he cums. I caught him masturbating in the woods the other day when I went hunting and he was screaming your name over and over again, Bella. Now, my name I can understand, but you?"

"Hey, even I have the decency not to cry your name out when I jerk off, Bella." Mike said, eyeing my mate's tits.

"Why the fuck would that thought even cross your mind?" I asked, angrily.

"No reason." Mike shrugged with a smug smile while eyeing Bella's cleavage. That little fucker's wanking off to the thought of my wife.

"Well, I'm calling it a night." I said. Everyone followed us down. I can't believe I had to play sex therapist to my brother who used to date my wife.

"Come on!" I pulled Bella upstairs. I planned on scenting her over and over again. I'm a possessive motherfucker and with everyone jerking off and having sex to the thought of her I was going to have to double up on the scenting I was already doing now.

Bella and I took a quick shower and I immediately threw her on the bed and scenting her. Then, my cell phone rang. It was Edward again. "Sorry for disturbing you, Jasper, but how do I go about scenting Amanda?"

Bella started giggling. Well, fuck me, I can teach him that.

**So what did you think? I'd love to hear from you. I promise to write back. I love corresponding with each and every one of you. XOXO**


	35. Chapter 35

**Holy smokes! You all enjoyed Sexsper's live tutorial that he gave Edward for the cherry popping. I was completely awed by your response. Thank you for your amazing reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. Sexsper for all of you...well, almost all of you...Jizzella for my fabulous male readers!**

**This chapter starts Bella and Jasper on a new journey in which their relationship will be tested time and time again. The next few chapters will deal with a few issues plaguing our favorite vampires. There will be lots of twists and turns, as well as, a few surprises-well not so much in this chapter, but this is the chapter that begins it all.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Peter's POV**

I felt like a total heel. Last night, after the prom, Char tried to seduce me, but I denied her. She was so upset that she took off to go hunting. For the first time ever, I couldn't bring myself to follow my wife. Her blasé attitude regarding her arrest pissed me off. She apologized over and over, even said that Jasper taught her a lesson on Friday, but I still couldn't bring myself to forgive her. I think what brought me over the edge was when she said that she was merely threatening me with separation. It was then that I realized that maybe this separation was a good thing. I needed time to sort out my thoughts away from Charlotte.

I decided to move into my new apartment early. I packed my clothes, my laptop, my iPod, and a few books and loaded them up into my truck and left. I ignored the pain of the mating pull in my chest, this time apart would be better in the long run for both Char and me.

I opened the door to my apartment. It was completely bare. I'd have to go shopping for some furniture today. I decided to take a quick shower. As soon as I got in, I realized that I didn't have any shampoo or soap or even a razor. Char usually took care of that stuff for me. I took a long, relaxing shower and reached for a towel. Nope, forgot that too. Damn. I guess I'll have to drip dry.

I reached into my bag for some clothes and discovered that I didn't pack any socks or underwear. I'd have to write a list of all the stuff I needed. I threw on some sweats and sat on the bare floor. I sat up with my back up against the wall and listened to my iPod hoping the music would calm me down. No such luck there.

I decided to surf the net. Nope, no can do, no internet connection. Maybe I'll go out and explore Cambridge a little. Great, all I see are happy couples walking around hand in hand. Don't need to be reminded of what I once had. The question is, did I ever really have that?

Char was changed for the Major to do with what he pleased. She was basically trained to serve and please him. He saw that I liked her so he let me share her with him. That went on for a year until Maria ordered her death and I ran away with her. A few years later, we went back for the Major and shared her again. Then, the Major met Psycho Bitch. Before he left with her, he shared a bit of his acquired wealth with us so that we could set up a household and live without any financial worries for all of eternity.

The very first time Jasper came to visit us with Alice, we noticed he had changed. The Major had gone into complete hibernation and Jasper was being dominated by his all seeing, greedy wife who always had some sort of an agenda. Char hated Alice from the moment she met her. It wasn't just Alice's annoying, selfish, snooty personality either, Char was jealous and wanted her Major back—like I said, we had a fucked up beginning. Char always believed that she had two men in her life—the Major and me.

Years passed before Jasper came to see us again. This time he came alone. The Psycho Bitch was apparently on a shopping trip. Char hopped right back into the sack with the Major and I didn't think anything of it. I figured, he created her and she belonged to him in a sense too. After that, the Major made a few trips a year to Texas and we fell back into the same routine. I never addressed the issue of

Jasper in our bed for two reasons: First, it made Char happy and second, I liked having my brother home with me.

Years went by and our routine continued, Jasper would visit and Char would fuck him. Twenty-three years ago, the Psycho Bitch started to tighten her rein on Jasper. His visits became less frequent and Char and I started bringing different people into our bed to stave off our boredom between visits. Actually, when I think about it, I did it hoping that Char would forget about Jasper. Well, Char enjoyed it. Men, women, human, vampire—whoever it was, she enjoyed having a third party in bed.

Five and a half years ago, Jasper showed up on our doorstep. Some shit had gone down between him and a, then human, Bella. Alice had divorced him on the spot and Jasper was depressed. Char coaxed him out of his depression by bringing back his confidence—physically, mentally, and emotionally. A year later, Jasper moved to New Hampshire with the Cullens. This time, he spent half the year with them and half the year with us. With Alice no longer in the picture, we visited each other frequently and even became close to the Cullens minus Edward and Alice.

The Denalis also visited the Cullens and it was during one of those visits that we met Tanya. She was a succubus, single, and lonely. Like Jasper, she lived in a house surrounded by mated pairs. Tanya was lonely and a willing bed partner for both me and Char. She soon became a fixture in our lives and in our bed. So, for a couple of years it was Tanya, Char, and me with Jasper thrown into the mix sometimes. Char was ecstatic. She was no longer lonely with both Tanya and Jasper around. Things were about to change, though—drastically. Jasper was about to meet his mate.

The instant we met Bella, I knew that life as we knew it was going to be thrown into disarray. Jasper's mate was unlike anyone we'd ever encountered before. She was fierce, intelligent, independent, and was unafraid to speak her mind. Unlike Alice, she brought out the smart, sensitive, and extremely dedicated one woman man that Jasper truly was. Suddenly, Jasper no longer needed Char. She became jealous.

Bella took care of Jasper without babying him. Whenever Jasper lived with us, Char took care of all his household needs for him, just like she did for me. It was like she had two husbands. Bella, on the other hand, made Jasper help with everything from laundry to cleaning the house. She laid down the ground rules from day one telling him that she wasn't his servant. Char was actually pissed off that Bella didn't take care of menial chores for the Major. I could still remember Bella asking Char pointedly. "So, what you're saying, Char, is that since I'm less of a person than Jasper because he happens to have achieved the rank of Major—I should do everything for him?"

Char couldn't say anything. Bella had made a really good point. Bella didn't give a shit if Jasper were the Major. To Bella, Jasper was her mate and as such, her equal. Watching their relationship blossom, I realized what Char and I were missing—there was absolutely no equality in our relationship. As long as Char was a good girl and took care of me, then she could have whatever she wanted. I trained her that way from the time we were in Maria's army together.

From the outside, I may have appeared to be the dominant one, but really I gave Char hold of the reins by teaching her that I won't ever deny her anything as long as she was, for the most part, obedient to me. We never discussed our problems and we rarely, if ever fought. Char and I played mind games with each other. What she needed was to fuel her sexual needs so I gave that to her. What I wanted was to keep Char safe and to myself so I kept her secluded from the rest of the world—not allowing her to form any deep bonds with anyone. All those people who joined us in bed were a one time only deal and were never allowed to bond with her. Jasper and Tanya were her only friends for a while there, but even, they needed her for their sexual release too.

I did this to Char. I was a fucking failure as a husband and a mate.

It was about ten am in Cambridge and my wanderings took me to Francis Street where Bella and Jasper live. I saw their truck in the driveway so I decided to knock on their door and visit. Bella answered the door. "What's up, Petey? Come inside out of the cold." She said.

I walked inside and sat down on the sofa. "Is Jasper home?"

"No, he went to play paint ball with the rest of the guys. They were looking for you, but you weren't home."

"Yeah, I kind of had it out with Char and left." I said.

Bella looked at me sympathetically. "I know you love her, Pete, but I think this separation may be the best thing for you. You both need time to think on your own."

"It hurts, Bella. I've never been without Char and I'm completely helpless. Last night I took a shower and realized that I had no soap, no towel, no underwear, no socks, and no wife to help me with those things. She's been doing everything for me for so long that I can't even take care of myself."

"Well, then maybe, you need to learn how to take care of yourself first before you can take care of her. By the way, before you even think about asking, the answer is no. I refuse to do your laundry for you. You can do your wash here though, I doubt you have a washer and dryer in your apartment. I'll even teach you how to do it."

"Thanks, Bella." I said. "Laundry didn't even cross my mind and you're right, there's no washer and dryer at my place. Um, are you busy today?"

"Well, I have to put the finishing touches on my paper and then I'm free. Why?"

"I need a wife." I said.

"Pete, I'm not having sex with you."

"No, no. I mean I need someone to go shopping with me and help me set up my apartment. I don't even know what I need for it."

"I'll tell you what. Why don't you make yourself at home and let me finish my paper. It'll only take me about an hour—tops. Then, we'll hop in my truck and go shopping." Bella said then handed me one of the beverage dispensers and a mug from last night's prom. "Here, have some fried chicken."

"Fried chicken?" I asked, curiously.

"Just try it—you'll see what I mean."

Might as well, I've got nothing better to do. I dispensed some blood and drank some. Curiously, it tasted like...home. I didn't really remember much from my human life, not even my last name. All I remembered was my first name, birthday, and the fact that I was a Captain in the Navy and a Texan.

I had a little more of this delicious brew and tried hard to think. I remember growing up in a huge lakeside home in Port Author, Texas. Holy shit! I'm from Port Arthur. We had a housekeeper whose name evades me, but she made the best dang fried chicken in the world. Hmm...what else do I remember? I went to college. Yes, I did. I went to the University of Texas in Austin and I was in a fraternity. I majored in mechanical engineering. Straight A's. That's right. I was getting excited remembering this stuff. I wanted to tell someone. Anyone. Hell, at this point I would have told Psycho Bitch even—nah, my dick still cringes at the thought of her impaling her toxic pussy on me. I was jumpy in my seat.

Bella was typing away at her paper. A few minutes later, she hit save and said, "Let me just print this out." She walked to the printer, stapled together the pages, and declared that she was done.

"Good!" I exclaimed, picked Bella up and spun her around the room, then I hugged her and smacked a big wet kiss on her lips. She looked at me stunned.

"Sorry, Bells, I got excited." I said. "That mug of fried chicken brought back some memories of my human life." So I told her everything that I discovered. She was just as excited for me.

"Pete, we can find out your history. We can search through the archives at the University of Texas and match them up with some fraternity records." She suggested. "Ooh! This is going to be so much fun! I eat this shit right up!"

"Alright, let's go shopping. Oh, I have to grab my truck." I said.

Bella threw me her keys. "We'll take mine. You drive, I detest driving."

"Okay, let's go to that Ikea place. That way, we can just take the furniture back to my place and assemble it instead of waiting for a delivery. I'm also going to need towels, shampoo, and whatever else you think I need." I put the truck into drive and headed out.

Bella switched on the radio. It was set to a country music station. "You know, I never really listened to country until I met Jasper. Now, I really like it."

Bella and I started singing along to the tunes and before we knew it, we were at Ikea. We walked through the store and picked out some furniture for the apartment. I thought about something Bella had said earlier and decided to broach the subject. "Hey, Bella, you said that you think that the separation is a good ideas. Why?"

Bella sighed. "Peter, I'm not a professional therapist—that's Riley's job. I can only tell you what I see."

"So, what is it that you see, Bella?"

"I see a couple who have completely lost their way. I see a marriage that isn't a partnership. I see a little girl with no self esteem that flaunts herself sexually in order to get her husband's attention. I see a man who desperately loves his wife so he gives her whatever she wants even if he knows it's wrong."

"How did you get so smart, baby girl?" I asked Bella and pulled her in for a hug.

"I'm not smart, Peter. I'm just observant."

"I think Char never had a chance to grow up Peter. I think she needs to see how good she had it with you. I'm not like Jasper. He feels as if it's his fault that Char's the way she is so he indulges her. I don't think Char needs anymore indulging. I actually think she needs a swift kick in the ass. Now don't think that I hate Char because I don't. I just think she's had her own way for just a bit too long and she's completely lost touch with reality."

"So are you saying that you're on my side, Bella?"

"I refuse to take sides, Petey, but I can say that I think you've actually got your head in the right place in this case."

I kissed baby girl on top of her head. "You love me, don't you?"

"Shh..." Bella put her finger to her lips and winked. "Don't let it get around."

We cashed out of Ikea and went on to another store to grab everything else. Man oh man! I had no idea I needed so much to live on my own. I had to pick up everything from underwear to a vacuum cleaner.

"Hey, Bella!" I hollered from the underwear section. "They don't sell Star Wars Boxers here. I don't want Batman or Scooby Doo."

"What's wrong with Scooby Doo? Jasper wears Scooby Doo."

"Scooby Doo's a fucking dog. Yoda's a Jedi Master. When the day comes that you meet your maker—what would you rather be wearing?" I asked.

"Pete, when I meet my maker, I'm not gonna give a fuck what kind of underwear I'm wearing. I'm gonna be fighting for my life making sure that whoever wants me in that pyre is the one in it instead of me."

"Good point, but Yoda makes me feel better. So, what color are your panties?"

"Peter! Just buy a package of Fruit of the Loom and order the Star Wars boxers online."

"Bella, I can't stuff my love python into a pair of briefs, the poor dude will suffocate."

"Pete, I've seen your dick. It's average sized—I swear he'll be able to breathe."

"Bella, don't go shouting that my dick's only average sized. I've got my pride." I said.

"Oh Peter! You're so big—goliath even! I love the feeling of your love rocket in my pussy!" Bella hollered in the middle of Walmart. "Is that better?"

"Yeah, keep going, baby. You're making my dick hard talking like that. Maybe you can suck my cock a little?"

"Ma'am, Sir. My manager would like me to inform you that Walmart likes to maintain a family environment. We would appreciate it if you would both tone down your speech."

"Sorry." I said remorsefully to the store associate who kept winking at me. "We're newlyweds. My woman gets excited just at the sight of me.

"I can see why." The manager batted her eyelashes at me and licked her lips seductively. She had permed eighties hair held up by a jaw clip and bright purple and yellow eyeshadow. She was dressed in spandex pants and a leopard skin top. I don't think this woman ever got out of the year 1985 which was probably when she graduated from high school.

Bella's jaw dropped. "Ew!" She murmured so only I could hear.

"I second that. Let's get the fuck out of here." I whispered to her.

We cashed out of Walmart and headed back to my apartment. We quickly unloaded all the purchases.

"Don't we need to build the furniture?" Bella asked.

"No, sug, we've done enough today. I wanna go do something fun. I need to take my mind off of all this fuckery." I said.

"Okay, do you have something in mind?"

"Yep, come on, little girl. We're gonna go dancing tonight." I said.

"Let me just call Jasper and tell him that I'm safe with you."

I took Bella to a place called The Charlie Horse in West Bridgewater. "It's country night tonight. Can you two step?"

"Um, I can try." Bella said.

"I'll teach ya." I held my hand out to Bella and she took it. Soon, I was twirling her around the dance floor and we were both having the time of our lives.

"This is so much fun!" Bella exclaimed. "Can we come here again?"

"Sure, it'll be our spot—just yours and mine. We can dance the night away and forget about our problems while we're here. Deal?"

"Deal!" Bella said. "Now let's go shoot a little pool."

"Now you're talking, sug. Can you play?"

"Oh, I think you're gonna have to teach me." She said.

She wasn't kidding when she said that she couldn't play pool. I had to teach her everything about it. She became halfway decent a few games in and was able to sink in a few balls. Right around that time, I was approached by an asshole who was trying to hustle a game of pool.

"You're pretty good. Care to wager?" Biker dude and his leather clad chick asked me.

"Uh, sure. How much you wanna play for?" I questioned.

"Start with a hundred." He said.

"Peter, are you sure that's a good idea?" Bella sounded extremely worried.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I've got this." I winked.

I won the first three games easily. The biker dude just didn't want to give up and asked for a forth game. By then, I had already won six hundred bucks off him. "Hey, you're not gonna win. You should quit before I take all your cash, man." I said to him.

"No, just one more game he said. I just lost six hundred bucks, you've gotta give me a chance to win it back." He said.

"Alright." I said.

Oh, motherfucker. The asshole's been holding out on me. I've been hustled. In less than five minutes he won all the money I took from him before back. I can take him again though.

"Fucker, you've been holding out on me. That ain't right. Now, you need to give me a chance to win my money back. I'll make it worth your while. I've got a thousand bucks here." I flashed him my cash.

"Suit yourself. You can play my woman, Cat, here. She'll go easy on you."

Fuck! Cat was better than he was—she took my cash in three minutes. "Another game?" She asked me.

"Nah, I'm all tapped out." I said.

The biker couple looked smug. Bella looked pissed off. "What's the matter, princess, are you upset your man can't hold his own in a game of pool?" Cat asked.

Bella smiled at her sweetly. "Um, Cat, I'd like a chance to win my boyfriend's money back. Would you play a game with me? I happen to have three thousand dollars right here. You see we just sold my car at the used car lot across the street."

"Uh, no, babe. I can't let you do that." I told Bella.

"Oh please, baby? You taught me everything I know." Bella looked up at me with her doe eyes then whispered. "Trust me."

Trust her in what? She's the worst pool player I've ever seen in my life. She's worse than Jasper and Emmett and they were pretty bad.

"If you insist." Cat said in a sickly sweet manner. "I'll go easy on you. My man and I happen to have three grand right here. Show them Boo-boo."

"Boo-boo?" I mouthed to Bella. She started chuckling.

"Baby?" Bella said to me. "Can you order me a double shot of Jack straight? I need some dutch courage."

I ordered the drink and Bella downed it. "Why don't I break?" Bella said to Cat.

Holy mother of God and Sweet Jesus! Hallelujah! That was the cleanest fucking break I've ever seen. Cat and Boo-boo looked terrified.

"I'll take solids." Bella muttered. She sunk every solid ball in plus the eight ball, held out her hand and said, "I'll take my cash now."

Cat threw the cash on the table. "You fucking bitch! You played us!"

"I know." Bella said smugly and grabbed the cash. "Come on, baby. Let's get outta here."

I grabbed Bella's hand and started heading for the door when a beer bottle came crashing down on my head.

I turned around and saw Boo-boo and six of his minions blocking the exit. Cat sauntered up to Bella. "I want my money back, bitch."

"Oh you're a sore loser, aren't you? I won that cash fair and square. Let me remind you that you were the one that wanted to swindle my car money off of me." Bella snapped.

Cat tried to throw a punch, but Bella grabbed her fist. "Don't even think about it, bitch." Bella warned.

I was hoping the biker gang would go away, but I guess today wasn't my lucky day because this mammoth sized dude decided to give me an uppercut at that moment.

"Aaaaagghhh! What the fuck are you?" He yelped in pain when I didn't even flinch.

"I've got a metal plate in my jaw from an industrial accident." I said. "Are you fuckers gonna move out of the way or what?"

"Not until we get our money back." Boo-boo growled—at least I think it was a growl.

"You know something, Boo-boo?" A big, ugly bald guy piped in. "I don't think they need to pay us back. His woman can pay us back—on her back." The biker gang all started laughing and surrounded Bella.

Well, now that's it! You don't go and insult any woman in my company ever! Wham! I broke the offending fucker's nose just as Bella gave him a swift human powered kick in the groin.

The entire bar suddenly erupted into a huge melee. It seemed as though everyone was fighting. Cat tried to punch Bella's stomach, but hit solid marble instead and broke her hand. We had to get out of there before the cops showed up.

I grabbed Bella and got us the hell outta dodge and into the truck. "That was so much fun!" Bella said excitedly as we hit the highway.

"What the hell was that Bella?" I asked. "I thought you couldn't shoot pool!"

"Oh that, I was just stroking your ego."

"Stroking my ego? My ego didn't need stroking!" I fumed, then I thought about it. "Alright, maybe it needed a little stroking."

Bella smirked. "After you got hustled, I had to win your money back for ya."

"Thanks, that was good thinking. How often do you do this?"

"Oh, here and there." Bella said nonchalantly. She pulled my wallet out and stuffed some cash inside. "Fifteen hundred bucks. Your half of tonight's winnings. Of course, you lost a thousand so really you only made five hundred, but that's still five hundred more than you started with."

I was completely bewildered. How come she could play so well? "Where the fuck did you learn how to shoot pool, Bella?"

"Oh, I just...hang on a second, it's Jasper calling." Bella answered her cell. "Hello?"

"Where the fuck are you, Bella? It's one in the morning! I've been trying to text you all night. I've been worried sick about you!" Jasper yelled. "I need you home. My hair's all fucked up!"

"I'm hanging out with Pete. I should be home soon."

"What the fuck are you doing with Pete? Why didn't you call?"

"I did—twice. Did you check your voicemail?"

"Uh, no, guess I forgot." He said sheepishly. "You still haven't told me what you're doing out with him."

"We're bonding." She said. "Now calm your ass down, listen to the two messages I left, and I should be home shortly." Click. She ended the call.

"Bonding, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, bonding." She winked. "So, your job this week is to find a new place for us to two-step and hustle pool at. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"You do realize that you're corrupting me?"

"Yes, I do, but you need to let go and forget about all the fuckery that's come your way recently, and I'm here to help you forget." She said, in a matter of fact way.

"Hey, Bella?"

"Hm?" She looked up at me.

"Thanks." I kissed her on her cheek. I was grateful. Grateful to have a friend who listened to my problems and was simply there for me when I needed her.

I pulled up in front of my apartment, Bella hopped into the driver's seat. "I had fun today, Pete. I'll see you later this week."

I waved to Bella as she drove away, happy to have some of the stress off of me. Now, I just need to get through tomorrow.

**Bella's POV**

I walk into the house and the first thing Jasper does is carry me to our bedroom and start sniffing me all over. "Jasper, did you listen to the voicemail messages? I told you that I was helping Pete set up his apartment in the first one and in the second one, I said we were going out."

"Yeah, well, I don't trust Pete." Jasper stated.

"Why not? He's your closest brother." I asked.

"He lusts after you, Bella. More so than everyone else—that's why. I don't want you going out with him without me."

"You're telling me who I can and can't go out with now?" I asked.

"Yes." He said stubbornly.

"Fine." I said. I got up, went downstairs, and walked out of the house.

"Bella? Bella!" Jasper was right behind me. "Where are you going?"

"I don't have to answer you, Jasper. You're not my keeper." I stated flatly. I kept walking and he followed me.

"Bella, you can go out with whomever you want—just not Pete."

I ignored him and kept walking. "Say something, Bella! Are you gonna go see him? Is that where you're going?"

No fucking way was I talking to him in this state. I suddenly felt Jasper's arms go around me and pick me up. I tried to claw my way out, but he was holding me in such a way that I was completely incapacitated. The fucker walked back to the house, threw me on the bed, and ripped my clothes off so I couldn't leave without getting dressed.

"You aren't going anywhere, Bella!" He growled.

"Fuck you!" I yelled, trying to get up. I slapped him across his face. He pinned me down so I couldn't move.

"That can be arranged!" He hollered back. "Now you're gonna listen to me tell you why I don't want you going out with Peter!"

"Speak, then!" I spat back. I felt absolutely degraded that Jasper ripped my clothes off. He didn't have to do that.

"He wants you, Bella. He wishes that Char were more like you. He told me so the other day. I don't want to lose you to him."

"You're being fucking irrational, Jasper. Peter was really down and depressed about Char today—he just needed a friend to hang out with. You were playing paintball! Your hair looks fucked up, by the way."

"I don't want to lose you, Bella! I can't lose you, Bella!"

"Even if he did tell you that he wanted me. Why the fuck would you even think that I'd want Peter? How the fuck can you even formulate that?"

"He's the most like me, that's why! Out of everyone, he's the one that I'd be most likely to lose you to!" Jasper cried out desperately. I guess I'll have to put my issues to the back burner and deal with my mate first.

I put my hands on his face to try to calm him down. "Jasper, I love you and only you. What I feel for Pete is only sisterly love and, honestly, incest isn't my thing. I'm not going to stop going out with Peter, though. That would be like me telling you that you can't go out with Char or Tanya. I'd never do that to you."

My husband had venom tears brimming his eyes. I can't believe that my hanging out with Peter brought forth all of this insecurity in him. Jasper rolled onto his back. I made a decision then, "Are you done with your paper?"

"Yeah, why? It's by the printer next to yours."

"We're skipping classes for a couple of days, that's why. We'll just drop these off and email our professors stating that we have the flu. There's one going around anyway." I walked downstairs, grabbed the papers, and waited impatiently for Jasper.

"You can't go, Bella."

"What? We're gonna go through this again!" I was seething.

"No, it's just that you're naked."

I looked down and realized that, in fact, I was unclothed. Oops. "A minor technicality—let me just get dressed." I walked back upstairs with my chin held high and threw some clothes on. I came back down and we left the house.

Jasper fired up the truck. "Where are we going?"

"No idea. We have to drop these papers off first."

"Bella, how are we supposed to drop these papers off. The university is locked up."

"Take a right out of the driveway, baby." I said. "Okay, drive down six houses. Stop." I threw the papers in the mailbox along with a note that stated that Jasper and I were incapacitated due to the flu.

"Are you telling me that we live on the same street as the fucking Yankee sympathizer?"

"Yes, Jasper. The street we live on is commonly known as Professor's Row. Most students live on the other side of town near Pete. They can't afford to live on this street."

"He's bringing down the fucking property values, we're gonna be overrun by students. You wait, Bella."

"Oh my God, Jasper! He was here first. He's probably lived here at least thirty years. You live in Massachusetts! This is Yankee territory—technically you're encroaching on their land! Why the fuck am I having this conversation with you and why is your hair blue and green?"

"Paint ball and we're having this conversation because I'm sorry I was a hard headed schmo about Pete!"

"Apology accepted now get on I-90 and drive west. We're going to Niagara Falls, I've always wanted to go there."

"Fine! I need to get my hair buzzed when we get there. I shampooed it four times and it's still this color.

"Who won anyway?" I asked.

"Fucking Rex. He ambushed me and Garrett in the end. It wasn't really fair anyway, Garrett and I aren't used to these new fangled automatic weapons. We used real guns during our wars."

Gah! My husband's trying to make excuses for the fact that he was completely emasculated on the field by Rex. If the dunderhead did his research, he'd know that American tactical military training has advanced throughout the years. Of course, Rex was going to win. He was in the military within the last ten years and for longer than both Garrett and Jasper combined.

"Aren't automatic weapons supposed to be easier?" I asked.

"No! They're made for idiots who can't fire a proper gun." He grumbled. I am not driving all the way to fucking Canada with a pissy assed husband. The boar better check himself.

I started laughing. "This is serious Bella, Garrett and I were talking and we agreed that after the Civil War, our military has gotten progressively worse. I mean, automatic weapons, Bella? We've gone soft. They need to start retraining using muskets, rifles, and swords."

"Sure, Jasper, we'll train our military using archaic weapons while the rest of the world uses modern ones." I pointed out. "Besides, I thought the Confederate Army used Colt 1851 Revolvers and Hawken Rifles."

"Bella?"

"What?"

"Just shut up and let me spout my bullshit. I'm pissed. I hate losing."

He finally stopped his rant somewhere near Schenectady, New York and we had a mostly quiet ride until we arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada. "Please tell me you have our passports in your purse."

"I always do, you know that. You told me to carry them both just in case." I said.

"Phew!"

We crossed the border without any problems and made our way into Canada. "This has to be the tackiest fucking town I've ever been in." I said.

"Yeah, it is. The only attraction is Niagara Falls—once you see that you're done. Why don't we take a look at the Falls then drive to Toronto instead? It's only an hour and a half from here." Jasper suggested.

I took a look around and decided he was right. Besides, with our vampire hearing, we could hear the rushing of the falls in the background everywhere. It sounded like a vacuum cleaner was operating constantly. "Okay, that's enough. Let's get out of here. The noise from the Falls is driving me bonkers."

Jasper started the truck up and headed towards Toronto. "I figured you'd say that. Now get over here and give me some sugar. You haven't even given me a hug since yesterday morning."

"That's cause you had your Fred Flintstone hat on. You were so pissy."

"I know. I'm sorry. I had a bad day. I lost in paintball, you weren't home, and I couldn't get the paint out of my hair. On top of that, everyone kept calling me Sexsper because of that phone call from Edward after prom."

"Well, you are kind of a sex expert, aren't ya? At least you're my sex expert. You should be honored that he called you."

"Yeah, well, that's another thing that bothers me. How come the little shit yelled your name out when he came?" He was visibly upset.

"Uh, Jasper, your ex-wife was screaming your name in the throes of ecstasy yesterday as she impaled her pussy with a Rabbit. Don't you think that bothered me?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course it bothered you, it bothered me too. That's the thing, Bella. Everything is just so fucked up. I'm really beginning to feel like we should say 'fuck it' and just move away from the area—just the two of us."

"I know what you mean. I'm beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. I know your circuits are fried too. That's why I suggested this little getaway. I'm thinking that maybe we need a longer vacation in the summer though."

"How come your clothes smelled like smoke and liquor yesterday?" He sniffed my hair. "Actually your hair still smells like it. My scent's all gone too."

"Oh, well, after we got everything for Pete at Ikea and Walmart, we went to have drinks and talk at a place called The Charlie Horse. I think you'd like it there, by the way, but I'm not so sure if Pete and I can go back." I stated.

"Why not?"

"Oh, we got attacked by a biker gang after I hustled them out of three grand playing pool."

"WHAT?" Predictably, Jasper flipped his lid.

"To be fair, Pete was hustled out of a thousand bucks playing pool so I had to win it back for him. Then, when we tried to leave, the biker gang the couple was with decided to impale Pete's head with a beer bottle and surround us. We tried to get out, but then one ugly ass guy said something about gang raping me so Pete broke his nose. Then we high-tailed it out of there."

Jasper whipped his phone out and placed a call. "Pete, thanks for defending Bella's honor and breaking that asshat biker dude's nose. Anytime you wanna chill with Bella, it's okay by me."

"Hey, thanks, bro. I know you would have done the same for me if it were Char. Hey, I've gotta go. I have to finish up the suspension on this guy's car before he gets back. I'll see you guys later in the week."

"Well, that was nice of you, Jasper. Does that mean I can go out with Pete from time to time?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was being a bonehead. Sorry." Surprisingly, he didn't say a word about me hustling pool. Maybe it just went over his head. Good. Rose and I were planning to charter a yacht this summer for our men.

We checked into a hotel, grabbed the room key, and left without even being shown to our rooms. We needed clothes and Jasper desperately needed to get something done with his hair. He looked like a circus freak.

"Babe, I love just hanging out with you. I wish we could do this all the time." He said. "How about after we're done with our master's degrees we travel around the world just the two of us."

"I actually like that idea. I've always wanted to go to Australia." I said.

"Hell, we can go anywhere in the world. I don't care as long as I'm with you."

"Okay, baby let's start with the hairdresser right here. I don't think I can look at you any longer." I suggested.

"Good idea."

_**An hour later...**_

"I look like a fucking Marine! Did he have to take it all off?" Jasper lamented his lost hair.

"It'll grow back, Jasper. You look kind of sexy like that." I soothed.

"I feel bald." He cried.

"You're not bald, you just have a crew cut. Stop growling. You're drawing attention to us."

"This is Rex's fault. Why the fuck did he have to aim for my head. Couldn't he shoot me in the stomach or something?"

"Why the fuck didn't you cover your head with a bandana or something?" I asked.

"I didn't think I'd lose." He grumbled.

"Come on, let's go get some clothes. I actually want to go shopping. Doesn't that make you happy?" I tried cheering him up.

"Bella, you only want to go shopping because we have to. No luggage, remember?"

"What difference does that make? You know what? I want you to spoil me during this trip. Please, Jasper, please?"

"Alright, beautiful, let's go." He said.

Geez! The things I have to do to keep my husband happy. Sometimes I wonder. I fucking abhor shopping, but I'm willing to do it just to keep him smiling. My number one priority is to keep him content even if it means putting myself second. I really can't stand it when he's feeling down.

I took a look at my brooding husband. His hair does look sexy though. I feel like ravishing him. I wonder if he'd throw on Marine fatigues for me and strip them off slowly.

"What are you thinking about, baby?" He suddenly turned to me and asked.

"Sex," I answered, "with you."

Jasper's eyes turned pitch black. "Fuck shopping."

**So, Peter is finally doing some hard thinking about his relationship with Charlotte, isn't he? What did you think of his newfound friendship with Bella and Jasper's reaction to it? Let me know what you think and I'll write back. XOXO**


	36. Chapter 36

**Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for your reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. I truly appreciate all the support you've given me. Jasper in fatigues for all of you, except for the male readers-my gift to you is Rose and Bella in stars and stripes bikinis. **

**As I said in my author's note last chapter, the next few chapters will be loaded with twists, turns, and drama. Some chapters will be happy, others will be bittersweet-I hope you stick with me because these chapters will delve more into Jasper and Bella's relationship and are critical to them developing as a couple and as individuals.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer except for Kid Rock who I believe belongs to Atlantic Records. No copyright infringement intended.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Jasper's POV**

It's been a month since the prom and things were swimming along nicely. The trip to Toronto with my mate was exactly what I needed to restart my brain. The weekend after prom, the whole gang, including the parents, went to the hookah bar to enjoy a nice evening out. The belly dancers were a ball—they had us all stand up and attempt to belly dance. Vicky, Irina, Bella, and Rex had the clear advantage there. Bella and Rex ordered some sort of appetizer sampler plate in order to try and find something that was palatable to them. They really missed the food there apparently. No luck there, the two of them spent half the night bringing up the food they ate. Recently, they've taken to the kitchen with Mike, attempting to mix blood and create something other than fried chicken, They figured out mashed potato and gravy finally. Of all things, they had to mix coyote and fox to get the gravy.

Upon Carlisle and Esme's return, Alice finally hit the pavement and started job hunting. She starts work tomorrow at Sears. Apparently, she's hawking major appliances. I'm having so much trouble picturing it. Anyway, she's improved somewhat. Through Riley's urging, she's been trying to spend some time with the family everyday. She finally accepted the fact that she has Narcissistic Personally Disorder and she she started twice weekly counseling sessions with Riley. She and Mike have also been talking daily to try to make amends.

Peter and Charlotte are still not together. They're talking to each other, but, for once, they're taking their time and trying to work on their own issues first. They've both been on a sexual hiatus for two weeks now. That's a record for them. I hear Charlotte's Rabbit going off whenever I'm at the Amherst house, though. I'm sure Pete's jerking off at his apartment too.

Edward and Amanda were definitely not on a sexual hiatus. The two of them have been fucking like rabbits all over the house. He's also been scenting her so Amanda's own scent has been considerably muted. We've all been encouraging him to scent—a lot. After initially fucking up and shouting out Bella's name when he came, Edward did some quick thinking and saved his own ass by telling Amanda that he didn't say Bella's name, that he actually called her 'Ma Belle Amanda'—French for 'My Beautiful Amanda'. Amanda was overjoyed at hearing that and gave Edward his very first blowjob.

Bella and Rose were closer than ever. They were out together somewhere doing who knows what right now. They told us they were going out for some girl bonding time and that they would be back sometime after two am. Emmett and I were sitting at home watching that fucked up comedy True Blood and missing our mates.

Suddenly, Alice came out of her room shrieking. Everyone gathered in the living room. "I had a vision! It's Bella and Rose! They're in trouble!" She was rubbing her temples wildly.

"What do you mean they're in trouble?" I said. "What do you see?"

"My vision is fuzzy, but I'll tell you what I can see. Just let me try to get my bearings straight." Alice's vampire promise was taking full effect. Rose and Bella were her least favorite people, but the promise that she made forced her to save them when they were in trouble. I could feel nothing, but honesty coming from her. I looked up at Riley and he nodded his head in confirmation.

"Emmett? How's your pull? I don't feel any major pain with mine." I was concerned that my pull wasn't working right because I didn't feel any distress signals.

"Just the usual, bro—like when she's at work." Emmett replied.

"We're going to have to look into that later." Carlisle said.

"I got it." Alice shouted. "They're almost nude and they're being put into cages at some sort of a stadium. I can't see where they are. Let me look some more."

"Cages?" Everyone shouted. Esme was a nervous wreck, Pete and Vicky were getting into war mode, and for some fucked up reason, I couldn't seem to summon the Major.

"Alice, do you have anything, yet?" Emmett asked, worriedly.

"I'm looking. I really am. I'm going to go back to my room and try to search alone—you're all making me nervous." She said and ran back to her room.

"What the hell is going on, Jasper?" Emmett asked. "Do you think it's the Volturi?"

"No, the Volturi don't know Rose and Bella so they wouldn't have an interest in them. I haven't detected any vampire scents in the area when I hunt either so I doubt it." Eleazar said.

"I think the best guess is that there were some nomadic vampires that they ran into." Garrett said.

"What about the pull, though. Emmett and I don't feel anything stronger than usual. Do you think there are vampires in the area spying on us?" I asked.

"I want the women to stay in the house—Charlotte and Victoria, you two guard the house from the roof. The rest of us men are going to scan the perimeter in groups of two." Peter, my second in command, took charge. He knew I was a mess and I was grateful to him. "Text if anything happens and hunt while you're out. We meet back here in an hour."

"Irina—start going over some fighting tactics with the women while we're gone. We don't know what we're facing." Laurent kissed his mate on the cheek. She had been trained by both Vicky and Laurent when they were training Riley and a human Bella to fight.

An hour later, we were back. None of us detected a thing. Alice came out of her room saying that she couldn't see anything else, but she was still trying. That's when a thought came to my head. Mike was a tracker. He could track them.

"Mike, it's time you learned how to use your gift." I said.

"What gift?"

"Ah, Michael, you're a tracker." The realization seemed to hit Eleazar. "You can lead us to the girls."

"I can? How?"

"By tapping into your senses. Jasper and I will teach you how. Call it on the job training, if you will." Eleazar said. "We leave immediately."

"What about us?" Victoria said desperately. "We want to help."

"I know you do, Victoria, but I need you to take charge of the women. You, Charlotte, and Irina need to train them to fight. We don't know what we're facing. Alice can help too. She's a strong fighter, I trained her myself. We'll call or text if something happens. You do the same on your end." I told her.

"But Major..." Victoria had venom tears brimming her.

"No buts, Lieutenant—that's a fucking order! Charlotte take charge while the Lieutenant gets her head on straight!" The Major was finally peeking his head through.

**Rosalie's POV**

"I can't fucking believe you convinced me to do this, sis. We might as well be wearing pasties!" Bella said as she donned the micro bikinis that were handed to us by the radio station manager.

"Bella! I told you, the Pagani Zonda is produced by a small manufacturer in Italy. My name's been on a waiting list since 2005. I still have years to go until I can get one. Winning this contest is the only way I'm going to get one."

"Yeah, but cage dancing, Rose? Why me? Why not Char or Tanya?"

"Because you're my sister and you love me." I said.

"How the fuck are you going to explain the vehicle to Em once we win it?" Bella asked.

"Well, I haven't quite figured that part out yet, but I will." I assured.

I tried to figure something out while I worked on my sister's hair. I teased it so it looked like she had just finished having wild animal sex with Jasper. We were at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut—at their concert arena to be exact. I was listening to the radio the other week and the radio station and the resort were sponsoring a contest, together with Kid Rock, where the cage dancers with the loudest applause wins a 2011 Pagani Zonda. I signed Bella and myself up immediately. The deal was that we had to dance in pairs. They were only taking five pairs of girls so we were lucky to be among the ones selected. I wanted that car.

"Ladies, you two are the last ones up. Two more songs to go, so do whatever you have to do to get ready." The station manager said.

"Alright, Rose, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this right. Let's go over the moves that I taught you from the Stripping for Fitness class." Bella got a steely determination on her face.

I nodded my head and the two of us started practicing. Before we knew it, it was our turn to go up. "Ladies, we're going to place you in the cages from the back while the audience is distracted. When the song 'So Hott' comes on, it's your key to start dancing."

**Peter's POV**

What the fuck did those two get into. My gift told me that they were up to no good and they weren't in any real danger. I was just going along because I had a feeling that whatever Rose and Bella were doing, it was going to take all of us to hold Jasper and Emmett back.

An hour into our run, Jasper's cell buzzed. We all stopped.

"Speak!" Jasper ordered.

It was Alice. "Rose and Bella are fine. They're not in any danger. They're at the Kid Rock Concert at Foxwoods Arena voluntarily. I saw the end result. They're going to win, then, hopefully, party afterwards with Kid Rock."

"Thanks, Alice." Jasper said as he hung up the phone.

"There's no way in fuck, they're partying with Kid Rock!" Emmett growled. "Come on, Jasper! Let's go get our women back!"

"Should we head back now that there's no danger?" Carlisle asked.

"No! The danger is in those two neanderthals going after their wives!" I said.

"Oh!" Carlisle said in realization. We all started running after them.

The concert was about halfway over when we got there. We had to sneak in because it was completely sold out, but everyone had rushed the stage by then, so we just blended in with the crowd after breaking in through the service entrance.

Every other song, there were women coming out and dancing in cages. "What the fuck is this contest all about?"

"The two cage dancers with the loudest applause wins a Pagani Zonda." Edward said reading the minds of the audience. "They're measuring the audiences reaction on that 'applause-o-meter' there." On stage, there was some kind of electronic contraption measuring decibels.

"They're not going to go in cages and dance, are they?" Carlisle asked, horrified.

"Trust me, you have no idea what extent Rose will go to for a Pagani. This has to be her idea and somehow she's gotten Bella to go along with it." Emmett seethed.

"Look, I don't see what the big deal is. They're just dancing on stage and trying to win a car. Hell, if men were allowed to do this—I'd hop up there." Rex opined.

"We gotta go find them. Fuck! Mike can you scent them out in here?" Jasper asked.

"I'm not gonna scent them out for you. I actually want to see them dancing in cages." Mike started cheering at the stage.

"Why you little, motherfu..." Jasper threatened, but was interrupted by Kid Rock introducing the final two cage dancers of the night.

"Please welcome Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory!"

Edward, Mike, Jasper, and Emmett simultaneously called out, "Who?"

"Do we know those women?" I asked.

"Yeah, we went to Forks High with them." Edward said. "I wonder what they're doing in the Northeast?"

"I can't picture Jessica dancing in a cage. I dated her for three years. It's just not something she would do." Mike said. "Lauren on the other hand—damn I miss her pussy."

"Well, at least, if they're the last dancers of the night, then Rose and Bella ar..." Emmett stopped speaking just as Kid Rock started playing his tune, 'So Hott'. Two cages were being lowered onto the stage and the girls inside them were...

"Rosie!" Emmett shouted at the same time Jasper screamed, "Bellaaaa!"

Rose and Bella were dancing seductively in cages dressed in barely there red, white, and blue bikinis and red cowboy boots. Almost every single guy in the arena was completely turned on and the applause-o-meter was going out of control.

"Grab them!" I pointed to Jasper and Emmett—they were about to rush the stage and rip everyone apart trying to get there. It took each and everyone of us to restrain them. Eleazar, Laurent, Riley, and Edward had Emmett while Carlisle, Mike, Rex, and I had Jasper. The two were clawing at us like insane animals trying to get to their bikini clad mates.

"Bellaaaa! Please, baby. Get off the fucking stage! Bellaaaa!" Jasper hollered, desperately. "Oh, hell, baby, don't jiggle your tits—holy fuck! Bella, please!"

"Rose! You're losing your tempo. Follow what Bella's doing—look at how her knees are bent! That's allowing her to grind her hips lower!" Rex advised.

"Fucker, what the hell are you doing encouraging her!" Emmett chastised.

"Hey, they're already on stage—we might as well cheer them on!" Rex snapped.

"Pretend you're having sex up against a wall with Jasper, Bella!" Rex yelled.

"Fuck, I can't do that! I'll get horny just thinking about it!" Bella answered back.

"Seriously, trust me on this. Nah, you know what? Hang on to the back of the cage and imagine that Jasper's fucking you." Rex instructed. "Now, move your hips like you're fucking him back!"

Bella did exactly what Rex told her to do and the entire stadium went bat shit crazy.

"Fuck, Bella! Tone it down a bit. The lust level in here is going off the charts!" Jasper begged.

Bella got down on her hands and knees, looked straight into Jasper's eyes and said, "For you, anything."

The band was going through the motions playing through the song, but their attention was 100% on Bella and Rose. Everyone up on the stage was sporting a painful hard-on.

"Spank your ass, Bella!" Mike suggested. She did. The men went absolutely wild. In the cage, on the other side of the stage, Rose was mimicking Bella move for move.

"Okay, slowly stand up, Bella." Rex ordered. "Then grab your ankles with both hands, turn your head to look at the audience, then smack your ass again."

She did what Rex said and I'm positive that the entire audience jizzed right then and there.

When the song ended, some guy from a radio station came out on stage and announced. "I think we have our winners here!" He released the girls from their cages. The men in the audience went berserk! Well, who the fuck wouldn't, Rose and Bella could be dressed in muumuus and men would be on their knees begging to serve them. Rose and Bella in stars and stripes bikinis and cowboy boots, forget it, every man in the world—human or vampire, would be willing to walk into the pyre if they could have just one taste of them.

Rose was announced the winner of a new Pagani Zonda. We could hear Bella whispering, "You fucking owe me big time, sis." They were led off stage by concert security. Kid Rock came out for an encore performance and the show ended.

"I want my fucking mate back!" Jasper yelled.

"Pipe down, Major. They didn't do anything horrible really. They were just in a contest and they won." Rex said.

"I could have bought Rose a Pagani Zonda if she wanted one that bad!" Jasper seethed.

"No, you couldn't. There's a waiting list a mile long on that thing. They're saying that the average wait time on one is ten years. Oh, and Carlisle, I wouldn't go all vamp daddy on them—Rose and Bella are already contemplating moving away from the family completely. If you lose your shit, they'll really move out—Bella won't even finish her degree." I warned.

"How do you know this, Peter? Did they tell you?" Carlisle asked.

"Let's just say that my gifts been tweeting me on overtime regarding that issue. They're two grown women and it would be wise if you just let them live their lives and that goes for Jasper and Emmett too." I advised. "Whatever you do, don't lose your shit about this."

"I'm gonna lose my shit! She was flaunting herself up on stage for all the world to see!" Emmett cried.

"Yeah, but was she doing anything stupid and illegal like Char and Tanya were?" I asked.

"No, not really." Emmett admitted. "She was kinda hot."

"Just congratulate her, man. Trust me on this. It's hard living without your mate." I said. I meant it too. I missed Char like crazy, but we still had issues to work out and it just wasn't time for us to live together yet.

"I'm not betting against you, bro." Jasper said to me. "You've never steered me wrong before. Let's go find the girls."

We waited by the back entrance, but the girls didn't come out. Jasper received a text message a few minutes later.

**From: I Whitlock**

**To: J Whitlock**

**I'll explain later. I'm sorry, but this was important to Rose. Get us a room at the MGM Grand. Text me the room number. Tell Em to do the same. Rose is just signing some paperwork. I love you.**

"We might as well all stay the night here." Carlisle suggested. "Call it a mini getaway. Why don't we all get our rooms and send for our mates. We can gamble this weekend."

"I agree. We could all use a break." Riley said.

"Guys, I'm gonna get two separate rooms. I'm not ready to stay in the same room as Char yet."

"Char can stay with Alice." Mike said. "I'll bunk with ya. We're gonna be down in the casinos all night anyway."

"Good idea." I said.

Carlisle placed a call to Esme then we headed to the hotel to get ourselves rooms.

**Bella's POV**

"How the fuck did they find us, Rose?" I asked.

"Hell if I know, did you drop your shield?"

"I don't think so." I said. "You never know though, I did have the case of the nerves earlier."

Rose and I threw our jeans on over our bikinis. Apparently, we get to keep them and the cowboy boots—courtesy of Kid Rock.

"Fuck! Not only do we have to deal with our mates, we have to deal with Carlisle's fucking overprotective ass too." Rose stomped her booted foot angrily. "These are pretty awesome boots, though. I like them better than the ones we got at the Opry."

"We're a united front Rose. We're going to face this head on and no one is going to tell us what we can or can't do. We didn't do anything wrong. We entered a contest and we won. That's all it was." I said confidently. Truth be told, I was scared shitless of facing Jasper. The look on his face when he saw me on stage was positively feral. I did this for my sister though—she wanted that car and I wanted her to be happy.

"Let's do this." Rose said with determination. We walked hand in hand to the hotel. Jasper and Emmett were waiting down in the lobby for us.

"You looked beautiful up there, babe." Jasper cooed.

"Stunning." Emmett told Rosie. "You won too. Where's the car?"

"Oh, it's getting delivered to the house next week." Rose said warily. She then looked at me. Something was completely off here. Our mates weren't flipping out on us.

"So, we thought that maybe you girls could unload your bags in our hotel rooms and then we could go to the casinos." Jasper said, nicely. Weird—what the fuck's going on? Rose narrowed her eyes at our mates too.

She grabbed onto my arm and announced. "Bella and I are a united front. We are not leaving each other's sides just so you men can get us alone and start nailing into us individually!"

I secured myself onto Rose's arm too. "I agree. If you men have anything to say to us, then say it to us together. We aren't falling for your Vampire Mind Tricks."

"What the fuck is a Vampire Mind Trick?" Jasper asked. "Is that like a Jedi Mind Trick? I swear you've been spending too much time with Pete. Okay, we'll do it your way. How about if we go to our suite to talk?" Jasper suggested.

Rose and I looked at each other and said, "Fine." The two of us walked arm and arm into the elevator. We refused to let go of each other.

Jasper held the elevator door open for us and led us to our suite. "Have a seat." He said, pointing to the sofa. Rose and I sidestepped all the way to the sofa and sat down. Jasper and Emmett pulled chairs up in front of us.

"We just want to tell you why we're here and we also want to know why you felt you couldn't tell us about this contest." Jasper said. He then proceeded to explain how Alice had a vision, became worried, and informed the whole family. All she saw was Rose and I being put into cages so the entire family was on red alert and everyone went searching for us. A second vision, told Alice exactly where Rose and I were and what we were up to. That's when Jasper and Emmett high-tailed it to us in an attempt to stop us, but the rest of the men held them back.

"So, now, why did you ladies feel you couldn't confide in us about the contest?" Jasper asked.

Rose spoke first. "Isn't it obvious? You both get so jealous when it comes to us. After Alice told you what she saw in her second vision, you both admitted that you wanted to stop us. Anytime Bella and I want to do something, you either have to tag along or follow us—and yes, we know that you follow us. We can smell you, remember?"

"Why is it that you two can go on trips with the guys, but when Rose and I want to do something like that you nail into us as if we're children? You do realize that most women our age don't have to ask for permission to do stuff like go on a weekend trip with just the girls? Vicky and Irina go. Tanya and Char go, too. So do, Carmen and Esme, but if Rose and I want to do something, you two plus the entire family start protesting about how dangerous it is." I added. "All Rose and I wanted to do was take a weekend trip to New York City together—that fizzled because you two just had to tag along."

It was true. I knew they followed us even when we just went to play pool—in the beginning, we wanted to surprise them with a chartered yacht trip, now we were trying to make enough so we could buy a hideaway of our own. It simply wasn't fair. On top of that, Charlotte and Tanya barely got a slap on the wrist for their arrest, while Rose and I were punished then put on some sort of fucked up house arrest.

"To be honest guys, Bella and I were thinking of moving out on our own for a while. Just the two of us. We want to experience a little independence." Rose stated flatly.

Jasper and Emmett's jaws dropped.

"It's not that we don't love you guys because we do. It's just that you two are too possessive and there's some sort of unspoken rule within the family that Rose and I aren't allowed any freedom. We might as well be shackled to the house." I said. "Jasper, you don't even give me time to process my thoughts. That time I went out with Peter and I left the house because I needed to think, you carried me back home like a caveman then ripped my clothes off so I couldn't leave. Do you realize how degrading that was?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Esme and Victoria were behind it. They looked angry.

Esme spoke first. "What the hell were you two thinking by parading yourselves in public like that? Both of you girls need to think about your actions before..."

"Fuck this shit!" Rose said and yanked me out of the room. We barreled down the stairs and ran as fast as we could into Rose's BMW. Rose floored the car so we were out of the parking lot. "I have so fucking had it with our twisted family, Bells! I really have! I'm pissed off and I'm frustrated!"

"Where are we going Rose?" I asked.

"Away! Don't think about any destination in mind. We don't need anyone finding out where we are.

Our cell phones started buzzing immediately. Rose floored her car all the way to Rochester, New York. No one can best Rose at driving—not even a professional race car driver could catch her up. We only stopped once for gas in Binghamton, New York and once when we got to Rochester. Rose pulled the BMW into the covered garage of a nice townhouse.

"I grew up in this town. Emmett and I bought this place so we could get away from the family. I'd show you around, but we need to run. I'm sure they're following us."

"Okay." I winked. We both ran at vampire speed until we hit the airport in Syracuse, New York. We rationalized that the airport in Rochester was the first one they'd look for us at. From Syracuse, we boarded the first flight out of there—which was to Chicago. Once we got to Chicago, Rose purchased two tickets to Seattle, Washington. On the plane, she whipped out two passports from a hidden compartment in the lining of her purse and handed one to me.

I flipped mine open to take a look. I was aghast. "Really Rose? Margaret Thatcher? The former prime minister of Britain. I don't look like a fucking Margaret!"

"I couldn't think of anything else. I'm Muriel Thatcher, your sister. Here's your license and your credit card. It's drawn from our winnings from playing pool—they can't trace us."

"Rose, if you're using Jenks..."

"I'm not, can you keep a secret?"

"You know I can." I said.

"I've been forging everything myself." She admitted.

My mouth popped open and I slapped a hand to it. "How?"

"Well, I've been wanting to run since about 1970 so I decided to learn how to do it on my own. Jenks' father taught me everything. I've been carrying a false identity in my purse since then. When you came along, I decided to make one for you too."

"Where are we going Rose?" I asked.

"First flight out of Seattle. I don't give a shit where it is." She said.

_**One month later...**_

I can't believe that we're actually in Japan. What a cool fucking place. Rose and I toured the entire country, from snow topped Mount Fuji to the ancient city of Kyoto to the bubbling hot springs in the town of Kusatsu. Now, we were back to the bustling streets of Tokyo. We were browsing around the Shibuya district for some clothes. They say New York City is crowded, it was nothing compared to how packed Tokyo was. It was wall to wall people here. We decided to stay at inns and budget hotels instead of somewhere fancy. Rose and I didn't give a shit about that kind of stuff. The country on the whole never slept so we just needed a place to store our stuff and unwind.

"Bella, let's check out of the hotel and go to India tomorrow. I always wanted to walk around dressed in saris." She said.

"Okay, but we need to pick up a suitcase so we can throw our clothes in it. We can't keep carrying everything inside shopping bags. We also need to hit that laundromat again." I said. "I'm running out of underwear."

"We need to hunt too." Rose pointed out. "I'm getting thirsty. It's been four days.."

"Alright, let's hunt first to be safe." I suggested. We ran to a secluded park that we had found upon arriving in Tokyo. "I hope we have a better selection of wildlife in Kyoto. I'm getting sick of these tanuki racoons."

"No shit!" Rose chuckled. "They're almost as rank as deer."

I buried my kill, then clutched my chest. It was the mating pull. I missed Jasper like crazy. Truth be told, he and Emmett were actually trying to listen to us. It was Esme and Vicky that went all overprotective and barged in on a private conversation between mates. I wanted to kill them both at that point. Rose and I hadn't even checked our messages. We both needed this time to think. I knew I didn't want to leave Jasper. I just wanted him to give me a little more freedom. Rose wanted the same thing. On the outside, it seemed as if we were free to do as we pleased, but in reality, the two of us were the most protected. At times, it felt as if we were in jail.

In less than a year, I felt like this. Poor Rose, must feel worse. Seventy-five years of this overprotective bullshit would drive anyone insane. The two of us were sitting on the grass with our backs against a tree holding each other. We both missed our mates. "Rose, maybe we should check our messages." I suggested.

We pulled out our cell phones. Most of the voicemails were the standard "Where are you? We're worried about you" bullshit. Three messages in particular stood out.

The first message was from Vicky and Riley. "Bella, I'm sorry. I really, truly am. I know you've left the nest, but I can't seem to let go. Legally, I know that Riley's your brother and I'm your sister in law, but to us and Irina and Laurent—you're the closest thing to a daughter that we'll ever have. You're our baby, but you're married now and you deserve a little independence. I've driven you aw..."

Riley took over the call after a sobbing Vicky couldn't continue. "You don't have to come home, baby girl, I know you need to regroup. Just know that we're home worried about you. That will never change no matter how near or far you are. Maybe, you can just drop a postcard and let us know how you're doing. That's all we're asking for. I love you, Bella.

Riley and Vicky really were more like my parents. They did everything they could to be supportive parents so I could get through life after the Cullens initially abandoned me. They made sure I was well nourished, happy, and educated. They spent five years caring for me when they could have easily just left me to fend for myself.

The second one was from Carlisle. "Isabella, it's your father. Riley and I tried to stop your mother and Vicky from barging into your conversation, but neither of them would listen to us. Know that I love you and that I support you and Rose on your journey to find yourselves. Whatever it is you need, I'm available for you. Tell Rose that I've deposited more cash into her account for both of you to use. Please, please, please stay safe. I love you both."

Wow! That one wasn't overprotective at all. It was actually very supportive. He was wishing us well on our journey to find ourselves. Is that what Rose and I were doing—finding ourselves? When I think about it, I never really had an opportunity to find myself. During college, I wasn't allowed to live in a dorm or even in an apartment with my friends. I was surrounded by four overprotective vampires. As soon as college ended, I met Jasper and, again, my quest for independence was quashed.

The final message was from Jasper, "You left, Bella. You left before we could finish our conversation. I wanted to tell you that you're right, it's a double standard. You and Rose are uber protected by everyone for some reason. Em and I have already talked to everyone and they swear they'll lay off—especially Esme. Please, baby, just call and tell me where you girls are or at least let us know that you're alright. My chest is killing me, babe. Just come home, you and Rose can go on as many weekend trips as you like, Scout's honor—we won't follow you anymore. I love you so much, baby, it hurts. I need you like I need blood to survive. You're the reason that I live."

I looked over at Rose and she had venom brimming her eyes. She also had a determined look. "Emmett's moved into your place and he's looking for a place of our own for us. He says his chest hurts. Anyway, I was thinking that we should call them and tell them we're okay before heading off to India. What do you think?"

"Good idea, let's call them from the airport tomorrow. There's always a lot of wait time before an international flight." I suggested.

We left the park and went back to shopping. I hated shopping until I got to Japan. They had the coolest stuff here. Instead of suitcases, we picked up large backpacks like the ones students use when they trek through Europe. We rationalized that we were students of life.

"How are we doing on cash?" I asked. Rose was handling the finances. We were determined to fund the journey on our own.

"We're good. We had almost three hundred grand in there and we haven't been crazy, extravagant at all. We'll have to hustle some more when we get back, though."

"I was watching the Travel Channel and they had this show on India, it said we can stay at Ashrams and do yoga and meditate. Maybe that's what we need. They're super cheap too."

"Well, they also have the best hotels in the world in India. How about if we stayed at an Ashram for a few days then get pampered at a luxury hotel for a few more. After that, we'll figure out what to do." Rose suggested.

"Love it! Let's do that." I said.

We got to the airport three hours ahead of our flight to India. We were checked in and roaming the airport. "We should pick up t-shirts that say Tokyo on them for ourselves and for our mates." Rose said. She had started her own souvenir t-shirt collection like I had.

We sat down and turned our cell phones on. "Are you ready to call them?" I asked Rose.

"Yeah."

I dialed Jasper's number while she called Em. "Bella?"

"Hi, Jasper."

"Where are you?"

"In Tokyo." I said.

"Are you coming home?" He asked, hopefully.

"Not quite yet."

"I'm sorry." He said.

"I'm sorry, too. I should have stayed to hear you out. I miss you."

"Then, come home."

"I can't. I still have some things that I have to figure out."

"Please, baby, I can't live without you. I'm dying here. Pete really let me have it. Ironic, isn't it? He's the most overbearing boar, yet even he realized that I was being beyond possessive."

"Jasper, don't take the blame all onto yourself. It's not just you, it's me too. You need to understand that I've never had any independence. I went from Renee to Charlie to Vicky, Riley, Irina, and Laurent, then, finally, to you. You had your time when you were in the army when you were allowed to make your own decisions. I've never had that opportunity. I can't even call my life my own anymore. I need to find out who I am, Jasper, before I could give myself over to you fully. Know this, though, my love for you is eternal, that will never change."

Jasper was sobbing. Oh, God—I made a grown vampire cry. I feel horrible. "Bella, please come home or at least let me meet you in Japan. I need you."

"I'm sorry, Jasper. I can't. I have to do this. You need to let me go." I cried.

"Baby, I can never let you go. You're a part of me, just like I'm a part of you. You're gonna have to find yourself knowing that fact." He said.

We talked for a while longer and then ended the call when our flight was boarding. "I love you, Bella, forever." He ended the call before I could tell him that I loved him.

I sat contemplating our relationship. I've been very honest with him from the beginning about everything. I wasn't hiding one thing from him. I'm pretty sure Jasper has been honest with me, too. I didn't doubt that he loved me. The advantage of being married to an empath is that you can feel all the love he has for you.

Jasper didn't trust me, though, or maybe it was me. Maybe, I didn't trust myself. Whatever it was, we had some lingering trust issues. Something was definitely missing and I hope to God I can figure out what it is on this journey.

**So, Rose and Bella finally lost it. How do you feel about their journey? I'd love to hear what you think. Write to me and I'll respond. I promise. XOXO**


	37. Chapter 37

**Thank you so much for your poignant reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. I truly appreciate the support you've shown me. You can ride on an airplane with Jasper and Bella as a reward.**

**Jeepers! A few of you were very vocal about how upset you were with Rose and Bella for leaving their mates the way they did. The majority of you applauded their actions, though. I have to say that this journey was necessary-you'll see why when you read. Pay particular attention to the part where Jasper mentions being worried about something someone saw in his soul. Also, pay attention to what is said about Rose and Bella's souls. **

**Now, on a second note, bear with me. This chapter is just the beginning of Bella and Jasper's journey to discover who they are as individuals and as couples. Like I said before, there will be many twists and turns in this chapter and the two following this one.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Rosalie's POV**

The phone calls that Bella and I made to our mates took a lot out of us. Neither of us had ever heard our mates sound so dejected. Emmett wanted to hop on the next flight to Tokyo, but I told him we were leaving the country immediately. There was something so Emmett about the phone call. "Rosie, please come home. I'll stop being a bear. I promise. I'm getting sick of jerking off in the shower. Do you think we can at least arrange to meet somewhere, make love, then you can go back to thinking and I'll go back to being depressed? I'm really horny."

I chuckled when he said that. I had to admit that this was the best thing ever. Bella and I needed this time away from the family. We were both ticking time bombs. I finally exploded. I love Esme, I really do, but she butted her fucking nose in where she wasn't welcome. I loved Emmett's idea of starting our own household away from the family. Apparently, Char and Peter have moved away too. They were now living in Pete's apartment in Cambridge with weekend visits to see the family like Bella and Jasper were doing before we left.

Emmett's looking for a place close to Bella and Jasper. We couldn't afford to live on their street. He told me that Jasper's little investment was over four million dollars. The average house in that particular area apparently goes for two million. We were looking for something around 300 to 400 thousand dollars. Emmett said that maybe it would be wiser to rent a place for a few years. Jasper bought homes and let them sit empty for decades. It was fine for him, he had the capital, but we certainly didn't have that sort of luxury. Sure we had a few million put away in the bank, but that had to last an eternity. We were determined to use the earnings from my business to do this.

Pete has been a godsend. He's been taking care of my business while I regroup. He actually hired Edward to take care of small jobs like oil changes and flat repairs. He said that Edward works fast and was efficient and suggested keeping him on after I return so that Pete and I could concentrate on major repairs. Bella and I purchased laptops in Tokyo so we could keep up with business and school. Harvard thinks that Bella was in a massive car accident that has left her temporarily incapacitated and unable to attend classes. I helped her forge a note. The professors have been sending her assignments to her which she is to complete if she is able. Bella, being the trooper that she is, has actually been emailing completed papers to her professors. She found an international library in Tokyo where she was able to do some research and send papers complete with footnotes via email.

We were hiking around India with our backpacks. The cool thing about being vampires was that we didn't need sleep. We hadn't even checked into an ashram or a hotel yet. We just donned our hiking boots and walked around with our belongings strapped to our backs. By day, we'd tour the cities and stop at internet cafes so that we could get some work done. By night, we hunted then bathed in the lakes and rivers to wash. We were really getting in touch with ourselves. Oddly enough, this nomadic life suited us.

"Rose, I'm loving these tigers." Bella said. The wildlife was incredible here and we were hunting everyday just so we could sample everything. Presently, we were hunting in the dense green jungle and letting our senses go.

"Yeah, they're good. You have to try their bears too. Here, let's trade." I suggested. Bella and I had gotten so close that we could hunt right next to each other without hurting each other. Our territorial instincts never took over. We had to hunt side by side for safety. It was just us two, after all.

"Oh, yum, these bears have sweeter blood than the ones at home. I wonder why?" Bella pondered. We both finished feeding and buried our kills then ran to a little stream we saw in the jungle and rinsed off.

We had just finished getting dressed when we heard a twig snap. We instantly lowered ourselves into defensive crouches. A regal looking, golden eyed vampire in Indian garb approached us with his hands up. "I mean no harm. My name is Amar Desai. I was just seeking who was hunting on my land."

Bella and I didn't say anything. We were both terrified.

"I can tell that you are frightened. I truly mean no harm. If you would like, I'd like to invite you to my home. You can clean up there. My mate is waiting for me. We haven't had any company in three centuries and we would love for you to visit. Please. What are your names?"

Bella inhaled a deep breath before speaking. "My name is Isabella Whitlock and this is my sister Rosalie McCarty. Namaste." Bella put her hands together in a prayer position and bowed her head slightly.

I did the same and bowed my head down too.

The man put his hands together and said, "Namaste" to us. "Please, follow me to my home. This is the first time I've encountered golden eyed vampires like me. I would dearly love for you to visit."

He looked like a trustworthy fellow so Bella and I grabbed our backpacks and followed him. We arrived at his home and it wasn't a home—it was a gargantuan palace. Bella and I looked at each other. Neither of us had ever been in somewhere so...so...royal.

"This is very nice." I said.

"Yes, I was the Maharaja of these parts before I was turned. Fortunately, the palace and these lands are still mine. Ah, there you are my dear." He greeted a beautiful woman dressed in a sari. She looked to be about seventeen. She was absolutely breathtaking. "This is my mate and Maharani, Amrita."

"Namaste." Bella and I both said. I looked at Bella and she looked at me. We were a mess. Normally, we were considered the pretty ones in the family. We each had our hair in messy ponytails and we looked horrific. We both started laughing.

Amar and Amrita looked perplexed. "We apologize for laughing. Normally, my sister and I are a little more put together, but we've been traveling for close to three months now and just now got a good look at each other.

"Welcome. Please, come inside. Remove your boots at the entry and place them on the shelf there. Sahil will clean them for you. We have two servants here. Sahil and Sushmita." Two vampires, a man and a woman, came to greet us. They both had very kind eyes that twinkled when they smiled. "They have both been in my service since I was human. Sushmita will show you to your rooms now."

"Oh, one room is fine. It's just the two of us, after all." Bella said.

"Nonsense. We have a grand palace with plenty of vacant rooms begging to be occupied. If it will make you feel better, we will place you in adjacent rooms with a shared balcony." Amar said.

We followed Sushmita to our rooms. Geez! Everyone here was beautiful. Amrita came into my room a few minutes later holding a few silk outfits. "Gifts for you." She said.

"Oh, I can't accept these. These are so precious, so beautiful. They must be very valuable." I replied.

"Please take them. I have thousands of saris. You are such a beautiful woman and I think you would do these justice." Amrita started to sob. "We have so few visitors and I want to share the bounty that has been bestowed upon me with you."

"Of course, thank you." I said. I immediately knew that she was lonesome. It suspected that the four vampires have lived in seclusion for years.

"I will give some to your sister now." She said. "Come, we will all bathe together now."

Bathe? Together? Um...what if she's part of some weird lesbian cult? I'd better go with her to Bella's room. I need to keep my sister safe.

Amrita gave Bella the saris which she accepted graciously. She probably heard Amrita sobbing to me. We followed her to a huge room that had a bathtub the size of a swimming pool in the center. Sushmita came to help Amrita disrobe, then helped me and Bella. She had each of us sit on stools as she bathed us. I had never been this pampered in my life. I doubted Bella had to. Bella and I watched the dirt, correction mud, from our hair flow away with the water. After we were nice and clean, we were led to the piping hot bath in the middle of the room. Amrita nodded to Sushmita who cleansed herself then joined us in the bath.

"When I was human, it would have been a crime to bathe with the servants, but Sushmita means so much more to me now. She has been my only friend for close to four hundred years now." She stated.

"How old are you in vampire years?"

"I'm approaching my seventy-sixth year as a vampire, my sister is nine months old now." I informed her.

Amrita and Sushmita's eyes widened. "You are a newborn, yet so controlled. We thought that you were the older vampire. Her eyes zoomed in on our mating marks. Where are your mates?"

"We're traveling alone on a journey to find ourselves." Bella stated.

"Interesting." Amrita said. "I've never heard of two mated, female vampires venturing out on their own. Your mates are not angry with you?"

"They're sad. They want us to come home, but my sister and I need to find what we're looking for first." I said.

"What is it that you're looking for?"

"We don't know." I admitted.

"You may find, upon your return home, that what you were looking for has been right in front of you all along." Sushmita said. Geez. She's more cryptic than Peter is.

After our baths, we were, once again, pampered by Sushmita. She helped us get into our outfits and draped a long, beautiful silk scarf across our shoulders. Then, she adorned us with precious jewels—another gift from the Maharani.

"These are not saris?" I questioned.

"No, they're called Salwar Kameez. The scarf is called a Duppatta. It is more comfortable than a sari and is considered appropriate for daily wear.

Sushmita moved on to Bella's room after she was finished with me.

When we had a moment alone, Bella entered my room.

"Why is she giving us all this stuff, Rose? I feel weird." She whispered.

"I know, so do I. If we start feeling any creepier, we'll leave, okay?" I replied.

We were called down to some sort of family room where we sat on the floor on comfortable cushions and chatted. It turns out that Amar and Amrita were changed in 1608 by a rogue vampire that had gone on a rampage and drained every citizen in his village. For some reason, when he got to Amar, Amrita, Sahil, and Sushmita, he pumped them with venom and left. They were confused as to who or what they were when they woke from the change. They immediately noticed their thirst. Living in such a dense area of the jungle the first thing they encountered were tigers—naturally, they felt their bloodlust and fed on the animals. They didn't know any better so for a hundred years or so, they fed exclusively on tiger's blood.

Around 1720, a mated vampire couple passed through their region and were shocked to find four golden eyed vampires. He explained to them what they were and seeing their mating marks which they instinctually gave to each other, he told them all about mating and vampirism.

From that time on, the four had basically been living in seclusion. Amar and Sahil went to town to do business every now and then. They harvested tea for money—lots and lots of tea from what we could see. "Excuse me, where exactly are we?" I asked. We had been wandering for so long that we had no idea what part of India we were in.

"You are in a remote part of Darjeeling. Some of the best tea leaves in the world come from here." Sahil said.

"Sushmita will read your souls now. She has a gift." Amar said.

"Are you a seer, we have one in our family." I said.

"Not quite. You'll have to experience it to see."

Sushmita had me lean back against her and put her arms around me. I was a bit uncomfortable because I wasn't used to strangers touching me. In fact, the only two people allowed this sort of proximity to me were Emmett and Bella. "You had a very unfortunate beginning to this life. You were violated in the worst way. You were consumed by unwarranted shame. You didn't want this life. Your life changed when you met your mate. You are his world. You have a family who cares deeply for you. Your sister is your best friend. When she came into your life, your world shifted once again. You must not hold people at a distance. You must allow them to share in your life. Only then will you achieve true happiness."

Whoa! Um, how the fuck did she know all of this? "Excuse me, what did you mean when you said that I must allow people to share in my life?"

"You, Rose, are frightened to let people get to know the real you. You're only yourself in front of your sister and your mate. You are afraid that people will hurt you if you allow them to get to know you. I suspect that this has something to do with your unfortunate beginning. The pain and the suffering is all in the past, you must release it in order to allow happiness to flow through you." Sushmita said.

I nodded my head in acknowledgment. Somehow, I believed this wise woman.

Sushmita, then, moved on to Bella. She assumed the same position and had Bella lean back against her. "You are a very complex young woman. Your human life made you afraid to lose control. You will not allow others to pamper and take care of you—to spoil you. It was quite evident while I was bathing you today. The tension resonating from your body was palpable. You feel that you would lose complete control if you allow others to spoil you. You worked so hard, from a young age, the entirety of your human life, that you could not call it your own. The ending to your human life was violent, but you were created into a vampire out of love. I noticed the different markings on your major arteries. I assume you were changed by more than one vampire?"

"Yes, she was changed by eight vampires." I affirmed.

"Each one of those vampires love you as if you were their own flesh and blood and some are, indeed, of your bloodline. They can be overbearing at times. You must understand that they do this out of love and love only. Oddly enough, you have three sets of parents in this life. Each of them want to cherish and protect you. Yet, you run from them. You also run from your mate. You crave independence, but you are dependent on your mate. He is the other half of your soul. You and he share a bond that is tighter than any encountered in our world before. Without him, half of you is becoming stronger while the other half is withering away. You need the balance that your mate provides for you. Your mate is powerful, as are you. Together, you are an unstoppable force that can move mountains if necessary. With your family behind you, you can move the entire Earth. You must allow them to love you and you must cherish them for who they are. They are a part of you and you are only running from yourself whenever you run from those who love you. Only then, will you find the independence and happiness that you desire."

Bella's mouth was hanging open. "Close your mouth, Bella, you're gonna let the flies in." I said.

Before she shut her mouth she mouthed "bitch" to me.

I wagged my eyebrows at her. She narrowed her eyes at me. We both giggled.

"There is one more thing between the two of you." Sushmita said. "You share a bond with each other as powerful as a mating bond. You rely on each other when your mates or your family are unable to provide support. You share an emotional connection which can never be broken. You must always keep each other close for part of your soul will die without the other."

"Huh?" Now I was the one with my mouth hanging open.

"What do you mean when you say that part of our soul will die without the other?" Bella asked.

"Just as you are a part of your mates and your mates are a part of you. You are a part of each other. You will not survive this life without Rose, just like she will not survive without you. You coming into this life allowed Rose to finally start living her life as a vampire. Before that, she was merely surviving. Just like you were meant for your mate, you were also meant for your sister. She was also meant for you."

I ran to my sister and pulled her into my arms. She was meant for me. She absolutely was. She was my best friend and confidante. She was there for me when no one else was. Who else would dance half-naked in a cage for me or abandon their degree and their mate and run for my sake? Only Bella would.

"Thank you, Sushmita, you are very wise." I said, gratefully.

"I only say what I feel when I touch you. I only know of this bond because I share a similar one with Amrita. We are as close to each other as we are to our mates. Amar said that he saw you two hunting together in close proximity without letting your animalistic side come out. Amrita and I are the same way." She informed us. "I recommend you feed together off of the same tiger one day. You will notice, then, how your bond is enhanced.

Amrita then spoke. "Might I suggest that you phone your mates and have them join you here at our palace? We would dearly love to meet them and I daresay that you both have done enough soul searching to allow them back into your lives."

"Well, it is now time for us to begin our nightly mating rituals. Please make yourselves at home and do phone your mates. Have them fly to Bagdogra Airport. Sahil and I will pick them up from there. We will see you in a few hours." Amar said, then picked Amrita up and left. Sahil did the same with Sushmita.

"Thank you." Bella and I said, simultaneously.

We roamed the glorious palace and chatted. We sat on cushions laid out on the adjoining balcony and held each other. "Let's call them." I said. "We've been in India for almost two months and we were in Japan for a month before that."

"I miss him, Rose." Bella whispered. "What the heck is a nightly mating ritual?"

"I don't know. Somehow, I think it's more than just fucking. Maybe we can ask Sushmita tomorrow."

"You don't think that's too personal, do you?" Bella asked.

"Are you kidding me? The woman just explained our entire souls to us—I'd say that's more personal." I said.

"You're right. Let's make sure that Em and Jasper bring gifts for these people. They've been so hospitable and it hasn't even been a day." Bella recommended.

"You're right. Hey, sis?" Bella looked at me in acknowledgment. "I really do feel like you're a part of me, you know. I love you, Bella."

She smiled at me and pulled me in for a hug. "I love you, too, Rose. Let's go call our mates."

**Jasper's POV**

I was dying inside without my mate. I needed her so badly, so desperately, but I had to give her this time to find herself. Pete advised both me and Emmett to just give our mates time to heal. We were doing that, but each day was getting harder and harder.

Emmett ended up leasing a house about a mile away from us. He lived at the midway point between my house and Pete's apartment. Pete and Char have been there for me and Em every step of the way. They knew how it felt to be separated from your mate. Char was a trooper. She helped us keep both houses looking spic and span and she made sure that we did our laundry and put it away instead of letting it all pile up. Pete and Char did laundry at our house because they didn't have a washer and dryer in their building.

Em and I both managed to finish off our terms at MIT and Harvard. I just got our report cards in the mail. I squeaked by with straight C's and one D. Bella, from wherever the fuck she was, managed to get straight A's. How the hell did she manage that? They even renewed her scholarship for next year, which she doesn't really need.

I was missing Bella like crazy today. It was exactly a year ago today that we met and mated instantly after Edward's bachelor's party. I cracked open a bottle of Jack and downed it in one go. I took a deep whiff of the pillow where her scent lingered—not good, thinking of her made my dick hard. I'm gonna have to jerk off in the shower again. I was just about to go do that when my cell phone rang. "Hello?" I answered.

"Jasper."

"Bella? Are you coming home?" I asked, hopefully.

"No, you're coming to see me." She said.

"Where are you?"

"Rose and I are at the palace of Maharaja Amar Desai." Bella replied.

Okay, well, Em and I better get there fast because we don't need our mates joining no harem.

"Baby, could you elaborate a little more? I'm a little confused, did you say that you're at the palace of a Maharaja?"

"Uh, yes. Well, he was a Maharaja before he was turned, but really India did away with the whole royalty thing in 1947 when they achieved independence, therefore, turning into a democratic country. Babe, after I finish studying American History, can I study Asian History? After spending all this time here, I'm finding it terribly interesting."

"Bella, you can study whatever the fuck you want. Let's discuss that later. How lon..." I was cut off by my mate.

"Really, Jasper? I can? Ooh! I'm so excited. Before I forget, you need to pick up gifts for his household. The Maharani has given me and Rose beautiful silk saris, salwar kameez, and precious jewels. On top of that, they've offered all of us their hospitality. There are a total of two male vampires and two female vampires here—both mated." She said.

Okay, I feel better now. There are other women there. "How do I get to you?"

"You need to fly to Bagdogra airport. It's in India."

"I love you, Bella. I'll see you as soon as I can. Let me get off of the phone so I can get to you. I love you. I love you. I love you." I kept repeating it, hoping it'll stick to her.

"Bring a case of Jack Daniels. I'm thirsty. Rose and I haven't had any since Japan. Jasper, can we buy an apartment in Tokyo? I really like it there."

"We already own a house in Tokyo, babe. We can stop there on the way home—just you and me. If you want an apartment, I can buy you that, too. It's one of my favorite cities in the world."

"Hurry, Jasper. I miss you. Oh, and call me as soon as you have the flight plans."

"Okay, baby. I'll be right there." I ended the call and grabbed my laptop to look for flights to India.

My cell phone rang, Bella was calling again. Before I could say anything she spoke. "I forgot to tell you that I love you, Jasper." With that, she ended the call.

Emmett ran in through the front door, just then—literally. "Sorry, man. I'll fix that for you before we leave for India. What the fuck are we supposed to get a Maharaja?"

My cell phone went off again. It was Alice. Her vision was working flawlessly, and so was Edward's mindreading, because Bella was so far away. At least we know that her mental shield covers us while in the United States and Canada. Alice still couldn't see much regarding Bella and Rose because obviously the shield was working fine where they are.

"Pick up cartons of American cigarettes for the men, two sets of his and her Rolex watches, jewelry from Tiffany and Company for the women—they prefer gold over platinum, Channel No. 5 and Coco perfumes, also Red Sox t-shirts and jeans for all of them. They'll get a kick out of them." She said. "I'll text you their sizes. Oh, and Bella and Rose need new bras and panties—desperately. Bella dropped her shield momentarily. I hate to say this, but they resembled mountain men. I wouldn't be surprised if they started growing beards."

"Thanks, Alice." I said. She had improved considerably in the last few months. Being fired from five jobs in a row humbled her. She had to sell her beloved Porsche and she was now driving a Honda Civic. She was working at a local Dairy Queen in New Hampshire for minimum wage. She absolutely detested it and I couldn't see her last much longer at that job.

"Don't mention it. Jasper, would you tell Bella that I'm sorry—for everything?" She requested. "I'll tell her in person too, but I really do want her to know that I am sorry."

"Sure, Alice." I said.

"Okay, I'll see you in a couple of months. Bye."

"A couple of months? Are we gonna be gone for that long?" Emmett asked.

"Looks like it." I was tapping away on the computer. "Okay, I found a flight to London that leaves in five hours at 8pm tonight. From there we board a flight to Delhi. After that it's a short flight to Bagdogra. In roughly 32 hours—we should be with our mates."

"That's awesome, man. Book two tickets. I'll pay you back later." Em said, excitedly.

"Don't worry about it. I booked us two first class seats. We're good to go. So, go pack your clothes and, in the meantime, I'll fix the door." I suggested.

Emmett sighed. "We need to talk, bro. This is a time for truths and this is one truth that's long overdue. You aren't good at fixing shit, Jasper. We've been having to distract you whenever something breaks so that you don't get your hands on them. When you slammed your fist through the kitchen counter last month, Pete and Garrett had to take you drinking so I could put in a new one while you were gone. Before that, Bella's been having to sex you up so that we could distract you. Jasper, we know you mean well, but it's time to put down your hammer."

"Am I that bad?" I asked, bewildered.

"Jasper, you brought down an entire house in Chicago. Carlisle told me that you put a crater, the size of a mac truck, through the wall of your bedroom when all you had to do was replace a window. He said, you nearly took out a supporting beam to this house. Let me take care of the door, bro. I'll be quick, accurate, and then we can be on our way."

"Sure." I said, completely dejected. I cracked open another bottle of Jack and downed it. I didn't know I sucked that much.

"Alright, give me the keys to your truck. I'm going to Home Depot for supplies. Call Sissy, tell her our flight plans, then pack. I'll stop at my place and pack a bag for myself too." Emmett instructed before leaving me sitting on my sofa feeling like shit.

Wait a minute. I don't have time to wallow in self pity. I get to see my mate in less than two days. I ran upstairs and started packing. I decided to take a quick shower and jerk off while Emmett was gone. My dick was throbbing from inhaling Bella's scent from her pillow earlier.

After my shower, I called my wife to tell her the flight plans.

"Hi, Jasper." My God, her voice sounds like heaven to my ears.

"Hey, babe, I have the flight plans. Do you have a pen and paper ready?"

"Yep, go ahead."

I gave her the information and she took it down. We stayed on the phone a bit longer. She told me how she and Rose were nomads in India for two months until the Maharaja found them hunting and offered them shelter. Apparently, they were a mess when they first encountered him.

"Now, I'm not one for image or anything, but we must have looked positively feral. I think we actually scared the Maharani. It's possible that she thinks we're some sort of charity case. She keeps giving me and Rose silks and jewels." Bella chuckled. "Oh, before I forget, can you pack my favorite flip flops for me? It's summer so I want to wiggle my toes."

"No problem, baby. I can't wait to have you back in my arms." I stated.

"I can't wait to be back in yours. I have so much to tell you. I love you, Jasper. I'll see you soon."

"Okay, Bella. I love you."

I didn't want to hang up, but I had to figure out a game plan. I needed to go to Copley Place and take care of the shopping. I already had a case of Jack Daniels sitting in my kitchen. The cigarettes and perfume I could buy, duty free, on the plane.

"Knock, knock." Pete said as he walked in the house. "You need me to drive you somewhere, don't ya? How is she, man?"

"She sounded refreshed—like a new woman. She and Rose were living as nomads for a couple of months in India." I said. "She said they got a lot of thinking done."

"Baby girl was always introspective. She just needed time, Jasper. I'm proud of you for giving her that. You two are going to move mountains together, you know. Remember what Char said? She said that she had never seen a stronger mating thread than the one between you and Bella. Will you tell her that I miss her?"

"Of course I will." Pete and Bella had gotten really close before she ran away with Rose. They talked a couple of times a week and she had helped him overcome a lot of his issues with Char. Ironically, when they first met last year, Pete and Bella had a rough beginning. Now, they were really chummy—maybe even closer than he and I were.

"Give her this, too." He handed me a piece of paper with some numbers on it.

"What the fuck is this?" I asked.

"It's a list of how much I got hustled out of while playing pool when she was gone. She has to win it back for me. It's a matter of pride." He said.

"Pete, you lost over thirty thousand dollars!" I cried.

"Yeah, I know. That's a brand new fucking truck. She needs to win it back for me." He stated.

Whatever. They had a strange friendship. I found out that they talked, two-stepped, then hustled pool whenever they went out. It was almost like they had a bromance of some sort going, except for the dancing part. At first, I was insanely jealous of the fact that Pete taught Bella how to two-step instead of me. I'd even follow them and spy on them from the outside of wherever they went. Now that Bella was gone, she could two-step with Pete every fucking day as long as she was back in my arms at the end of the day.

Em soon returned with the supplies and Pete helped him put the door in. He said, he'd paint it for us over the weekend while he and Char were doing laundry. We asked him to take care of our houses while we were gone. Pete drove us to Copley Place so we could pick up the gifts. We were short on time so we split up. Peter ended up picking up lingerie for the girls. He then dropped us off at the airport. He gave us two wrapped gifts, one for each of our mates, and asked us to give it to them. We thanked him. He smirked, then drove away.

_**Thirty hours later...**_

Em and I were on the last leg of our trip. We'd be seeing our mates soon. The plane landed and we looked all over for Bella and Rose. We couldn't find them. Instead, we were approached by two golden-eyed male vampires. By their dress, they appeared to be native to these parts.

"I am Amar Desai and this is my servant, Sahil. You are Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarty?" He asked in heavily accented English.

"Yes, I'm Jasper. This is my brother Emmett."

"Good, your mates await you at my palace. They are bathing with the other women now in preparation for your arrival." Amar stated.

Bathing with other women? What the fuck? Did he have a harem going or something? Shit! Maybe Bella and Rose were indoctrinated into some crazy vampire cult. This is India, for fuck's sake. I remember that movie, 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'. What if this guy was the leader of the Thuggee Cult?

"Excuse me, did you say that our mates were bathing with other women?" Emmett asked with a horrified expression on his face.

"Yes, Sushmita is washing them in preparation for your mating ritual." Amar answered.

Mating ritual. What the fuck? Stay calm, Jasper. Stay calm. You don't want to fuck this up with your mate.

"You seem to be very nervous. Perhaps a session with our hookah will benefit you upon our return to my palace." Amar suggested. We were now riding in his Range Rover with his servant driving. "I was surprised that your mates enjoyed experiencing our hookah so much."

"Our wives experienced hookers?" Emmett was now clearly on edge. I was too. What the hell kind of palace did this fucker run? He obviously had some kinky shit going on. All I knew is we were grabbing our wives and leaving. So far, it seemed that this Amar dude had them lesbian bathing in his harem, preparing for some sort of mating ritual, and participating in wild orgies with hookers. Yep, this man was definitely running a cult.

"No, not hookers, hoo-kahs." Amar enunciated. "Water pipes from which we smoke tobacco from."

Oh, that hookah. With Amar's heavy accent, I had misheard him. It really did sound more like hooker. Clearly, Emmett had thought the same thing too.

"Yeah, Emmett, don't you remember from Tangierino's?" I said, not wanting to seem like a dumb fuck. "I happen to be a hookah aficionado myself, Amar. What flavor tobacco do you enjoy?"

"According to your mate, we have many more flavors in our country than in yours. My favorite happens to be Saffron. Your mate says she enjoys mango, but she seemed to gravitate more towards whiskey flavored." Amar said.

Pfft. Bella didn't gravitate towards whiskey flavored, she probably devoured it. What Amar didn't know was that my mate simply enjoyed whiskey. She was a fucking lush and I loved it when she let the liquor get to her because she lost her inhibitions completely. That's part of the reason why I kept cases of hard liquor at home. That and I'm a lush too.

We drove for about an hour and Amar gave us a little tour of his grounds. Okay, not grounds—entire motherfucking jungle plus the enormous tea leaf farm next to it. Sahil pulled up in front of the palace and grabbed our bags. Amar instructed us to remove our shoes. We followed him through the house and we were led to some huge ass room where we were told to wash the grime from the trip away.

"Uh, so what do we do?" Emmett looked to me for advice.

"I think we just take our clothes off and hop in that swimming pool there." I said.

We took our clothes off and found a naked Amar waiting for us. He was standing with his hands on his hips with his dick hanging down. Motherfucker! I ain't blowing or fucking no guy. He pointed to a pair of stools. "Please sit, Sahil will wash you."

"It's okay." I held my hands up in front of me. "I can wash myself."

"No, it is part of Sahil's job to wash you. I will go first so you can see that he means no harm." Amar said.

Okay, I'll just plant my naked ass right on one of these things and watch. My ass is safer sitting anyway—better to restrict access to my man parts. Sahil appeared and started scrubbing Amar's body and washing his hair. He rinsed him off and Amar slipped in the swimming pool. He, then did the same with Emmett and, finally, with me.

"Please, join me in the bath." Amar said.

"Uh, who's scrubbing Sahil's back?" Emmett asked.

"He will wash his own." Amar answered. "He has for many centuries now."

"Well, that hardly seems fair. Sit down and I'll scrub your back for ya." Emmett was always good-hearted like that. True to his word, he washed Sahil's hair and scrubbed his back for him. As for me, hell no, I ain't getting anywhere near a dude's back. I don't care how non-sexual it is. I don't fraternize with men like that.

"Thank you. I have never been washed before. Now, I know what it feels like." Sahil said, appreciatively.

Amar and Sahil told us their histories while we relaxed in the piping hot swimming pool. I'll tell you one thing, the next house we live in, I'm getting one of these fucking rooms put in. This is the way to bathe. Thank God, I packed my camera. I'm gonna need pictures of this room. Maybe I can take some while Bella's bathing in here.

I told the two men an abbreviated version of my history. Amar noticed the scars marring my skin and said that he could tell that I was a powerful warrior. I told him that I was more of a businessman now with all of my assets. That peaked his interest. Apparently, Amar was a bit of a businessman himself. Well, he'd have to be. That's the only way he could keep his palace and all his land for four centuries. He asked if I could take a look at his holdings to see if there were any that would be of interest to me. I told him it was no problem and we could do that sometime during our stay. He thanked me.

Amar told me and Emmett how he nearly toppled over in shock after seeing our wives hunting alone in the wild. "I followed them for two whole days and I noticed that they were entirely alone. They seemed to be living in the jungle. I saw by the marks on their necks that they were both mated and decided it was my duty as a mated, male vampire to offer these women shelter, protection, and a bath; and help them find their way back to you."

I could feel nothing, but honesty, in his words and decided gratitude was in order. "Thank you. We were apart for three months and we were worried about their well-being, but they needed this journey to discover who they were."

We finished bathing and we were given these comfortable Indian outfits to wear. Sahil led Emmett into a room and closed the door, then led me to the adjacent room and bid me goodbye. I turned to see my beautiful wife swathed in layers of silk and adorned with gold jewelry.

"Jasper." She breathed, then ran into my arms. I carried her to the bed and held her for hours—not wanting to let go. After months without her, I finally felt complete. I didn't need to make love to her, I just needed her in my arms with her head buried in my chest.

"Baby, please don't leave me, again." I begged.

"I won't, but I needed to do this. The other day, everything clicked into place when Sushmita read my soul. Jasper, I've been running away from myself and pushing others away instead of letting them love me." She said. "I pushed you away the furthest when you were the one I needed the most."

"Don't take the blame all onto yourself, Bella. I, as well as the others, were so overprotective that we drove both you and Rose away. Esme's been getting counseling from Riley. Much of it has to do with her losing her infant while she was human. For both her and Vicky, it was watching you get beaten and nearly raped before you were turned." I really didn't want her to shoulder the blame herself. We each had a part in this and I hated to say this, but Bella and Rose running away was actually a good thing—it taught us all a hard lesson.

"Thank you, Jasper." She whispered, then stood up and held her hand out to me. "I want to show you the view from the balcony. It's incredible."

The view was breathtaking. It overlooked the lush jungles of Darjeeling and I could see hundreds of tigers roaming the wild. The other door to the balcony clicked open and Rose and Emmett walked out. Rose dove into my arms just as Bella did Emmett's.

"Never again, Bells." Emmett said. He simply held onto his little sister and didn't let go. I kissed Rose atop her head and held her as she sobbed into my chest.

"Shh...you don't have to cry anymore, Rose. We're here now." I cooed.

Em and I took our wives back and settled them onto our laps while we sat on the plush cushions lining the balcony. They told us all about their journey. They had spent over a month staying in hotels in Japan—they climbed to the top of Mount Fuji, bathed under the dazzling waterfalls in Sounkyou, explored Tokyo's non-stop nightlife, and even prayed at a Buddhist temple. In India, they decided to live as nomads and realized two days ago, when they ran into Amar, that they had become so one with nature that they had been wearing the same clothes since they left Tokyo two months ago. Em and I started hooting and hollering. Rose and Bella grabbed their cameras and scrolled through pictures of their trip. In Japan, they looked like their normal beautiful and clean selves. In India, however, they became progressively filthier—almost savage looking. Alice was right, they looked like mountain men.

"This was taken the day before we ran into Amar." Rose showed us a picture of the two of them smiling in front of some sort of village market.

"Geez! That's what Amar first saw?" I chuckled. "He must of thought you girls were neanderthals. You have so much grime on your faces that you can't even tell you're vampires. Your clothes have tiny rips in them too. Rose, your hair actually looks light brown instead of blonde."

"You should have seen when poor Sushmita first bathed us." Bella said. "There was mud, literally flowing off of our hair and bodies. It took her twenty minutes each to scrub us clean while it only took her five minutes with Amrita. It was so embarrassing."

"It only took Sahil five minutes to scrub both me and Jasper clean. You two must have been rank!" Emmett laughed.

"Before I forget, Pete wanted me to give you a gift. Let me go get it." I got up and grabbed the little gift wrapped box that I had in my carry on bag. Emmett did the same because we handed the girls their gifts at the same time.

Bella and Rose opened the boxes and each pulled out a pair of crotchless panties and a note that read, "Tell your mates that they can thank me later." Cryptic bastard. I liked the panties though.

We talked and caught each other up for the next hour until there was a knock on Rose's door asking us to join Amar and his family downstairs. I grabbed the gifts I had purchased back in the States before we walked downstairs and were introduced to their wives. I didn't think they were as pretty as Rose and Bella said they were, but, then again, my opinion was biased—I only had eyes for my beautiful wife.

Alice was spot on about the gifts. The men were overjoyed at the Marlboro's and the women were in awe with the perfume. They were initially perplexed with the t-shirts and jeans until Bella and Rose took them upstairs and dressed the women in them. When they came back downstairs dressed like typical American women in tight jeans and body hugging t-shirts, their mates' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. We found out later that the women had never left the palace except to hunt. That's when I noticed that there was no TV or internet here. These people were really isolated, especially the women.

A month later, we thanked our new found friends and left India. Emmett and I helped Amar modernize his thriving tea business by teaching him how to use a computer and getting him hooked up to the internet. We went to Delhi and picked up four laptops for them and showed them how to email so they could keep in touch with us. I toured Amar's tea harvesting plant and decided to invest in it since he was making a hefty profit. All the fine tea purveyors were purchasing their leaves from him and had been for centuries.

Amar promised to bring his family for a visit sometime and we were looking forward to seeing them. When we got to Delhi, Rose and Em separated from us and headed to London while Bella and I flew to Tokyo. Rose and Bella had venom in their eyes at the thought of being apart. They had been joined at the hip for practically four months—even sharing their meals together. Em and I were floored when we first caught them sharing a tiger together. There was something very intimate about it. That's when Rose explained the connection that Sushmita saw between them. I wasn't surprised. When the two of them were together, it was almost as if they came to life.

As far as Sushmita was concerned, I was worried about something she saw in my soul. She said that I had successfully crossed one hurdle, but I had two separate demons from my past looming in the shadows. She said that the first demon would test our trust for each other in an unimaginable way and with the second one, she said that it would take all the love that Bella and I had for each other to destroy it and that Bella would be my savior, ultimately. She said not to worry about it yet, the second demon was still many years away. I had a sick feeling to my stomach that Maria was going to make a reappearance in my life. For now, though, I was determined to enjoy my wife, fully, now that we were really alone.

_**Three weeks later...**_

"I don't want to go home, Jasper. I just want to spend my days making love to you." Bella whined.

"So do I, but real life is calling us. We only have five weeks left until term starts at Harvard and, before that, we have to take that trip to Williamsburg which we postponed because you were gone. I also have to check on all of our assets to make sure everything is okay. I want to have enough cushion, as far as time is concerned, in case I have to take a quick run to check on one of the properties or accounts." I kissed the fresh mark I had given her before leaving Tokyo.

We were on a Japan Airlines flight in their new first class suite, en route to New York. We had turned the 'do not disturb' light on so the flight attendants wouldn't bother us. It was an overnight flight and most of the passengers were fast asleep. Bella and I had set up the awesome beds in the side by side suites—I had climbed over to her side and we were snuggled up underneath the blankets.

"This is so much nicer than the seats Rose and I had on our flight over. Then again, we flew economy class. The two of us were stuck between a fat, bald dude with horrific body odor and an annoying fourth grader who kept fidgeting in his seat and farting. Rose kept wanting to jump out of the emergency exit and swim the rest of the way to Tokyo." She chuckled.

"You and Rose had so many crazy adventures on your journey—I'm kind of jealous." I said. "Never again, though, I don't think I can go through that again. Little trips for a weekend or even a week, I don't mind, but three months without you just about killed me."

I kissed my wife tenderly on the lips. Bella moaned, her body writhing underneath me. My cock was twitching on high alert. I slid my hand up her leg and stroked her folds. She was wearing the crotchless panties from Peter—I owe that cryptic bastard a big thank you. I slipped two fingers into her dripping pussy and pulled them out. I put the fingers, coated with her delicious juices, into my mouth and tasted every drop of mate. Bella was watching me with rapt attention, the amount of lust she was emitting was off the richter scale. I allowed myself to bathe in her desire and sent the feelings of ecstasy and passion that she was surrounding me with back to her. I kissed her passionately. I felt her hand undoing my pants—allowing my cock to spring free. She started jerking my cock making my senses go wild with lust. I moved my hand down to her breasts and played with her nipples over her shirt. Bella moaned at the sensation.

"Shh...We're on an airplane, my mate, not one peep out of you." I put my hand over her mouth so no sound would escape. I slid my cock into her pussy in one smooth motion then thrust into her piece of heaven over and over again. Bella closed her eyes and immersed herself in the carnal passion of our lovemaking. We were making love on an airplane and we could get caught at any moment, that thought alone made what we were doing more lascivious, more titillating, more erotic.

Bella's walls clenched tight around my cock—she had reached her peak and I let my feelings go at that exact moment. The look of sheer ecstasy upon her beautiful face sent me into a frenzy. I blasted my seed straight into her pussy and sunk my teeth into her neck. She clutched onto my body tight while I soothed her wound with my tongue.

All of a sudden, the airplane was in complete chaos. The emergency lights were flickering and, it was then, that I felt the raw lust surrounding me. "Shit, Bella, I think I was projecting all over the fucking plane. We turned to look on either side of our suites. Couples were fucking like rabbits in the first class cabin. The flight attendants were making out at the front of the plane and there were men jerking off to the sight of them. I quickly got up off of my seat and scanned the business and economy classes. It was a veritable orgy. The plane suddenly jerked and I could feel us losing altitude. I ran into the cabin and saw that the pilots were both jerking off and desperately trying to stay in control of the plane with one hand each. I saw one of the pilots flick the switch on for auto-pilot. At least, the passengers were safe.

"Fuck, Jasper, you've got to do something." Bella came up from behind me and touched my arm. One look at her and my lust levels reached a fevered pitch. I grabbed my mate and kissed her passionately. The combined lust of all the passengers aboard the plane was quickly taking control of my faculties. I carried Bella back to our little suite, placed her on her back, and found myself sheathed inside of her sweet pussy. I pounded my cock inside of her over and over again.

"No...Jasper...you...can't...must...control...fuck...oh...stop...oh...god...pro...projecting...help...plane...oh! Jasperrrr, yes, yes, yessss!" She cried out, then bit down into my neck and marked me as we exploded into an orgasm together. Her bite snapped me out of my frenzy.

"Bella, throw your shield over the two pilots." She did as I asked. I didn't have any other choice so I threw lethargy over the entire plane and caused everyone on board to fall asleep. We had about four hours to go on this flight.

"What are we going to do about the two pilots?" Bella asked. "They're still masturbating."

"As soon as they cum, they'll regain their senses." I stated.

"Oh, ew! They're cumming now." Bella cringed at the sounds of them grunting. "I need a drink."

"This is first class, drinks are free. Do you want me to wake one of the flight attendants up?" I offered.

"Uh, no, I'll just raid the bar myself. You want something, Jasper?"

"I'll take some of that Suntory Whiskey. I'm seriously thinking of switching from Jack Daniels." I said.

Bella found a whole crate of the mini bottles of Suntory Whiskey and brought the whole thing over to our little private pod. We cracked the bottles open one by one and downed them. We finished off the entire crate and realized that it did nothing for either of us. This time I went to where the drinks were stowed and found some Hennessy Cognac, we downed the entire crate and started laughing. A couple of tablespoons at a time of these drinks did nothing for our vampire constitutions.

Three hours passed and I decided to wake everyone up slowly. I instantly felt tons of embarrassment and mortification coming from everyone.

"Well, this is certainly a flight I'll never forget." Bella stated.

The plane landed in New York an hour later. We flew through customs and immigration, then found ourselves aboard a flight to Boston. We landed an hour later. We deplaned and went straight to baggage claim and smelled them instantly. There was a sea of vampires lining the baggage claim area. The entire family, including the Denalis, was waiting for us. I found my mate being pried away from me by Riley. He checked his sister to make sure she was in one piece and pulled her into a hug. Vicky soon joined in. Laurent and Irina were next. Carlisle put his hands on Bella's cheek and kissed the top of her head followed by an apologetic Esme. I was in a similar position with everyone.

"So, did my little present to Bella come in handy?" Peter questioned with a smirk.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks, bro." I winked.

"Tsk, tsk, Major. You were a bad boy, weren't ya?" Peter waved a finger in front of his face. "You're lucky the plane didn't crash."

I wagged my eyebrows at my all-knowing brother.

The family all gathered at our home in Cambridge where we all caught up with what's been going on for the past few months. We were surrounded by warmth and love and it was a great beginning to Bella and my newfound closeness to each other.

**Okay, so, what did you think of Sushmita's soul reading of Bella, Rose, and Jasper? How about Jasper and his mass lust projection? Let me know what you think. I'll always write back. XOXO**


	38. Chapter 38

**I'd like to thank everyone for all of your reviews, alerts, faves, and your messages. You have no idea how encouraging they all are. Victoria will make an enemy of your choice her pet. She's really good at that, you know.**

**So, most of you enjoyed Sushmita's readings of Bella and Rose's soul, but are terrified of the two hurdles that she said Jasper would have to face. This chapter and the one following are the two most important ones in this story. There will be events happening in the two chapters that will ultimately make or break Jasper and Bella as individuals and as a couple. Without further due, I present to you the first demon. **

**This story is AU/OOC and over the top. If stories that are over the top aren't your piece of cake, I will not be offended if you choose not to read it. **

**All characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please. **

**Bella's POV**

It's been two weeks since our return from Asia and we were finally in Williamsburg, Virginia with Garrett, Kate, Tanya, and Rex. We had Alice look into the weather and Wednesday is going to be the only sunny day. The rest of the days are going to be overcast so we would be able to venture out during the days too.

Learning to trust Alice again has been one of the most difficult things that I'd ever done. Her betrayal of me, Jasper, and Edward had run so deep. I'm still having a lot of trouble trusting her. She cornered me at the Amherst home one day and she apologized profusely. Riley and Jasper both said that they sensed nothing, but honesty coming from her. She had, once again, been fired from her latest job and was now working at Walmart stocking shelves for $8.50 an hour which, ironically, paid more than her last job at Dairy Queen.

Peter and I had resumed our weekly buddy night. So far, we had hustled about four thousand dollars of the thirty thousand he lost. I was getting better with the two-step too. Peter was really light on his feet and a great dancer. Char was initially jealous of the fact that we were going out once a week, but after Jasper calmed her down, she has become somewhat okay with it. The fact was that Pete and I needed the one night together to unwind and talk about our lives. We always came back refreshed and we had a hell of a lot of fun just hanging out.

I kept recalling Sushmita's soul reading. She said that I had to allow my family to love me in order to achieve true happiness. I've been trying my best to do that. Esme has been a lot less overbearing since she started counseling with Riley. She and I went to catch a chick flick together the other night. Afterwards, we went walking in Boston and we stumbled upon the alley where I was changed. We both cringed, ran back to my house, and cried.

She opened up to me and told me about the night she lost her baby boy. The loss was insurmountable and coupled with the abuse she suffered from her husband, she felt that she no longer had anything to live for. When I was attacked, she was overcome by similar feelings of loss. To her, I was her flesh and blood, more so than the others. She told me how absolutely terrified she was that I had died that night. She was prepared to build a pyre and walk into it had I succumbed to the gunshot wound. When Carlisle declared that I could still be changed if enough venom was pumped into me, Esme jumped in to do it. If I couldn't have her blood running through her veins, then I would have her venom. She wanted to secure that bond between mother and child.

I was stunned by her admission. Esme truly believed she was my mother, just like Sushmita had said. She also said that Irina and Vicky felt like they were my mother. Oddly, I felt like all three of them put together made one perfect mother.

I was roused out of my thoughts by my mate. "Babe, where are my swim trunks?"

"I put them in the top drawer with your underwear, Jasper." I informed him.

"Why would you put them with my underwear? Shouldn't swim trunks be in the same drawer as my shorts?" He asked.

"Honestly, Jasper, does it really matter? If you're going to bitch, do it yourself."

"I guess not. So, what's this Water Country place like?"

It's a water park, they have these huge, twisty slides and whatnot that you splash down into a pool of water from." I explained.

"Okay, and we're going there, why?"

"We're going because it's part of the Williamsburg Bounce ticket that we bought. We have unlimited admission to Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and Water Country plus Rex and I think it would be good for you old fogies to experience a water park."

Thirty minutes later, we were at Water Country. Rex, Garrett, and Jasper had roaming eyes, scanning all of the tanned bikini clad girls. Tanya and Katie were getting pissed off. I didn't give a shit. I actually thought it was healthy to look. It's not as if they were going to act on their urges.

"Why don't we start with that giant raft ride? We can all go down together." Rex suggested.

As we approached the front of the line, Kate started freaking out. It was totally unlike her. "Katie, what's wrong?" Garrett asked.

"I can't swim. What if I drown?" She was literally shaking.

"You aren't going to drown. You can't. You're a vampire. Second, the water is really shallow at the end so you can just walk out of there." Rex assured.

"Okay, but don't let go of me." She told Garrett. As the ride went down she screamed at the top of her lungs throughout the decent. It was kind of weird seeing tough Katie, who could shock the shit out of you with one touch, so unraveled. At the end of the ride, she was hyperventilating. Garrett had to pick her up and carry her out. Katie didn't go on any more water rides after that. She opted to sit out most of the rides. After awhile, I got sick of the rides so I waited with her. I suggested we go to the lazy river and just float down it. Of course, I got there and discovered that as vampires, we just sink to the bottom of the lazy river. Oops. That was embarrassing. After that, Katie and I went to the kiddie pool and waded in there instead.

"So, how come you don't know how to swim?" I asked. "You've lived for over a thousand years."

"Bella, what do you know about the treatment of women in the time I grew up in?" Katie questioned.

"Let me think. Well, you were born in the middle of the medieval era or what is commonly called the dark ages. Poverty ran rampant in Europe. Women were considered chattel rather than human beings. Most girls were married off as soon as their menses started at thirteen or fourteen. Women had to keep their hair covered as a sign of submission to men and in many parts of Europe, wives could be sold just like a sow."

"You're very intelligent, Bella. I like that about you. Now, when you look at me, Irina, and Tanya. What do you notice about the three of us?"

"Your beauty and..." I had to think hard on this question. "...your age. You three would have been considered spinsters. Well, not so much Tanya because she's still in her teens, but at twenty-three and twenty-one, you and Irina would have been considered spinsters."

"Do you think I was a spinster, Bella?"

"Well, I know that Irina was unmarried until she met Laurent, but I never really delved into that part of your history." I replied. "With your beauty, I would assume that you weren't a spinster."

Kate explained her history to me. "You guessed correctly. My husband was a baron so I was comfortable, unlike Irina who had to work as a laundress. My husband, though kind, was very protective of me. A bit like how Jasper is with you. I was never allowed to venture out of the house and my hair was always covered—not as a show of submission, but because he didn't want other men to catch sight of me. He treated me like a porcelain doll and kept me on a pedestal—I wasn't even allowed to answer the door. With a life like that, do you think that I would have had the opportunity to learn how to swim?"

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. In fact, I believe most men from the middle ages didn't know how to swim. Why didn't you learn afterwards? You've had a thousand years."

"I never really had the opportunity. I've always lived in areas with colder climates. Eastern Europe and Alaska aren't really conducive to nautical pursuits."

"I suppose not." I said. "I swam from the time I was three years old—mainly because my mother loved the water so much. I can teach you." I offered.

"Thank you, I'd like that very much." Kate said. "Let's go find everyone else and head back to the hotel."

A few hours later, everyone had gathered in Jasper and my hotel suite.

"It says here that we have to order our costumes at the Visitor Center by 5pm in order for them to be ready in the morning." Garrett was reading from the brochure.

"We aren't really walking around in that colonial garb, are we?" Tanya asked. "Once was enough—Katie and I lived through it."

"Aw...come on, Tanya, role playing can be fun." Rex said.

"We can dress as farmer's wives or the merchant class, their outfits are more comfortable." Kate suggested.

"I am not dressing as a farmer's wife!" Tanya humphed.

"Alright, let's just get down there and order our costumes. We need to drive into the city after to a spray tanning salon." Rex said. "I felt so pasty at Water Country."

"Rex, you are pasty. You're a fucking vampire!" Jasper exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, I don't have to look like I've been dunked in a vat of flour. I want to see if the spray tanning works. I made appointments for all of us. We stuck out like sore thumbs today."

We were all going to protest, but an exasperated Tanya, rolled her eyes and said, "Just do it—you know how image conscious Rex is."

Four hours later, our costumes were ordered and we all had sprayed on tans. "I kind of like it." Tanya said. "I feel more human."

"They actually don't look bad." Jasper commented.

Everyone seemed to like their new tans, I was the only one that felt weird. I was actually darker now than when I was human. I was so pale when I was human that after my transformation, you couldn't even detect a difference in my skin tone. Rex, who had been meticulous about keeping his body tanned as a human, was visibly different after his change. Jasper said that he was tan as a human from working in the Texas sun. I licked my lips visualizing that.

_**The next morning...**_

We were at the Visitor's Center picking up our costume rentals. "Excuse me, ma'am. I need a Continental Army uniform with white facing. This uniform has red facing. I'm not from Virginia, I served in a regiment from Massachusetts Bay Colony." Garrett argued.

The people running the costume rental area stared aghast at Garrett. "I'm sorry sir, they only come with red facing. I didn't know that uniforms came with white facing." One brave employee said.

Garrett stared at her like she was insane. He was about to say something, but Rex and Jasper grabbed him and the uniform and shoved him into a changing room. With our vampire hearing, we could hear them telling him that he was about to blow our cover and actually sounded delusional considering it's the 21st century rather than the 18th century. "We have states now, Garrett, we're no longer the Massachusetts Bay Colony." Jasper said. "Just play the role of a soldier from Virginia and deal with it."

The woman handed the rest of us our costumes. Kate was going to dress like a middling woman. Tanya and I were going to dress as gentry women. I always wanted to try on one of those fancy costumes so I was totally excited. Kate and Tanya were able to throw their costumes on right away. I found myself staring at all the pieces wondering what goes on first.

"Um, excuse me." I called out from the dressing area. "I have no idea what goes on first."

One of the female employees approached me. "I'm actually surprised that no one else asked for help. Everyone needs help with their costumes. Put your stockings on first." She instructed. Kate and Tanya appeared and said that they would take over helping me dress.

"Take your bra off Bella." Kate instructed. "They didn't have those back then and it'll be super uncomfortable once you put your stays on. Throw your shift on first."

"Wait a minute, how many motherfucking layers are there. I feel like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. You can probably roll me out of here after this." I complained.

I heard Jasper and Garrett chuckling from their dressing room. They were helping Rex with his outfit. He was actually dressing up as landed gentry.

After Tanya and Katie had me laced up like a Christmas roast, we finally left the costume shop. We had yet to wait on Jasper. He finally came out dressed like a British soldier, Garrett immediately saw red. Jasper had his camera ready and snapped a shot of Garrett's face which looked like the Tasmanian Devil on steroids. He smirked at Garrett and as soon as we left the Visitor's Center and got to a secluded area of Colonial Williamsburg, the two started arguing.

"You fucking traitor! How dare you dress like the enemy in front of me!" Garrett seethed.

"Hey, I can dress however the fuck I want. This is a living history museum not a reenactment. Besides, the red coat looks better than your blue one." Jasper smirked.

"It figures you're dressed as a fucking Red Coat. You always fight for the losing side, don't you. Remember that the Confederates lost to our Union in the Civil War." Garrett snapped.

Oh fuck. Not good. Not good at all. That was a low blow.

"You motherfucker!" Slam! Jasper's fist landed on Garrett's jaw. Garrett, not missing a beat, punched Jasper square on the nose. The two were brawling behind some sort of historical house. Soon a crowd gathered and we noticed tourists snapping photos. Rex, Tanya, Kate, and I stepped in to break up the fight.

"Husband!" I yelled to Jasper, trying to role play. "You must not fight in public. The consequences of provoking a soldier of the Continental Army could be quite severe."

Jasper noticed a camera flash and stopped. "Sorry, darlin'" He said. "I kinda lost my mind there."

"Hey that British soldier has a southern drawl." An observant kid pointed out.

"The man is a Loyalist—he supports the King." Garrett announced.

I yanked Jasper's arm and got us the fuck out of there. The others were right behind us. "Those people thought we were actors in the living history museum." I said. "You two have to get a grip. We are in the 21st century, all you're doing is walking around in costume. No one gives a fuck what side you were on during either the Revolutionary or Civil Wars. Got it?" I yelled with my hands on my hips. "Well? Answer me!"

"Got it." The two old war horses mumbled.

We walked around the historical village and Garrett explained what everything was. He was a wealth of information and I felt honored to have someone who actually lived through the time explain things to me. We received hands on information from him for everything from the milliners to the blacksmith and public armory. Jasper, Garrett, and Rex all went nuts there. Kate and Tanya were bored stiff for the most part, but I couldn't get enough of this stuff.

They had several actors doing reenactments throughout the day. Garrett was hilarious when he saw the actor playing George Washington. He actually started conversing with him as if he were the real guy. "General Washington, sir. Might I take this opportunity to tell you what an honor it was to serve under your esteemed command."

"Hey, uh, were we supposed to learn new lines?" The guy asked him. Jasper and Rex had to drag Garrett away.

Later in the day, we ran into a scene where an actor portraying Benedict Arnold was giving a speech.

"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" Garrett yelled. The entire audience joined in and started pointing and screaming "traitor" to the poor actor was completely bamboozled and left to regroup immediately. Again, Jasper and Rex dragged Garrett away.

Garrett ended up being escorted out of the historical area for disturbing a reenactment where actors were discussing reasons for and against going to war against the British inside the Raleigh Tavern. He actually interrupted and went on a twenty minute long tirade against the British. The actors were so confused after his rant that they couldn't finish off their scene. Security was called in and Garrett was actually asked to leave the premises. Naturally, we followed him back to the hotel—all of us laughing at how seriously Garrett was taking this.

It was still midday so Jasper and I decided to get into our shorts and do a little sightseeing by ourselves.

"Jasper, I'm really falling in love with this area. Virginia's a little too sunny for vampires, though, isn't it? I asked.

"I think it might be. I like this place too. Lots of nice trees and the houses in the historic district are beautiful. Hey, I was thinking, how about we go dancing tonight?" He suggested. "You always two-step with Pete, but never with me. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you liked him better than me."

I gave Jasper a deep kiss. "Now, you know that's not true. Hey, do you want to go to the College of William and Mary Bookstore? I heard they have one of those best selections of books on the Civil War—specializing in the Confederacy. You know Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America, don't you?"

"Of course I know that Bella." Jasper scoffed.

"Yeah, well did you know that it's less than an hour's drive at human speed from here?" I smirked.

"That I didn't know. We're definitely going there tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is Wednesday. It's sunny all day. I'm sorry, but you have to spend the entire day making love to me in our hotel room." I winked.

"Oh, baby, I plan on claiming you over and over again tomorrow. You looked so sexy in that Colonial outfit." He drawled. I became aroused instantly. "Not in public, baby, you remember what happened on the plane ride home from Japan."

Oh, hell no, we weren't gonna have a repeat of that. We caused an orgy on an entire jumbo jet flying into New York. I guarantee that there are going to be dozens of unexplained and unplanned pregnancies because of Jasper's projection.

A few hours later, the six of us were at a bar in Williamsburg listening to a country band. Scratch that, Katie, Tanya, and I were enjoying the band, Garrett, Rex, and Jasper were in a backroom playing Texas Hold 'Em with some locals.

"Tell me the reason why Jasper wanted to come here again?" Tanya asked.

"Apparently, he wanted me to two-step with him because I go with Pete once a week and he thought he deserved some attention." I said, sarcastically.

"Those fuckers have been in there for four hours. Do you realize that it's one am already?" Katie pointed out.

"You fucking cheated man!" Garrett yelled. "I saw you switching a card! Have you no honor?"

"I don't cheat, ever! Hey, Roger, have you ever seen me switching a card?"

"You were fucking bottom dealing asshole." Rex accused Roger.

"Who the fuck are you accusing of bottom dealing? You northerners come into town and always think you know everything." Roger ranted. "Fucking Yankees!"

Did that asshole just call Jasper a Yankee? Oh my fuck. My husband's gonna go on a rampage. Holy hell.

"Ten bucks that Jasper's gonna lose his shit and throw the first punch!" Katie wagered.

"You're on! I think he can control himself." Tanya challenged.

Personally, my money was on Katie.

"Who the fuck are you calling a damn Yankee, boy?" Jasper growled in a southern drawl and he sounded scary as fuck and damn it—I was aroused by it. I'm so fucked in the head.

In an instant, we heard the sound of bottles breaking from the room they were playing poker in. "OH FUCK!" The three of us gasped. We heard furniture breaking and the sound of fist hitting marble.

Less than five minutes later, the police were on scene. Three men and three vampires were being led out in handcuffs. "Come and bail us out. I should have enough cash in the hotel safe. The passcode is your human birthday." Jasper instructed in a whisper.

"Aaaagggghhhh! I think my hand is broken!" One of those guys screamed.

"My foot feels like it's shattered!" Another guy said as he toppled over. He must have kicked one of the guys and toppled over.

"Alright, we need to take these wusses to the hospital and book them there." One of the cops said.

Tanya, Katie, and I hightailed it back to the hotel. "Motherfucker! I can't believe this shit happened. We have to bail them out before daylight—tomorrow's gonna be completely sunny." I stated.

I grabbed the cash out of the safe. Tanya and Katie grabbed their own cash too.

Katie went into the police station and bailed the men out while I sat and called Emmett from

the car. I asked him to wipe Jasper, Garrett, and Rex's records clean. Geez! At this point, out of the six of us, Katie was the only one that hadn't gone to jail in the past year. I'm leading the pack with two arrests.

We got back to the hotel room and Jasper started apologizing to me.

"Why?" I asked. "I'm not even close to mad. Those fuckers seemed like sneaky shits to me anyway and calling you a Yankee was a low blow. Anyone can tell by your accent that you're from down south. So, um, who threw the first punch?" I asked.

"I did." Jasper said sheepishly.

"Hah! You owe me ten bucks Tanya!" We heard Katie yell from her hotel room.

"They had a little wager going after he called you a Yankee." I said.

It was already 5:30 am and the sun was blaring through the windows. I rushed to shut the curtains, lest any humans caught sight of our sparkly asses.

"I believe you said that I needed to make love to you all day today, darlin'." My mate drawled. Oh heaven and hell, that accent gets me each and every time.

"You said something about claiming me over and over again, Major?" I said, trying to appear nonchalant. My arousal was at an all time high. I wanted to jump him.

"Strip, Bella." My mate ordered.

Oh, hell, yeah. I think I'll just have to submit to my Major today.

_**One week later...**_

**Peter's POV**

"Wait a minute, so you're saying that some bozo actually had the nerve to call our Major a Yankee to his face?" I asked my best friend.

"Yep, he called him a northerner and a Yankee to his face and Jasper completely lost it. The thing is, with Jasper's accent, how could anyone possibly think of him as anything, but a southerner? His accent was thicker than the dipshits that were taunting him. Oh, and the fuckers were trying to cheat our guys at Texas Hold 'Em too." Bella was updating me with news from their trip to Williamsburg.

I chuckled hearing that. You can insult a Texan, you can insult his truck, hell, you can even insult his woman to an extent, but don't ever call him a Yankee. Doubly so for Jasper because he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

"Hey, baby girl, do you think we can figure out a way to get to Texas together? I want to do a little more research into my history. I can't do it without you—I ain't good at that historical research stuff. That's probably why I majored in mechanical engineering."

"About that, Pete. I found out an interesting tidbit. It seems as though the Department of Engineering required that every student donate a copy of their thesis to the engineering library at the university. I bet we can find it if we can get there."

"I've got to get there. That's the only way we can find out my human last name. We have to check the archives in person—it seems as though every other guy was named Peter in my time. No matter what it is—I plan on remaining a Whitlock though. I can't imagine any other last name that would suit me." I said.

"We're gonna have to scour through the university archives, the files of all the fraternities on campus at that time, plus military records. We also have to go to Port Author." Bella contemplated. "The thing is, I don't know how Char and Jasper would feel about us taking a trip together. Maybe we should bring them along."

I sighed. "I don't want to bring them along. I just think that we can get a lot more done without them. Char's been getting jealous about us hanging out and Jasper says he isn't, but I know he is. He just has a tighter hold on his shit cause he's afraid that you might run again."

"Yeah, I know. Before I left tonight, Char showed up at our place and suggested to Jasper that they go out since you and I were bent on ignoring them. I just told them to have fun and I left. I trust them both." She said.

I held my hand out and pulled Bella up to dance. Dancing always helped me forget my troubles. Char had moved in with me into my apartment. She and I had turned a new leaf. It took many sessions of us just talking and we reached an understanding. Now that we weren't sleeping with other couples, her jealous side was coming out. She couldn't understand why I needed to hang out with Bella alone. I tried explaining to her that having friends outside of our marriage was important. Char tried to tell me that I already had Jasper. Well, fuck, I can't two-step with Jasper, that would be a little gay. I think she was a little jealous that Bella and I had forged the friendship that Char had initially wanted with her.

I was twirling Bella around on the dance floor and we were trying to come up with a way to get to Texas when she was suddenly pulled from my arms. At the same time, I found Char in mine with Rose and Emmett dancing alongside us. Damn it! They found us. Why couldn't those fuckers understand that this was Bella and my downtime. I looked over at my best friend and she looked just as irritated as I felt.

"So, why the fuck would you two be planning a trip to Texas without us?" Char asked. You could tell she was more than just annoyed.

"Did you guys follow us?" Bella asked with her hands crossing her chest. She had stopped dancing and was walking back to our table. I did the same. Rose and Emmett remained on the dance floor.

"No, the four of us heard that this place was pretty good so we just thought we'd check it out. That still doesn't explain why you and my husband were talking about running off to Texas together. Are you two fucking?" Char turned to Bella with her hands on her hips looking like a pissed off barracuda.

"No, Char, we aren't. Why the fuck would I need to sleep with Peter? I know who I am and I know who my mate is and I'm happy with him. I don't need another man in my bed." Bella snapped back. That was a low blow meant to hurt Char, but at this juncture, she deserved it. I wasn't entirely sure that Char didn't follow us. Like I said, she's been insanely jealous of our friendship.

"I'm sorry, I need to interject here." Jasper said. "We really were just checking this place out. We had no idea that you two were here. Just put yourselves in our shoes. How would you feel if you walked in and unintentionally overheard your mates talking about taking a secret trip to Texas?"

He was right. I had to tell them. "Bella and I want to go to Texas to research my history. I recalled a few tidbits that could help me unveil my past. For example, I'm from Port Arthur and I majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas. If we could go there, we can get into the archives and figure it all out. You know how good Bella is at research."

"That's great, Pete, but I just can't understand why you two need to go alone." Jasper said.

"We don't need to go alone. Bella even suggested that we bring you two along. It's just that we'd get a lot more done without the two of you with us."

"How about if we compromise. I need to check on my properties in Houston and Dallas. Char mentioned wanting to make sure that your house in Houston was still intact. Why don't we go do that while you and Bella go to Austin and Port Arthur to do your research? I'd feel better knowing we were in the same state." Jasper suggested.

It sounded reasonable to me. Bella blinked her eyes at me indicating that she agreed. "Sounds great. Let's go dance." I said and pulled Char onto the dance floor. I noticed that Bella and Jasper remained seated. They were having a discussion about him following her. Like me, she didn't trust that Char and Jasper were just coincidentally here. Unlike me, though, Bella was having it out with Jasper.

"Peter and I go out once a week and you had the fucking nerve to intrude. You just couldn't let us have our time together, could you?" She said.

"I fucking told you that it's just coincidence that we're here. Char told me about this place after she came over and it sounded like a cool spot. Rose and Em stopped by so the four of us decided to check it out." Jasper defended.

So it was Char. I fucking knew it.

"Well, I'm going home." Bella stated "I'll see you guys later. With that, Bella left leaving a sulking Jasper behind.

Later at home, I talked to my mate. "Char, you tell me the truth now. Did you know that Bella and I were going to be here? If you did, you need to own up to Bella. You're causing them to fight unnecessarily."

"Yes." She admitted. "I just can't understand why we can't go out as a foursome."

"We can, but Bella and I need time to talk. We unwind together. We're like each other's therapists. She doesn't get upset when you and Jasper hang out. Neither do I. Why the double standard?" I asked.

"I'm jealous, I guess. You used to want to sleep with her so badly. You talk to her about things that you can't talk to me about and I just can't understand why!" Char sobbed.

"If you feel so strongly about me hanging out with Bella, then I won't." I said. I didn't know what I was going to do without my best friend, but if it was going to cause this much turmoil in my marriage then I wouldn't hang out with Bella anymore.

About a half an hour later, Jasper showed up at our apartment. "Hey, bro. What's up?" I asked.

"She left again. I got home and she was gone. She turned her cell phone off and left a note telling me not to follow the pull or try to scent her out. She said she'd be back by Sunday. Why the fuck won't she believe me? I really had no idea that you two would be there. My chest hurts." Jasper looked completely forlorn.

I glared at Char. Her actions caused a setback in Jasper and Bella's relationship. "Tell him, Charlotte!" I ordered.

Charlotte owned up to the truth. She told Jasper everything. He was too upset to be pissed off at her and like Bella said, he had a tendency to put the blame on his shoulders when it came to Charlotte. My mate was upset too. Clearly, this was a consequence that she didn't foresee. Charlotte may be jealous of Bella, but she loved her at the same time. She didn't want to see Bella or Jasper hurt.

"Shouldn't we go look for her?" Char asked.

"Oh sure, that'll help." I said, sarcastically. "She's already pissed that you two followed us. If we go looking for her now, it'll breech her trust even more."

I threw a bottle of Patron to Jasper. He drained it. "We're gonna have to wait until Sunday. It's only four days away."

_**Saturday night...**_

Char and I were hibernating in our apartment when there was a knock on the door. We both detected the scent right away and bolted up to open the door. It was Bella.

"I just got back. I wanted to drop this off to you." She didn't set foot in our apartment. She just handed me two manila envelopes that were stuffed to the hilt. "I have to go."

Bella turned and walked away from our door. "Bella!" Char bolted out in her bare feet to catch her. "I just wanted to apologize. It was my fault that we showed up at the bar that night. I overheard you and Pete talking on the phone and I became jealous. Jasper had no idea. You can go out with Peter whenever you want—you really can. I won't interfere with your friendship."

Bella nodded her head in acknowledgment and left without saying a word.

I opened up one envelope and it contained my thesis. I set it aside, fully intending to take a look at it later. The second envelope was more involved. It contained everything from my birth certificate to death certificate, college transcripts, fraternity membership certificate, military records, information about my human family—my last name was Piper? Who the fuck names their kid Peter when their last name is Piper? I must have been the laughing stock of the school. It appeared I was the youngest of three boys—my eldest brother was named Lord and the second eldest was Pied. There was a little post it attached from Bella that read, "I think we know that your sense of humor came from your parents."

No shit! Lord, Pied, and Peter Piper? What the hell kind of parents did I have?

I delved further into the envelope and pulled out a photograph of a beautiful brunette woman with long wavy hair named Betty Sue. There was a marriage certificate attached to it. It was mine. She was my wife from when I was human. I tried to reach back into my memory, but I couldn't remember her at all. I was devastated. I pulled out another photo—several in fact. It was of me holding a little baby girl with the most precious brown doe eyes that I'd ever seen. There was a birth certificate attached to it. She was born in 1936 and her name was Helen. There were pictures of me playing with her until she was about four years old. After my death, Betty Sue never remarried. There was a photo of a large, oversized marble tombstone. Ironically, the engraving on the tombstone read, "Peter and Betty Sue Piper: Our hearts are entwined for eternity."

Char had venom tears in her eyes. "They were beautiful Peter—your wife and your baby girl."

Bella had even researched Helen's history. Helen was intelligent. She had graduated at the top of her class at the University of Texas with a degree in elementary education in 1958. From then, she met and married a Geoffrey Swan from Forks, Washington. Swan? Forks? What the fuck?

Helen and Geoffrey Swan gave birth to one son, Charles in 1963. Charles in turn had two children by two different women. One Riley Peter Swan in 1982 and an Isabella Marie Swan in 1987. Motherfucker! Riley and Bella were my great-grandbabies!

Char gasped. So did I. We both stared at each other for the longest time. "Thank fuck! You never slept with Bella, Pete. That would be, um, gross."

No kidding. Now that I knew that Riley and Bella were my direct descendants, I ain't ever letting either of them go. I also knew where both of them got their stunning, good looks from. Yep, that was all from me, baby! I gathered up all of the paperwork and threw them back into the manila envelope. I grabbed Char's hand and we ran to Jasper and Bella's. We knocked, but there was no answer. The door was unlocked so we walked inside.

"Pete, maybe now isn't a good time. I think they're making up." Char said. Sure enough, I could hear the two of them going at it like rabbits.

My cock was suddenly rock hard, the fucking empath was projecting. I ripped Char's clothes off, then mine, and took her on the coffee table in the living room. She was screaming my name in ecstasy a few minutes later. Jasper and Bella came running down the stairs.

"Ew!" Bella uttered, when she saw our naked forms. She ran upstairs and grabbed some clothes for the two of us.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?" Jasper asked. He was clearly perturbed by our abrupt visit.

I plastered a smile on my face and handed Jasper the envelope. You, my dear Major, are my great-grandson-in-law and your wife is my great-grandbaby.

"Huh?" Jasper asked, completely confused.

"I haven't told him yet. Actually, he doesn't even know where I've been." Bella admitted. "Maybe we can sit down on the sof...what happened to the sofa and the coffee table?"

Char cleared her throat. "They didn't withstand the durability test."

"Okay, so we'll sit at the dining table." Bella said. She then started explaining what she was up to the last few days. "I flew to Texas. I have no idea why, but I needed a destination and the first flight out of Logan Airport was to Austin, Texas. I had to keep my mind off of things so I decided to delve into Peter's past. What I found completely blew my mind. Peter is actually my Grandma Helen's daddy." She said.

"Let me get this straight, your Grandma Helen was your daddy's mama, right?" Jasper asked. "She was Pete's biological daughter, which means your daddy was Pete's grandson."

"Yep, daddy was Pete's only grandson. I wish they could have met. You would have liked him, Pete, he had a wry sense of humor—not over the top like Grandma Helen. Anyway, that means that Peter is Riley and my great-grandfather." Bella said.

"Holy hell!" Jasper gasped. "We have to go tell Riley."

"Yeah, we probably should." I said. "Let's go now."

We hopped into Bella's truck and drove north to New Hampshire. Everyone was sitting around watching TV. We turned the TV off and called a family meeting. The shock on Riley's face was palpable. He ran up to me and gave me a great big hug. I took a good look at him and noticed a lot of similar features between me and him—the blond hair, the shit-eating grin, everything.

I looked at Riley, then at Bella. We were a real family. They were of my bloodline. Not only that, but Bella had my venom running through her veins. I felt complete for the first time since I became a vampire. I felt whole.

**Jasper's POV**

Peter is Bella's great-granddaddy. Gadzooks. Now, I'm really related to the fucker by marriage. This certainly solved the issue of Char being jealous of them going out. She couldn't object to their relationship now. Neither could I for that matter.

I still hadn't addressed the issue of Bella not trusting me, though. She flat out didn't believe me when I told her that it was purely coincidental that we ran into them at the bar. I couldn't blame her though—it really looked suspicious and after Char admitted that she did follow them, it's no wonder that she didn't trust me. Reality was that Bella and I still had some lingering issues to work on.

I looked around the house and everyone was settling back into their routines. I noticed that Bella wasn't downstairs so I went in search of her. She was in Rose's room sobbing. I could hear Rose trying to comfort her.

"I'm having so much trouble trusting him not to follow me, Rose. This time, he didn't, though. Char told me that it was all her idea because she was jealous of me and Peter hanging out. The question is, do I believe her." Bella cried.

"I think you need to give Jasper the benefit of the doubt. He's really been trying, Bella." Rose advised. "Char has so many issues, it's just like her to pull something like this and fuck up something that was going well and you're right, Jasper always forgives Char for her transgressions. It's a motherfucking double standard."

"I hate this so much. This whole marriage and mating thing is so much work. Sometimes, I feel like giving it all up and living as a recluse for the rest of my life." Bella sobbed. "I wasn't ready to get married, Rose. He took that choice away from me. The whole mating thing—that's fucked up, too. We can't choose when we meet our mates. I wanted a few more years!"

"Shh...Bella. Shh...shh...shh...it's going to all work out. You love Jasper with all your heart." Rose comforted. "I know that you weren't ready to be mated or married, but those are the cards you were dealt and you just have to play along. Remember what Sushmita told you? You need to accept Jasper fully and you need the balance that he provides for you. Without him, a part of you just dies."

Bella started bawling uncontrollably. I wanted to run in and comfort her, but then they would know that I was eavesdropping.

I walked to our room and shut the door. I sat on our bed and contemplated what I had just heard. She wanted a few more years to live life. She feels stifled by being mated and married. I take the entire blame for the marriage part, I forced her into it when she wasn't ready. I truly believe that after we finish off our master's degrees next year, Bella just needs to take a break to live life. She's worked way too hard her entire life. How else could she turn up all that information for Peter in a matter of two days?

Bella came into the room a few minutes later looking like she had been run through the spin cycle of the washing machine. "I'm gonna go relax in the tub, Jasper." She grabbed a book and shut the bathroom door behind her. I could hear her sobbing alone as she bathed. I couldn't take it anymore. I could feel all of her angst and it was physically painful for me to feel it.

"Jasper!" Bella cried out. "I need you."

"I'm coming, baby." I called and walked into the bathroom. I grabbed a towel and dried her off. Then, I picked her up, sat back down on the bed, and cradled her. I shoved all the love I felt for her at her.

"Jasper, I'm sorry for running." She said. "I fucked up. I should have trusted you when you said that you didn't know we were at the bar. I thought you were being possessive and following me again."

"I'm sorry, too, babe. I'm sorry you feel so stifled. I'm sorry that I forced you to marry me without your consent. Mating and marriage is new to me, too. It's difficult at best. All I can tell you is that we'll take it day by day."

"I'm sorry I've been so pissy lately, Jasper. I still have a lot of issues to work out. It's been a stressful year."

"Bella, you've had more crap thrown onto your shoulders in one year than most people get in a lifetime. In a year when you should have been taken care of because you were a newborn, you spent the year dealing with other people's bullshit. They should have had a little more empathy. I should have taken the fact that you were still a newborn no matter how controlled you were into account too. You just need to take it easy. I want you, no I'm ordering you to take at least a year off next year off after we get our master's degrees. You've been on Earth for less than a quarter of a century, you're still a baby by my standards and you need to just take a little time and be selfish instead of trying to tackle everyone else's problems."

"You could say the same about yourself, Jasper. You need to stop shouldering the blame for other people's actions."

"You're probably right." I kissed my beautiful wife on the lips.

"Go ahead, Jasper."

"Go ahead with what?" I asked.

"I know you want to scent me."

I did. She had washed my scent off in the tub and she was perfectly naked. I decided to take advantage of the fact that she gave me permission to scent her and started. Bella threw her iPod on. I couldn't help, but laugh. She was listening to Brad Paisley's 'Ticks'.

An hour later, we joined the others in the living room. Pete and Emmett were teaching everyone how to two-step. The furniture was cleared out of the way and there was country music blaring as everyone attempted to learn how to dance southern style.

Vicky came to grab me and had me dance with her. She was a pro. "How do you know how to two-step, V?" I asked.

"Seriously, Jasper? How long did I live in Texas? Even in Maria's army, we let loose and danced every now and then."

"Good point." I said.

Bella was being twirled around by Edward who picked up the moves immediately. He always had good rhythm and was light on his feet. It dawned on me that I still had never two-stepped with Bella. I'll have to dance with her next. I'm just happy that she was more relaxed now. We were all having a merry ol' time when the doorbell rang.

Who the heck would be ringing our doorbell at 10pm on a Saturday night? Carlisle went to answer the door with Em, Riley, and I flanking him. He opened the door and a familiar, blonde vampire stood behind it.

"Jasper, I've been looking all over for you." She said in her sultry voice and ran up to give me a deep kiss on my lips. "Where've you been, lover? It's been over a year."

Fuck! This is all I need now. My mate was already on edge. I didn't need any of my former flames showing up.

I looked over to my wife whose jaw had dropped to the ground. Edward had a comforting arm around her shoulder. Rose was glaring at me with her hands on her hips. Mike and Amanda both looked ready to kill.

"Holy shit, the ultimate whore lives." Char muttered. Char's had a few dealings with Amber in the past. Char may have been loose, but she did it with her mate's permission. Amber was just a whore through and through.

"Ahem." Carlisle cleared his throat. "Aren't you going to introduce your friend to us, Jasper?"

"Um, this is Amber. Amber this is my family." I said quickly, not wanting to delve into specifics.

My former lover had her arms wrapped around my neck and I heard her whisper. "Lover, do you have a room we can go to? I want to make love to you all night long."

Alice confronted her with her hands across her chest. "Yes, Jasper has a room. It's upstairs and he shares it with his wife—who, I can't believe I'm saying this, but who has way better taste in clothes than you! At least she doesn't wear rayon!"

Amber chuckled. "Oh, you've got to be Alice. I thought you divorced her six years ago so we could finally be together, lover?"

"Jasper? Were you cheating on me while we were married?" Alice was resonating nothing, but hurt.

I couldn't utter a word. Nothing. I just hung my head in shame with Amber still hanging on me.

Bella grabbed Alice and pulled her into a comforting hug. "You didn't deserve to get cheated on Alice." She cooed. "No one does. It's obvious the bitch is a skank."

Alice sobbed into Bella's arms. That was a sight I thought I'd never see, but they were a united front in this. United against me.

"Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are calling me a bitch and a skank?" Amber seethed. "I don't even know who the fuck you are?"

"I apologize. I failed to introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Jasper Whitlock—you must be Amber Bitch Skank." Bella snapped. "Now, kindly remove your person from my husband before I remove you from him one limb at a time!"

"Oh, Jasper, you got married again? Tut, tut, tut. When are you going to stop getting duped? No matter, I'm still here for you, lover." Amber ran her finger from my lips down to my waistband.

Alice was now crying in Mike's arms. He was glaring at me. Correction, everyone was glaring at me with a look of disgust. Bella looked like she was ready to start ripping Amber apart.

I moved Amber behind me in a protective measure. The hurt look in Bella's eyes when I did that was palpable. Venom tears pooled in Bella's eyes as she backed away from me. Amber moved back to face me, then Bella, with a smug expression on her face. I looked back at Bella and the angry look she had on her face had turned to one of defeat. I think I just fucked up to epic proportions.

Irina and Carlisle pulled Bella into their arms. They fixed me with murderous expressions. Laurent, Riley, and Peter instantly moved in front of them—blocking my access to the woman that I had just betrayed.

Vicky who had been hiding in the corner, suddenly made an appearance. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Amber Putain. I thought I told you never to show your face in front of me again. Did you forget the last lesson I taught you, pet?"

Amber clutched her neck and yelped at the sight of Victoria. She buried her face in my chest looking for comfort. I let my arms dangle to my sides. "Take your hands off of Jasper and answer me, pet. Did you forget the last lesson I taught you?"

"No, no. I swear. I haven't been near James in eight years." Amber said.

Victoria narrowed her eyes at her. "If I can recall, I taught you that lesson about twelve years ago, but you said that you haven't seen James in eight years. Clearly, the lesson didn't sink in. Would you repeat the words that I said were to be your mantra?"

Amber started shaking. Vicky took her fingers and sunk them into a prominent bite mark near Amber's collarbone. Amber started screaming and was on her knees in an instant. "Now, pet, say your mantra out loud!" Jesus Christ! How many fucking pets does Vicky have? I'm actually pretty terrified of her, right now.

"I...I...w...will...n...not...c...c...covet...a...another...w...woman's...m...m...man." She managed to get out.

Vicky had Amber in a choke hold and she was whispering into her ear from behind her. "I didn't get that, pet, you weren't clear enough. I told you the last time that you were always to speak clearly to me."

"I will not covet another woman's man." Amber spoke clearly this time.

Victoria's lethal eyes pierced Amber's terrified ones. "Now, pet, let's go outside and complete your lesson. Hurting me is one thing, but hurting my kid is a completely different matter! I'm gonna fuck your shit up. Captain?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Peter played his role well and saluted Victoria as he approached. Of course, a captain's ranked higher than a lieutenant so why the fuck he was saluting her, I had no idea.

"Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the woods. My pet here needs to be reminded of some lessons I taught her. It appears the Major's balls have recessed back into his pelvis—he might even grow a pussy soon." Victoria smirked.

Peter chuckled at my expense.

Char suddenly interrupted. "No, Peter, you stay here. I have a few words to say to this demon. I clearly recall having told her to stay away from you and Jasper." The two most lethal women in the house dragged Amber out into the woods. I could hear her shrieking, begging me for help.

I looked around the room and everyone was giving me the evil eye. Bella was clearly hurt, so was Alice. Mike picked Alice up and carried her to her room to comfort her.

I tried to approach Bella, but Edward cut me off. "Go near her and you die, motherfucker! Why the hell couldn't you just tell that whore straightaway that Bella was your mate and wife? How the hell could you let her kiss you and hang all over you in front of your wife, in front of your family? Why the hell did you move to protect Amber from Bella?"

I had no answer for him. All I could tell him was, "I was in shock. I never expected to see her again."

Rosalie approached me and slapped me across the face. "You know, she trusted you with her heart, but you didn't deserve it." Emmett put his arm around her and took her to their room, but not before shaking his head at me with a look of disappointment on his face.

"Jasper, we need to hunt—now!" Bella ordered.

I followed my mate outside. "I'm sorry, Bella." I apologized. "Truly, I didn't know that she'd come looking for me."

"That's hardly the point, I think." Bella said. "When we ran into Tommy, I introduced you as my husband right away. I'm just wondering why you couldn't do the same thing?"

"I don't know why, Bella. Trust me when I say that Amber means nothing to me. She never meant a thing to me." I cried.

"Still, you told her that you divorced Alice so you could finally be with her." She stated,flatly. "I feel bad for Alice and Amber in this case. Clearly, you've lied to more women than not. I'm sorry Jasper, but I can't trust you anymore." Bella stated. "You need to tie up all of your loose ends. I don't know how many more women you've left hanging out there and you also need to apologize to Alice. No matter how cruel and manipulative Alice was to you, she didn't deserve to get cheated on like that."

"Bella. You have to understand that I love you and only you."

"Yet, you protected Amber from me." She said. She was right, that's exactly what I did. I looked at her resigned face—there was no fight left in her eyes.

I tried to pull Bella into a hug, but she backed away and whispered, "Please, don't touch me Jasper. I'm going back to think. At least have the respect to let me do that on my own."

I decided to go for a hunt, then make my way back. Hopefully, Bella will have calmed her nerves enough to speak to me by then. I got to the house about four hours later. I couldn't smell my wife in the house. "Where's Bella?" I asked.

"Isn't she with you?" Esme asked, concerned.

"She said she was coming back here to think. She never came back?" I questioned.

"No." Everyone said. The worry was apparent in everyone's eyes.

I called my wife's cell. I heard it ringing outside. I went to check where the ringing was coming from. It was coming from the bushes outside of the house where she had tossed the phone. I picked it up and ran all the way back to Cambridge. I ran inside of our house and I got a sick feeling to my gut and felt an incredible pull tugging at my chest. Bella was gone.

**Obviously, Bella was quick to stake her claim and come to Jasper's aid when Amber was hanging all over him. What did you think of Jasper's reaction though? How did you feel about the lame excuses he gave to both Bella and Edward regarding his reaction to Amber? Lastly, what did you think of Peter being Bella and Riley's great-grandfather? I'd love to hear your opinions regarding all the craziness that occurred in this chapter. I love corresponding with all of you and I promise to respond.**


	39. Chapter 39

**This is it everyone! This is the chapter that'll make or break our favorite couple. I'm warning you now that with Jasper and Bella's soul searching will come a ton of angst. It won't all be tear inducing though, hopefully there will be bits in this chapter that'll make you laugh too. I have to thank you for all of your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. Some of you were so passionate in your opinions about what had happened to J and B. I truly enjoyed reading your thoughts and I appreciate all the support you've given me throughout this story. You are all cordially invited to a party hosted by Riley and Mike.**

**Warning: This chapter is long, very long. You might want to use the potty before you start reading it or, better yet, bring your laptop along with you to the potty.**

**This story is AU/OOC. **

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Jasper's POV**

_Dear Family,_

_By the time you receive this note, I'll be long gone. Hopefully all of you, especially Jasper, have enough respect not to follow me. I'm sorry it's come to this, but Amber was the last straw. Clearly, Jasper and I have a lot of issues that we have to deal with individually. I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but I'm taking a year off from Harvard. I need time to think without anyone influencing me. I only wish to find internal peace before all of this turmoil drives me over the edge. I won't go anywhere near Texas or Mexico. Rose expressed her concerns to me about that area earlier. I don't want to cause anyone any unnecessary worry. I'll also check my email messages once a day so if any of you need to contact me, you know how to get in touch with me._

_With Love,_

_Isabella Marie Swan_

The letter arrived two days after she left. She signed it using her maiden name. It was addressed to the Cullen Family and arrived in Amherst. It was sent from the airport in Boston so we couldn't trace her. Bella had covered her tracks well. Before she left, she had taken cash out of our bedroom safe so she didn't have to use any credit cards. She only took twenty thousand dollars with her. I was deeply concerned for her safety. The other issue freaking me out was that she left with her backpack and hiking boots. What if she's living as a nomad all by herself? All I know is that I'm dying on the inside. I can't live without my mate.

_**Two years later...**_

**Bella's POV**

"I'd like a pint of bitter please." The man from across the counter asked. I pulled him a pint and he put his money down. I was working, under the table, at a pub in London. I didn't want to risk going to Jenks for documents. I didn't want my family to find me. The time away from them was doing me a world of good—I think.

The elderly pub owner and his wife liked me. They lived above the pub and I lived in a tiny room at the back of the pub. In exchange for keeping the pub spotless, the owner let me live rent free. He generously allowed me to eat anything in the pub, but being a vampire, I didn't need any of his food. I was also able to take a shower daily, upstairs in the owner's house. I did my best to get in and out of there really quick. I didn't want to disrupt their home life.

I wasn't too concerned about money. After buying my coach class plane ticket and replacing a few pieces of my wardrobe as they wore out here and there, I still had close to nineteen thousand dollars left. I lived mostly off of my wages and tips from the pub. I was actually able to save most of that, too.

I was enjoying the independence of being on my own. For the first time ever, I was able to make decisions knowing that, whether it was right or wrong, it was my decision. I heard from the family everyday through emails so I knew what was going on with them. Apparently, Vicky and Riley and Peter and Char had renewed their wedding vows in two separate ceremonies. They sent me tons of photos from both ceremonies. Edward and Amanda were still in love and still having sex all over the house. I chuckled at that thought. Mike and Alice had gotten engaged. Amber showing up had made Alice realize how horribly fucked up her marriage to Jasper really was. She actually emailed me and said that she and Jasper had done a lot of talking and realized how they were both very much at fault for the toxicity level in their marriage. Alice also apologized for not valuing my life when I was human. She said that she couldn't imagine life without me to email everyday. Apparently, my leaving was therapeutic to her because she was finally communicating honestly with someone on a weekly basis. Emmett and Rose were the same as always. Out of everyone, I missed Rose the most. She'd write to me everyday—sometimes happy, other times sad, still, at other times she was pissed off at me for abandoning her with our fucked up family. Riley and Pete were the other two family members that I missed. Riley was about to begin his third and final year of medical school. I was so proud of him. Pete was getting to know his great-grandson, but he completely missed his great-granddaughter who he said was also his best friend. I missed Pete too—tremendously. I'm glad that I was able to find that information for him. I think it gave him a lot of closure.

I still remember freaking out completely when I discovered that Grandma Helen was Pete's daughter. I photocopied all of information as fast as I could then hightailed it to the airport so I could give Pete the information. I, then, went home in order to give Peter time to look through the paperwork himself.

Laurent checked in with me weekly. He had an ingenious way of keeping tabs on me. I had to email him a weekly exercise log outlining what I did to keep physically active for the week. I thought it was pretty smart of him, this way he knew I was safe without really prying into my personal life.

Vicky, knowing how much I enjoy reading, sent an eBook attatched to her email once a week. I couldn't help, but think about how much I missed her. Although she could be a bit overbearing, Vicky was there for me through thick and thin. She cared for me after every heartbreak in my life and she would simply hold me if that's what I needed. I wished so much that I could crawl into her loving arms and let her take care of me right now.

Irina, Katie, and Garrett were due to begin their final year of college. Edward, Amanda, and Tanya were about to start their junior year of high school. Edward was working at a supermarket bagging groceries. He was having a blast in high school this time around. Amanda and Tanya were both cheerleaders and Edward was the star of the basketball team.

Char decided not to go back to school. She surmised that she hated school when she was human so why the heck would that fact change now that she was a vampire. She was working as a salesgirl and instructor at Exotic Erotics. She loved the job because every time a new sex toy came on the market, all of the employees got to take one home and test it out. I thought it suited her perfectly.

Rex was working as a history and gym teacher at the same high school Vicky was teaching at. Vicky said that all the girls swooned over him and declared him hotter than the guy who played Eric on True Blood.

Eleazar and Carmen had gone back to Denali for a year. They had just recently returned to Amherst. Esme and Carlisle were doing well at work. They were, of course, incredibly worried about me. Esme asked me to come home daily while Carlisle tried his best to appear composed by sending words of encouragement.

When my shift ended, I decided to grab my laptop and go to an internet cafe to check my emails. I turned my laptop on and opened up my emails. As I was about to shut down the laptop and leave, I received an email from my estranged husband who I had heard from, but had never written back to in two years.

_Dear Bella,_

_It's been over two years since we parted ways and I still miss you everyday. I hope to God that you've found the peace that you're looking for. I, for one, can only find peace with you by my side. _

_I'm sorry, Bella. I'm sorry about everything—from our fucked up wedding to my boorish, overprotective ways, but especially for not being completely honest with you. I've apologized to Alice and I've dealt with all of my "friends with benefits." I know I betrayed your trust and I'm begging you for another chance._

_I've written this hundreds of times in the past couple of years, but I really wish you'd come home. I love you, Bella. I love, love, love everything about you—from the way you care about everyone's well being to the way you're a complete lush when you let the whiskey get to you. I hope that wherever you are, you're surrounded by lots of good whiskey, baby._

_Well, darlin', it's time for me to sign off. Happy birthday, Bella. I wish I were with you to celebrate. _

_Eternally yours,_

_Jasper_

I missed him like crazy. I really did. The pull in my chest was crushing, but it was nothing compared to how I felt when he protected Amber. Even though he wrote to me, I never, ever wrote back to him. I was afraid that if I did, I'd go running back to him. What was the harm in that, though? The truth was that I loved him and I was dying to be back in his arms. I needed Jasper like I needed blood to survive.

I found that out the hard way. When I first arrived here, I was living as a nomad. I roamed up and down Britain, day in and day out. Five weeks had passed and I found myself in Manchester, England. I was searching for the Manchester Art Gallery and got lost. I was in a really bad neighborhood called Moss Side and the sun started blaring. I ducked into a crowded pub with really seedy types and I was immediately overcome with bloodlust. I realized that I hadn't hunted since I arrived in England. As soon as it was twilight, I bailed from the pub. Some creep had followed me out and tried to drag me into an alley. He couldn't of course, but by then it was too late. I lost control and ended up dragging him into the alley and draining him. I had slipped.

I knew my eyes were blood red so I ran north into Scotland and hid out in the woods. I made sure I hunted daily until my eyes were back to the familiar gold that I was accustomed to. It took a few weeks, but they got there. It was a cathartic experience. Even though the guy was a bastard intent on raping me, I still took a human life. The guilt was incredible. The shame was even worse. I would never be able to return to my family now. I was a murderer. I spent my weeks in Scotland contemplating what I had done. I was completely irresponsible in not feeding and I realized that I had grown completely dependent on Jasper to remind me to feed. After that, I took Riley's advice that he gave me when I was first changed, to pencil in my hunts and I did—twice weekly, just to make sure. Bloodlust was something I never wanted to feel again. I needed Jasper so badly, then. I just wanted him to hold me and tell me that everything would be okay. I just wanted to feel safe and secure in his arms.

The question is, can I trust him. He says that he's tied up all of his loose ends, but has he really? When he moved to protect Amber, I felt as if I was being stabbed in the heart. I would rather be broken up with by Edward in the woods, repeatedly, than experience that again. Every ounce of trust that we had built up between us was ripped away by that one move. Does he love her more than me? Is Amber someone that he can never give up? He did tell her that he was divorcing Alice so he could be with her. What other lies has he told? Maybe Amber's not as screwed up as I am and Jasper can relax when he's with her. Still, he is my mate and I do love him. I needed to give us another chance—that much I knew.

Maybe it was the fact that it was my birthday, maybe it was me thinking back on that horrific incident, or perhaps it was the fact that I felt so alone—I don't know what it was, but I found myself writing to Jasper.

_Hello Jasper,_

_I miss you. I miss you more than you will ever know. If you'd like, come see me at The King's Arms pub in Baron's Court in London._

_Isabella_

I hit send before I could reread it and erase the email. I hope to God that I did the right thing.

**Jasper's POV**

Death is preferable to life without Bella. I might as well be dead. It's been two years since my wife, my mate, my world left me. I've heard from her indirectly, she sends an occasional email to the others, but never a word to me. At this point, the only thing keeping me alive is the fact that I know she still exists somewhere in this world. I still feel the pull—it's excruciating for me so it has to be just as intense for her.

I tied up all of my loose ends as soon as Bella left. Riley and I talked too. Well, we talked after he beat the shit out of me. We reached the conclusion that most of my possessiveness and trust issues stemmed from my own infidelity to Alice. Another issue was Charlotte. We needed to let go of each other. Sure we didn't sleep together anymore, but we had a seventy history together where she was always there to provide a sexual release, emotional support, everything that Alice was unable to provide for me. Riley concluded that Charlotte was actually more like a wife to me than Alice was. We ended up having group counseling—Peter, Charlotte, Alice and I had weekly powwows with Riley guiding us. Everyone expressed their issues.

Alice declared that at one point she had loved me, but fell out of love with me when she realized that we had nothing in common. She didn't want to lose me, though, because she was afraid of being alone. Char was upset that she no longer had me as a friend and that I didn't need her for support anymore. We both were terrified that Bella and Peter's friendship would turn into something more, something sexual. Of course, now that we knew that Peter was Bella's great-grandfather, those concerns were unfounded. Peter, on the other hand, was afraid of losing Char so he sucked it all in and allowed her and me to continue on with our relationship even though the thought of it killed him.

That's how fucked up we all were and that's what Bella walked into. For the most part, Bella was a victim in all of this. She finally gave her heart and soul over to me and allowed herself to love and trust again after the shit Edward pulled. It turned out that I wasn't ready for her. We all hurt her—well not Peter, but Char, Alice, and I did and we lost her because of it.

The irony was that I fucked her over the most. Why I moved to protect Amber from Bella, I had no idea. Maybe it was over fifty years of being with Amber, I don't know. The fact is that I never really loved Amber. I used her for my own sexual release, but Amber was there as a listening ear for me when I was with Alice—just like Char was. Part of the reason I protected Amber was because I had never seen Bella look so feral. I didn't want anyone to get hurt on my account and I didn't want Bella to have a murder on her hands because of my stupidity. I should have just asked Amber to leave or told her who Bella was to me as soon as she invaded our home. Instead I protected her because we had a history together. That one act of betrayal was worse than the way Edward had dumped Bella in the woods. I basically took all of the trust she had in me and threw it all away. Protecting Amber signified to Bella that Amber was more important to me than she was. She wasn't important to me at all, though. Bella is. Bella is my life and I had to go and fuck it all up. I needed to earn her trust back.

Riley even took responsibility in some way. He said that he and Vicky were extremely protective of her. Bella had wanted to move into an apartment with her friends in her junior year, but they didn't allow her to, fearing for her safety. Irina and Laurent apparently urged them to let her try it, but they just couldn't let go. As a result, she was never allowed any sort of independence so she could grow and think freely. Riley felt that the lack of independence was part of the reason why Bella ran this time and runs whenever she has a problem. She probably felt that talking about anything was fruitless since she wasn't allowed any personal freedom anyway.

I was done with thinking for the day so I decided to check my emails. I didn't really have anything in my inbox so I decided to write something quick to Bella. It was her 26th birthday today and I wanted to at least wish her a happy day. I hit send, then surfed the internet a little. Less than three minutes later, there was a ping notifying me that I had mail. I went back to my email and checked to see who was writing to me—it was Bella.

_**Twenty-four hours later...**_

**Bella's POV**

The pub was insanely crowded. It was Friday night. I was pulling pint after pint and mixing drink after drink for thirsty patrons reveling in the fact that they had the next two days to do nothing, but enjoy the weekend and forget about real life. Lucky. I remember having been in their shoes not too many years ago.

A group of pub crawlers had finally moved on so I wiped the counter down in front of me when I was hit with the most comforting scent in the world—that of my mate.

"What do you recommend?" He asked, looking pointedly at me.

"Eighteen year old single malt Scotch by Highland Park. It's rich, complex, and slightly smoky. Would you like some?" I offered.

"Please." He answered, placing his hand on top of mine. I felt the electricity instantly.

I grabbed a glass and filled it to the top. I wanted to sit and chat with him, but I couldn't. The pub was too crowded and I was filling drink orders for two waitresses, as well as, tending to the customers at the bar. Colin, the owner, was working on the other side doing the same thing.

Jasper sat at the bar observing me while I worked. I stopped by, every now and then, to refill his glass without saying a word. The night finally ended and we shooed everyone out of the pub. Unfortunately, I had to send Jasper out too. The owner of the pub tallied up the night's totals while I mopped the floors and wiped down all of the tables.

"You go on with your husband, love." The owner suggested. "I can finish up in here."

"How did you know he was my husband?" I asked.

"By the way your lonely eyes lit up when he entered the pub and by the way he couldn't take his eyes off of you the whole time you were working. It's the first time since you started working for here that I've seen light in your eyes. He made the darkness disappear. Now, off you go. Enjoy yourself for once. You take tomorrow night off. God knows, you deserve it. You work much too hard for one so young."

"Thank you, Colin." I said, gratefully and left the pub.

As soon as I walked through the doors of the pub, I found myself encased in Jasper's arms. He took in my scent, then my hand, and, surprisingly, entered the tube station at Baron's Court. We took the Piccadilly Line just three stops over to the South Kensington tube station. We walked a few blocks over to a majestic looking building and took the elevator up to the penthouse. Jasper opened the front door with his key.

I was afraid to walk inside, for some reason, so I peered my head in and scanned the inside. There was an ugly sofa sitting in the middle of the living room, otherwise the room was bare, but it was modern, beautiful, and fully renovated. Jasper picked me up, kicked the door closed, and sat on the sofa with me on his lap. I snuggled into his chest, Jasper had his arms wrapped tightly around me. We stayed in that position until the sun came up.

I looked up into his beautiful golden eyes and I decided to open up to him. I had been carrying around the guilt of the murder I committed two years ago.

"I slipped, Jasper." I sobbed.

"Shh...tell me what happened, babe?" He had an intense look of concern on his face.

I told him everything. I told him how I was so ashamed at myself that I couldn't go home. I told him how I had spent five weeks living in the woods in Scotland because I had to wait for my eyes to turn gold again.

"You must think I'm a horrible person." I said. "I'm nothing, but a cold-blooded killer, Jasper."

"You're not, Bella. Everyone slips up and I've slipped up the most. Riley and Carlisle are the only ones that haven't slipped up yet."

"What about Mike and Rose?" I asked.

"Mike slipped up about a year after you left. He and Edward were on a business trip in Minnesota. Do you remember the supplier that he was having so much trouble with?"

"Yes, I do." I said.

"Well, Edward and Mike paid him a visit. Edward went as his lawyer. As soon as Mike smelled him, he jumped on him and drained him. Fortunately, there was no one else in the office since they went so early in the morning. The cover-up effort afterwards was massive. Edward immediately disabled the security camera and erased the video on it, then he torched the office. Mike couldn't go back to the hotel because his eyes were blood red so Edward had to grab their bags and ship them home. They ran all the way home to Amherst from Minnesota."

"Mother of God! Poor Mike." I gasped. "How is he doing now?"

"Better, he had tons of counseling with Riley. It turns out that the guy was his singer. You know, you're lucky that Edward was able to resist you when you guys were dating. Mike's reaction is generally what happens when you meet your singer." Jasper explained. "Edward once told me that he was contemplating snapping the necks of everyone in your biology class just so he could taste your blood."

"You said that Rose slipped up."

"Well, as far as draining a human, no she hasn't slipped up in that sense. Rose, however, is the only true murderer of the bunch. When she took revenge on the men that gang raped her, she set out with the intent to kill and she did it with her own hands. If that ain't murder, I don't know what is." Jasper stated.

"I never thought of it that way. I still love Rose and Mike. I won't ever look at them any differently because of what they did." I said.

"Then why can't you do the same for yourself? Bella, you said that the man followed you out of the pub, intent on raping you. If you were human, wouldn't you do whatever it took to save yourself from him, even if it meant murdering him? Would you have let him rape you to save him from getting killed?"

"Never. I would have fought and clawed and killed to save myself."

"Well, that's exactly what you did, Bella. Believe me, had I been there, I would have been the one draining him. I would kill for you, my mate." Jasper was projecting anger—a huge amount of it.

"You're projecting, Jasper." I whispered.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm pissed off that I wasn't there to save you from this. You carried this secret on your shoulders for two years and I wasn't there to take the burden from you. I had no idea where the fuck you were! I was scared, Bella! I was worried, too! I swear to fucking God, next time you pull this shit I'm gonna build a pyre and walk into it myself. Two years! Two whole fucking years that I didn't know where you were, who you were with, what you were doing!"

I bolted off of his lap and ran straight to the door. "I'm sorry!" I yelled as I turned the knob.

Jasper was too quick for me. My speed had slowed down considerably since I was no longer a newborn. He wrapped his arms around my body and immobilized me. He carried me straight into the bedroom and plopped onto the floor with me still within his hold.

"You are going to stay here and face me now, Isabella! You're the one that invited me to London so I'm assuming that you wanted to see me. I am so done with you constantly running from our problems! You and I will tackle our issues head on together because that's what married people do! Do you hear me, wife?"

I balled myself up into the fetal position and started sobbing. After a few minutes, I straightened myself out, took a few deep calming breaths, and faced Jasper.

**Jasper's POV**

I didn't mean to lose it with Bella, but I did. She tried to run from me again after only a few hours together and I was overcome with rage. I wasn't about to let her out of my sight again. I wanted to know why it took her two years to contact me.

I watched her work in the pub and I didn't like it one bit She worked herself to the bone. I overheard the owner telling her that he hadn't seen any light in her eyes since she started working there. He practically had to force her to leave stating that she worked way too hard for one so young.

We were going to deal with this fucking issue right the fuck now! I wanted to know how she survived for two years on only twenty thousand dollars. I also wanted to know where she was living and how many hours a week she worked in the pub.

"I want to know how you've been surviving for the last two years, Bella?"

"I've been working under the table at the pub." She said.

"How much have you been getting paid?"

"About a hundred and fifty pounds per week plus tips. I also get my room for free in exchange for cleaning the pub during the day." She stated.

"Where exactly is this room of yours?" I asked.

"At the back of the pub, the owner and his wife live upstairs."

Oh, hell no! Tell me my wife hasn't been living in a fucking pub? I was seething with anger. She's a goddamn billionaire for fuck's sake!

"Isabella, what happened to the twenty thousand dollars that you took with you?"

"Oh, I have most of it with me still. I think I have almost nineteen thousand dollars left. I used some of it for the plane ticket over here and I needed to replace a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts as they became worn. I've been living off of my wages so I can give you the money tomorrow if you'd like?"

"Bella, I don't want the money back. I told you that what's mine is yours. I'm just wondering why you didn't take more with you." I said. I took a good look at my mate. She was still beautiful, but she looked tired and worn out, even for a vampire. Her boss was right, there was absolutely no life in her beautiful eyes—the twinkle was all, but gone. Her clothes were shabby and tattered and her boots were worn to the soles. Is that duct tape holding together her left boot?

"What else have you been doing, Bella?"

"Well, I have Sundays and Mondays off so I've been traveling and hunting on those days. I've checked out almost all of Great Britain. Last weekend, I got chased by a herd of sheep in Wales. All I was doing was hiking and trying to find the youth hostel when, out of the blue, about eighty sheep came barreling down a hill in a big pack. I ran like hell—I was so terrified."

Only Bella would be terrified by sheep. It made me think of the time when we were strolling around Cambridge and one of our neighbors happened by with his chihuahua. As soon as it barked, Bella freaked out and, literally, jumped up into my arms. She was the only vampire I knew that was intimidated by a little chihuahua, but completely unafraid of lions and tigers and bears.

"So, you've been staying in youth hostels?" I asked.

"Well, in Switzerland, there was no room at the hostel so I had to splurge and stay at an inn. I'm telling you, that country is terribly expensive."

"Bella, most of our money is stored in Switzerland. We have a huge house in Zurich. You could have stayed there for free." I pointed out.

"Oh, I forgot." Bella said. "Where else do you own properties?"

"Aside from Zurich? Well, you're sitting in one of them and Tokyo and New York you've been to. We also own homes in Edinburgh, Dallas, and Houston."

"This is your place?" Bella asked. I nodded to her. "It's very nice, Jasper."

"Isabella, not mine alone, ours." I pointed out. "How much longer do you plan on staying here?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't thought about that yet. I really don't want to go home. I like it in London." She said.

"Fine. We can stay for as long as you like, but you're putting in a one week notice at the pub. You're also moving into our flat with me. I'm not compromising on this one, Isabella."

"Oh, yes, you will compromise, Jasper. You can't show up here all of a sudden and start laying down the law. I admit that I need to stop running from our problems, but you can't come in and declare that you're my lord and master and that I have to submit to your every demand. I'll stay on at the pub until Colin can find a replacement for me. He and his wife have been extremely kind. They offered me shelter, a shower, a job, and even hot meals. I, kindly, declined the meals stating that I preferred to eat out. Although, on a couple of days, I actually had to suck it up and eat because there was a massive snowstorm and London was at a complete standstill. I had to fake it or it would have looked suspicious." She said.

"Fine. You can stay on until they find a replacement for you." I compromised. Regardless of how I felt, I was grateful to the man and his wife for giving Bella a safe haven. Baron's Court was a fairly safe neighborhood and the patrons at the pub seemed to be very pleasant. "I'll be there during the entirety of your shift, though, I'm not negotiating on that."

"Fine." Bella sighed. She looked at me. "Tell me, Jasper, you said in your emails that you tied up all of your loose ends. How?"

I knew this was coming so I was prepared. It didn't make it any easier, though. "Peter, Char, Alice, and I had group counseling with Riley—lots of it. We hashed out a lot of our issues. After that, I started with an apology to Alice. I told her that she didn't deserve to get cheated on irregardless of her actions. We took a vow before God and I should have respected those. She, in turn, apologized again for how she kept us apart and how she tried to get you killed. In hindsight, she said that she probably should have just let me go as soon as you were born considering I was such a cheating, man whore. As far as everyone else was concerned, I called and explained that I was mated and married so I wouldn't be able to see them anymore. Some were mated and understood completely and others were actually happy for me. No one gave me any trouble, not even Amber. She, of course, never wanted to hear from me again. Vicky and Char made sure of that. Hmm...I wonder if Vicky mailed the last of her fingers back to her? Amber didn't have a pleasant evening that night she showed up at our house. Apparently, Vicky had dealt with her on multiple occasions over the past thirty years. James had a wandering eye that Vicky didn't appreciate so she just took it upon herself to inflict the master's bite on every girl that she found out about. I discovered that when I called two girls other than Amber who I had been going to for my release. They had been warned that Victoria now lived with me so they also didn't want a thing to do with me."

"Exactly how many women were there, Jasper?" Bella scowled. She had her arms crossed tightly over her chest and she didn't look happy at all. "I was under the impression that there were only two."

"Thirteen." I said, shamefully. "Spread throughout the world."

"Thirteen? Jasper, I told you about the two men I had been with. I was also straight up with you and told you that I hadn't exactly ended things with Tommy. As soon as I ran into him, I told him about the changes in my life, though. Why couldn't you do the same when you saw Amber?"

"I was ashamed of my actions and afraid of your reaction." I admitted. "Bella, I've changed. All I can do is apologize for my actions and hope that you'll give us another chance. I want to earn back your trust, Bella. I know that I've betrayed you in the worst possible way, but I swear to you that from this moment on I will spend the rest of eternity earning back your trust."

Bella looked out of the large bay window. "I admit that I'm terrified about giving my heart over to you again. When you moved to protect Amber, I wanted to die. How can I trust that you won't crush me again? How can I be sure that you won't lie to me like you did with Alice?"

"All I can do is beg for your trust. I swear that I'll never take your heart for granted again." I said. It was the only thing left for me to say. If she didn't want to give me the opportunity to prove myself then I was prepared to die.

"I can try, Jasper. If you can be honest with me about everything from this moment on, then I promise to give us a fair chance and also to face our problems rationally, like adults. The question is, can you forgive me for running from you so many times instead of facing our problems head on?"

"As long as you promise to take me with you next time, babe." I couldn't resist anymore. I pulled my wife into my arms and kissed her. I kissed her with all the anger, sorrow, happiness, love, and passion that I felt for her.

Two years without her had been, without a doubt, the worst time of my entire existence. I needed Bella like humans needed air to breathe. She was such an integral part of me. After I ended all of my past relationships, I spent the rest of the time hibernating in our house in Cambridge. Everyone stopped by to try to jog me out of my depression—even Alice. Twice a week, someone would show up to force me to hunt. They had to get creative. Amanda showed up with Tanya one day and the two of them recited High School Musical in it's entirety until I went hunting with them.

Bella pulled away from me and looked at my watch. "It's 10 am, let's go talk to Colin and Edith now. I want to grab my things and get moved in. I think it's better to get things like this over with as soon as possible."

I wanted to make love to her is what I wanted to do. I haven't had any sort of release in two years. I was so depressed that I couldn't even jerk off. I reluctantly got up off of the floor and willed my dick to go limp. Cruel as it may be, I had to think of fucking Alice to do that. It worked like a charm each and every time.

When we got to the pub, Colin was outside sweeping the grounds. "Ah, Isabella. You've brought your husband. I suppose you're here to tell me that you'll no longer be with us."

Bella and my jaw dropped. How the heck did he know?

"Now don't look so surprised. I knew when I took you in that you were lost and needed a safe place to sort through your feelings. I just wanted to give that to you. I just didn't expect it to take two whole years. Now that you're all sorted, Edith and I can finally shut the pub down and move to Gran Canaria."

"Y...y...you kept the pub open for me?" Bella asked.

"Of course we did. We were set to close in a week when you walked in. As soon as we saw you though, Edith and I knew that we had to take you in so we kept the pub going. We kept you busy to keep your mind clear. You actually helped us tremendously, too. The pub's profits in the last two years were more than we made in the five before that. The men kept coming back because you were easy on their eyes. You grew our nest egg so we can retire comfortably now."

"Thank you, Colin." Bella said, gratefully.

"Now, come inside and I'll give you your final wages." Colin said.

"You keep her wages, Colin. Add it to your nest egg." I suggested.

"Nonsense, your wife worked hard for those wages. It would be unfair of me to keep what's rightfully hers."

I noticed that Colin had started to box things up. "Aren't you opening tonight, Colin?" Bella asked.

"No, Isabella. Now that you're all squared away, we want to close the pub and move to Gran Canaria as soon as possible. My son and his wife are taking over the business. They're opening a coffee house here. Disgusting thought, isn't it?"

"Well, can we help you pack, Colin?" I offered.

"That's very generous of you, young man. In exchange, I can offer you all the liquor that we have except for the ales. Those, I'm taking with me to Gran Canaria."

"You don't have to..."

Bella nudged me in the side and graciously said, "Thank you, Colin. We'd like that very much."

As soon as Colin went upstairs to help his wife. Bella and I worked at vampire speed to pack everything up. When Colin came downstairs an hour later, he nearly toppled over in shock when he discovered that we were all done. He paid Bella her wages and we thanked him and his wife. We hailed three taxis to help us transport all of the liquor to our penthouse. He gave us, not only what was on the bar shelf, but everything in his store room too. He even gave us a case of unopened whiskey glasses.

The walls in the living room were lined with boxes. "Bella, why didn't you just decline all of the liquor? Our living room looks like a fucking liquor distribution center."

"Colin is someone that likes to pay his own way plus I didn't want all of the whiskey to go to waste. He would have just thrown everything out. You do realize that over half of these boxes are various brands of whiskey, don't you? He got a huge shipment of just whiskey in on Thursday." Bella winked.

"Okay, then, that I didn't know. We'll just have to do some taste testing together." I suggested. "Um, Bella. I know you hate shopping, but we really have to go. When I got your email, I just grabbed my passport, threw my shoes on, and ran to the airport-literally. I don't have anything to wear here and, frankly, you look like you could do with some new clothes too."

"Yeah, I know. This is my nicest outfit. I've been rotating between two pairs of jeans and five shirts for the past two years. My jeans are all holey and shirts are all faded and we won't even mention my shoes. Running from the sheep in Wales this past weekend finally did them in. I could use a haircut, too."

"Why did you choose to live so frugally?" I asked, curiously.

"It's not that I was living frugally, it's just that I don't give a shit about things like clothes so I couldn't be bothered to shop. Most of the money I earned at the pub went to travel expenses. I hunted on my two days off, which were Sundays and Mondays, so I either flew or took the train to where there was good wildlife and did a little sightseeing in the surrounding cities as well. Why the fuck couldn't we be wizards like in Harry Potter instead of fucking vampires? Then, we could just apparate to wherever we wanted to instead of having to fly or take the train everywhere."

"You're right, baby, we got the short end of the stick in the supernatural world." I chuckled, as I locked up our apartment.

"Come on, it's not too far of a walk to Knightsbridge from here. It's nice and overcast out." I suggested.

I put my arm around my wife's shoulders and held her close to me as we walked. Occasionally, we'd stop to kiss and I relished in the familiar tingles that I felt whenever we made skin to skin contact. We got to Harrod's and immediately started shopping. For once, Bella didn't complain at all.

"Wow. This place is huge. I've never been in here." Bella scanned the monstrous department store, wide eyed in complete awe. Suddenly, she gasped and put her arm over her breasts. "Oops."

I could feel tons of embarrassment emanating from Bella. "What is it?" I asked, concerned.

"My bra chose now to kick the bucket." She wiggled out of her bra and pulled it out from underneath her t-shirt—her very white t-shirt . The one that was skin tight and made her nipples stand at attention and stare at me straight in the face. In an instant, every single male eye was focused on Bella's breasts. God, I missed those tits. I took my oxford off, threw it on my wife, and buttoned it up—all the way up to the very top. Those babies belong to me and me only.

"Lingerie department first, babe." I ordered.

After re-stocking our wardrobe, we went for essentials. Thank God, I had my woman with me. I forgot that we needed things like laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, towels, cleaning supplies, a vacuum cleaner. "Your penthouse needs a thorough dusting, Jasper." She said.

"Our penthouse, Bella. Our penthouse." I reiterated.

We went back to our penthouse and decided to call it a day. Together, we evaluated what we needed to set-up the apartment and started a list. All I had was a sofa and that was left over from the previous owners and it was a butt-ugly red and white polka dot. The London penthouse was my most recent purchase. I bought it about three years after Alice and my divorce so it was fully renovated with modern fixtures.

I was jogged out of my musings with a feeling of intense lust. I looked up to see my mate staring at me with coal black eyes. My instincts took over and I ripped both of our clothes off in a matter of seconds. Bella responded with equal fervor. She took my cock in her mouth and sucked me off before we even made it to the bedroom. A bed, that's what we need. A huge, sturdy giant bed where we can make up for two years of a sexual hiatus.

From her position on her knees, I pushed Bella down so that her elbows were on the hardwood floor and her ass was in my face. I buried my face into her pussy from behind and started tonguing her folds. I missed her sweet nectar and I couldn't get enough of it. Bella was squirming and writhing, but I kept a firm hold on her long beautiful hair so she couldn't get away from me. Just as she was about to cum, I plunged my cock straight into her dripping, wet sex then pounded my way home. God, it felt wonderful to be inside of her again. I wrapped her locks around my hand to tether myself. I coated one of my fingers with my venom and slowly invaded her puckered hole while still fucking her pussy with my cock. Bella gasped at the intrusion. I wanted her to feel me everywhere. I wanted her to feel full knowing that I was her completion. I needed her to know that she was mine and only mine.

I thrust into her relentlessly. Bella was screaming in pleasure—the sound was music to my ears. Every cry brought me closer to ecstasy. I was making her feel this way and I was the only one that ever could. I couldn't handle it anymore, I needed my release. One more solid thrust and I liberated two years worth of pent-up cum deep inside her pussy. Bella's walls clenched around my cock and my finger as she pulsated to the peak of passion. I pulled her by the hair so that her neck met my mouth and sunk my teeth directly into that familiar spot that belonged only to me.

Three minutes later, I was still balls deep inside my mate with my teeth still latched on to her neck. I heard Bella whimper—that propelled me straight back into reality. I instantly removed my teeth from her neck and inspected her wound. It was bad—venom was leaking out from it. I needed to seal it quickly. "Baby, I'm sorry. This is gonna hurt." I said.

I gathered up as much of my venom that I could and literally coated the bite mark with it. Bella winced in pain and tried to escape me, but her wound needed care so I wrapped my arms tight around her body so she couldn't run. I knew why I marked her so deeply. It was all the anger, sorrow, and pain that I felt from two years without my mate that caused me to latch on so deeply to her. It was vampire instinct at it's purest. I needed Bella to know that she was my mate and that running from me would be fruitless.

"Mine, Bella, do you hear me? You're mine—only mine." I whispered into her ear.

"Yours, Jasper. Only yours." She breathed back to me.

I still had a firm hold on her as I rolled her onto her back. This time I made sweet love to her. Nurtured her, cared for her, so she knew that I was hers too. We stayed like that all night and into the next day and night until we knew for sure that we would never let go of each other. Finally, Bella detached herself from me.

"Jasper, it's Monday morning." She stated.

"Yeah, I know." I said. I took her on a tour of the penthouse.

"Bath first, then furniture shopping. I don't give a fuck what we do today, but I want a bed in this room by tonight. This hardwood floor just doesn't cut it. That sofa has to go too. It's the fugliest thing I've ever seen in my life. We also need a washer and dryer. You have the hook-up—I think."

"That's fine, I want a TV and we need the electricity turned on and cable and internet as well." I said. "Oh, and, um, I need to scent you."

Bella chuckled. "Okay, let's get started on our day."

_**Ten months later...**_

We were finally flying back to Cambridge. Bella and I decided to re-enroll in Harvard to finish the second half of our master's degrees. Bella was welcomed back with open arms and, after a little financial coaxing, so was I. We kept our trip home quiet. No one knew we were arriving today. We didn't want a huge welcoming committee like the last time.

Ten months in London did us a world of good. The twinkle had returned to my mate's eyes and Bella was able to relax for the first time in her life with no school deadlines or work looming in front of her. I was finally able to teach her everything about our assets, too—albeit, reluctantly on her part. I took her to our homes in Edinburgh and Zurich. We hired an architect to redesign and rebuild the Edinburgh house. I had let it sit empty for too long and the house had rotted from the frame. Zurich was in great shape, but then again, I've been going back and forth there every few years for banking business so it was the most well-maintained out of all my properties.

Another change in Bella was that she let me spoil her now. Whereas, before she left, she would complain when I spent money on her, now, she graciously accepted anything I gave her and she even went shopping occasionally and spoiled herself—never to the extent of Alice or any of the other women really. She would, however, come home with a new t-shirt or a little trinket for the house or even a little something for me. Her favorite place to shop was Camden Market—she loved eclectic and unusual things rather than ordinary items found in stores.

It took a few months for us to learn to trust each other again. I had to learn to let her have a little freedom. I didn't have to be with her every second of the day. If she wanted to run to the bookstore, or go sit in a quiet park to read, or simply think whilst sitting in a nearby pub—there was no reason why she shouldn't be able to do it alone. It took a few tries, but I finally realized that she wasn't going to run from me anymore. For me, it was a bit easier, all I had to do was use my gift to feel the sincerity in her words.

Bella, on the other hand, had to learn to trust that I was being completely honest with her. During the first month after our reunion, even when I would simply declare how much I loved her, I could feel her lack of trust in me. I couldn't use my power to make her feel the honesty in my words because that would make it worse. It took months for her to finally realize that I loved her, even now, I can feel her anxiety sometimes when I tell her that I love her. Bella's confidence in herself and in my love for her took a massive beating when I moved to protect Amber from her—this was something that could not be so easily rectified, but we were well on our way.

When we got home to Cambridge, we made a mad dash for our bedroom and made love. Our lovemaking had become much more intense ever since our reunion in London. We made the joint decision to reaffirm our marriage vows in Paris on Valentine's Day and we did so with the family watching via webcam. This time, it meant much more to us. We were both sober and we were both ready.

"Hey, Jasper, what happened to my clothes?" Bella asked as she peered into her empty drawers and closet.

"Oh, that." I said. "Amanda came over and said that it was a daughter's prerogative to raid her mother's wardrobe and grabbed whatever she wanted."

"That's okay, I suppose. She left the dress I married you in and my prom dress and she didn't touch my t-shirt collection." Bella said. "I'll have to go shopping again, though. She took all of my denim shorts and it's the middle of summer."

"Oh, yeah and trust me, baby—I need you wearing shorts so I can spank that fine ass of yours." I said.

Bella wagged her eyes at me, got down on her knees, and let me fuck her pretty little mouth. Yep, I love my dirty little girl.

At around nine pm, we made our way over to the Amherst house laden with gifts for everyone. It was Saturday so we were pretty sure everyone was there. The house was rockin'! There was music blaring from the speakers and we could hear everyone laughing and joking.

As we approached the front porch, Bella and I were suddenly impaled by water balloons. "Oops! Sorry guys, I thought it was Mike." Edward said, jumping down off of the roof and twirling Bella around in his arms. "When the hell did you guys get back?"

"Last night. Are you guys having a party?" I asked, noticing the toga he was wearing.

"Yep, the parental units, both sets, are out of town until tomorrow so we decided to throw a party. By the way, there are humans inside so make sure you're both fed and no vampire talk."

"Humans?" I asked.

"Yeah, Riley invited some of his friends from med school and Tanya, Irina, and Garrett called some of their college friends." Edward said. "They're having a joint graduation party.

"Edward!" We heard Amanda call from inside the house. "I need you in the bedroom!"

"Coming Ma Belle Amanda." He responded as he ran into see his wife.

"That 'Ma Belle Amanda' shit is just so fucked up. I don't even have words to describe how I feel about it." Bella commented.

We walked inside the house and it was complete chaos inside. There were bras and thong panties hanging from the ceiling and people making out all over the place. Bella ran me upstairs before anyone noticed we were there and told me to strip down to my boxers. She grabbed two white sheets from the linen closet and wrapped me up in one of them.

Bella stripped down to her bra and panties and was about to wrap herself up in the other sheet. "No, no, no, Bella. I need to scent you first." I said. "Did you see how many strange men there were in there?"

I was in the middle of scenting her when a drunk Rose staggered in with an equally smashed Emmett. "You're back! We thought we heard you!" She hugged Bella while I was scenting her legs.

"Uh, Rose! Do you mind? I'm scenting my mate here!" I said from between gritted teeth.

"Uh, bro, you missed a spot behind her knees." Emmett slurred out.

"I did not miss a spot! I'm fucking thorough when it comes to scenting."

Emmett lifted Bella's right leg up and sniffed behind her knees. "Right here, bro. You've got to hit her with your scent, right here."

I leaned down and sniffed. It was all Bella. "Thanks, Em." I said and made sure I got the spot.

Rose chatted with Bella while Em eyed my scenting with scrutiny. "Dude, don't miss one spot on her, there are some whacked out human men down there who keep lusting after our women. One of them tried to grab Rose's ass."

"Don't you guys find this weird and intrusive at all? I mean, I'm laying here in my bra and panties and you're all watching my mate scent me." Bella commented. "I feel like a fucking science experiment."

"Bella, a second pair of eyes can never hurt. Done!" I said and wrapped Bella up in the sheet. The four of us made our way downstairs.

As soon as they caught sight of us, our family came bounding to us. We were both engulfed in hug after hug. Some human fucker hugged Bella and gave her a kiss on the lips. Riley and Peter had to hold me back from kicking the living shit out of him.

"Hey, my name is Trina. What's yours?"

"Jasper." I responded.

"Do you want to dance, Jasper? I need a partner." She cooed.

"Uh, meet my wife, Bella." I pulled my mate to my side.

"Oh, hi." She said, dejectedly. She walked away muttering under her breath, "It figures. I meet the perfect man and he already has the perfect woman for a wife."

Riley was more unhinged than I'd ever seen him. He, Mike, Rex and a couple of human guys were sliding down the banisters. "Hey, let's get a game of pong going." Rex suggested.

"Hell, yeah!" The rest of them yelled.

They pulled out Esme's solid teak dining table, drew a solid black line across the center using a sharpie, and started bouncing ping pong balls into tequila filled cups.

"I am not sticking around when Esme discovers what those fuckers did to her table." Peter shook his head chuckling. "Hey, how's my baby girl?"

"She's fine. I think we've turned a new leaf. I have a feeling we'll be okay this time." I said.

"Yeah, well, I'm just worried about how she dealt with her slip up." Peter whispered in my ear so only I could hear.

"You fucking knew, didn't you?" I asked. "How come you didn't tell me? I could have helped her through this."

"She needed this, Jasper. She had to deal with it on her own. I would have told you if I sensed she was in any danger." He said. "Besides, if I had told you about it, you would have gone after her without dealing with your own issues. That would have eventually led to the ultimate demise of your relationship."

"I've got an idea!" Riley suddenly yelled. "Let's play roof pong!"

"Fuck, yeah! Riley and Mike lifted the massive table over their shoulders and started walking up the stairs. Rex, Edward, and the human guys followed. Somehow, they managed to get the dining table up there. They all started playing beer pong. Rex and Edward soon came back downstairs and left with a couple of sofas with drunk humans still sitting on them.

I ran outside with Peter and looked up on the roof. Yep, Esme's definitely gonna throw a massive shit fit and I sure as hell am not gonna be around for this.

I walked back into the living room and Bella was standing on the coffee table pouring a bottle of Patron through a long funnel into Alice's mouth. She soon followed with a second and a third bottle.

"Hey, bro, do you think we should tell Bella that Alice has never actually been drunk before?" Emmett asked.

"I'm gonna defer to you on this one, Em." I said.

"Lieutenant Biers, reporting for duty sir!" Vicky suddenly ran up and saluted me.

"Vicky, we're not at war. You can just call me Jasper." I said.

I don't know if she didn't hear me or if it was just because she was shitfaced, but the next thing out of her mouth was, "Major, sir. I was scouting the territory and detected some humans in the southeast corridor of this house. Shall I feed them to the newborns, sir?"

"Captain!" I called.

"Problem, Major?" Peter wagged his eyebrows at me.

"Lieutenant, report your findings to the Captain." I had no idea how to handle a drunk Lethal Victoria so I decided to pass the buck to my second in command. It was his great-granddaughter-in-law anyway.

"Sir, I detected some humans in the southeast corridor of this house. Shall I feed them to the newborns?" The Lieutenant waited for her orders from the Captain who had currently turned his body so he could regain his composure and wipe the fucking grin off of his face.

"Bring me the newborns, Lieutenant." Peter ordered with a completely serious look on his face. Victoria went away to find the newborns. Pete and I went back to laughing.

Meanwhile, Alice was doing the hustle in her bra and panties in the middle of the living room floor. Char and Tanya were being good sports and had joined her. Nope, they weren't being good sports—they were just exhibitionists who sorely missed the age of disco.

Victoria suddenly appeared in front of Peter. This time she was dragging Garrett by his hair. "I've located one newborn, sir. It appears the others have escaped. Shall I decapitate him? He seems to be getting too old to handle battle."

Peter and I were rolling, as was Emmett who was standing next to us with a bottle of tequila in one hand and a jug of whiskey in the other. "Lieutenant, Garrett's the only newborn we have left. What kind of army would we be without him?" I said.

"Well, sir, not to overstep my boundaries, but clearly he's an inefficient fighter. Victoria replied. "Might I suggest we create new newborns using the humans in the southeast corridor?"

"Who the hell are you calling inefficient?" Garrett asked.

_Smack! _Vicky landed a solid slap across Garrett's cheek. "Silence! You will speak only when spoken to! Is that understood?"

"What the fu..." Garrett was unable to finish his thought as Vicky impaled him with two more slaps.

_Smack! Smack! _"Maybe a little lesson in respect is what our lone newborn needs." Vicky's voice became sickly sweet, the telltale sign that she was about to unleash her brand of treachery on Garrett.

Peter and I were about to step in when the lights flickered on and off. A thoroughly inebriated Laurent was standing by the fireplace in the living room, which was now devoid of furniture, and announced, "Welcome to Zumba. In this class I will be teaching you some Latin dance steps which are designed to burn maximum calories, build up your muscle tone, and provide the ultimate in fitness and cardiovascular stimulation. The most important thing is to have fun so if you have any questions, please stop and ask me. Class, we're going to start with a little warm up." Everyone that was in the room lined up in rows and some uplifting music started playing from the speakers and our resident fitness guru started warming us up.

"Major, Captain, who the hell is this bonehead?" Vicky asked.

"Don't you remember, Lieutenant? He's our new drill sergeant. You, yourself, recommended him for the job." I said, then pumped some trust into her so she believed me.

Vicky looked sceptically at me, but decided to believe me in the end. I thought it would be best to join the group in order to keep my female second in command from harming the humans. I knew one thing, I was going to rip a few fingers off of the idiots who thought it would be a good idea to invite humans to this crazy party.

Eight minutes after our warm up, Latin music started blaring out from the speakers. "I'm gonna start with teaching you some basic salsa, merengue, rhumba, and cumbia moves. From there, we're gonna combine our moves so we can start our workout."

I felt like a fucking flamer. I'm dancing in a goddamn Zumba class full of drunk vampires and humans and I'm being forced to follow along so I could keep my Lieutenant in control. I can't believe Laurent teaches this shit day in and day out.

"Shake that ass for me again, Jasper. You're turning me on." Bella whispered in my ear from behind me.

Oh, yeah? If it makes my wife horny, I guess I can handle a little Zumba. Pete, Em, Garrett, Vicky, and I were in the front row following along to Laurent's commands. We were about halfway through with the class when Laurent muttered under his breath. "This has got to be the laziest class I've ever taught. With the exception of the first row, the entire class just tuckered out. Fucking humans."

I looked back and the women were all sitting on the floor ogling us. The lust and desire they emitted was palpable.

"Take it off, big boy!" Some human girl hollered.

There were similar yells encouraging us to strip coming from other women. Rose and Bella were sitting and snickering while sucking on some Jack Daniels straight from the bottle. I'm gonna kill them both. No, you know what I'm going to do, I'm gonna give them a taste of their own medicine.

I concentrated on Rose and Bella and sent them a fuckton of lust. Huh? It's not working. Bella! She has her fucking shield locked around her and Rose. They both had the nerve to smirk at me. I can penetrate her shield. I kept sending them waves of lust, increasing the dosage after each try. The lust kept bouncing off of her shield and eventually the other women started making out.

"You aren't going to win, Jasper." Bella said, smugly.

"Maybe not at this moment, my mate, but there will be retribution later." I warned her.

"I can't wait." She winked.

Laurent gave up on the class and pounded back a bottle of rum. Pfft! Some fitness guru he is, the little drunk fuck.

Alice suddenly stood up and started singing. "I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty, so witty and bright!" She kept going on with the tune from West Side Story, then eventually moved on to singing other show tunes and dancing along to them—all in her bra, panties, and heels. Her toga had long since been discarded.

She was in the middle of crooning all of the songs from Grease when the fuckers from the roof came sliding down the staircase on what looked like the top of the coffee table and streaked naked through the living room—Mike and Riley leading the pack. The women screeched, then started giggling at the sight of them.

Bella approached me and whispered, "We need to get the humans home, this is spiraling out of control really fast."

I agreed. I discussed it with her and we called a limo company to send two stretch SUV limos. I offered to pay them triple in cash for each and they willingly obliged and were at our house forty-five minutes later.

With the humans all gone, the party took on a new life. Amanda and Tanya started cheerleading. Everyone started dancing. I held onto Bella for dear life. Half of the male vampires were emitting a ton of lust and it was all directed at my wife. Riley pulled out the funnel and everyone started taking turns downing bottles of liquor. Bella and I ran upstairs to change out of our togas. Neither of us felt like getting out of control like these repressed fuckers.

We had just walked downstairs when we heard an ear piercing scream, "What the hell is going on?"

Esme, Carlisle, Carmen, and Eleazar walked inside the house. Holy kookaburras! The parents are home early. This shit just became a maelstrom.

The music was abruptly shut off, then Victoria struck. She grabbed Esme and Carlisle both in a chokehold, approached me, and said, "Major, I've located the escaped newborns. Shall I cull them?"

I looked to my wife who had an amused expression on her face. "Newborn? Kitten, what are you talking about?" Carlisle asked, shocked.

"Silence!" _Smack! _Vicky slapped Carlisle across the face.

A stunned Esme then said, "Victoria Ann Biers, what in God's name is going on?"

Vicky's eyes turned pitch black, grabbed Esme and sunk her teeth right where her shoulder and neck met. Esme cried out in pain at the impact of the master's bite.

"Oh fuck." Pete muttered.

"This is what happens to those who speak out of line! You, my pet, will follow my commands and my commands only. Where did you es..." I didn't allow Vicky to finish her thought, I knocked her out, harnessing all of the lethargy I could muster. Unfortunately, it knocked the rest of the drunk fuckers out leaving just me, Pete, Bella and the two sets of parents standing. Bella must have shielded us.

Esme was whimpering in pain as Carlisle bathed her accidental wound with his tongue. "Explain." Eleazar commanded, angrily.

Bella took center stage, "First of all, I'd like to say that Jasper and I knew nothing of this party. We just arrived home with gifts for everyone when we saw that there was a Roman Toga Party going on."

Eleazar, then, looked to Peter and asked. "Whose idea was this?"

"Um, well, uh...it was all of our ideas." He said, sheepishly. I knew Peter was lying to save Riley's ass.

"I doubt that. Don't you dare lie to me Peter Piper Whitlock!" Esme said, having recovered from her brand new master's bite. "This kind of thing smacks suspiciously of Mike and Riley. No one else would have the...what happened to my furniture?"

Bella and I went outside and looked up on the roof. The others followed. The dining table, sofas, chairs, and even some lamps were all laid out nicely. In fact, on the other side of the roof sat Carlisle's car with a gigantic red bow on top. How the fuck did they get that up there? I looked around and noticed that the trees surrounding the grounds had also been toilet papered.

The scream emitted from Esme blew out a few windows. I told my mate to release her shield from Esme and knocked my vampire mother out before she went into shock. Carlisle carried her inside and the rest of us followed. He brought Esme up to their room then called us all into his office.

"So, my child, you're back!" Carlisle pulled Bella into a hug and kissed her atop her head. He didn't seem too upset. He hugged me afterwards and patted me on the back. Eleazar and Carmen greeted us too.

"Aren't you upset about the party, dad?" Bella asked.

"A little, but I'm not surprised it happened. Those kids needed to act out like normal children and let loose. Being a vampire in a human world can be a bit stifling. Your mother will be upset, of course, but I can handle her. I'll just tell her that she can renovate the house to her heart's content."

Okay. That was surprising.

"Uh, dad, what about the master's bite that Victoria just inflicted?" Peter asked.

"I think it actually worked out well. Esme can be a bit, uh...domineering. This way, Vicky can keep a bit of a hold on her. I'll just have her slyly instruct Esme not to be so overbearing and to loosen up a little. Kitten's a daddy's girl through and through. She'll do as I ask." Carlisle said. His mind seemed to be churning in all different directions as to how he can best utilize the master's bite.

We all stared at him in shock, then Carmen, of all people started chuckling. "Oh, Carlisle, you're right. This may actually tone down Esme's overbearing ways."

Uh, right. Thank fuck my mate and I live apart from these weirdos. Next year, Bella and I are definitely moving far away from them. These fuckers are whacked. I put my arm around Bella and pulled her close to my side. Peter closed in on her other side. I bet he had the same thought running through his brain too. Even Eleazar stepped in front of Bella.

"So, should we start cleaning up?" Bella offered.

"Absolutely not." Carmen said. "Those responsible for holding this party should clean the mess up. You, Jasper, and Peter will go home after you wake the borrachos up from their nap in a few hours. No puedo creer el libertinaje que ocurrio esta noche. Esos idiotas!"

"I'm sorry, Carmen, my high school Spanish was pretty basic. I have no idea what you just said." Bella looked completely confused.

"She called them drunks and then said that she couldn't believe the debauchery that occurred tonight. Then she called them idiots." I translated for her.

"Ah, si." Bella agreed with Carmen in Spanish. Carmen patted Bella on the head.

Everyone asked to hear about our stay abroad. We told them all about it, leaving out the fact that Bella had slipped during her first few weeks there. That kind of information, I felt was too personal to share.

A few hours later, Bella, Pete, and I left the house. I slowly released the lethargy and sent the sleeping vampires feelings of calm and energy as I drove away. "Why didn't you stay with Char?" I asked Peter.

"It wouldn't be fair if she escaped punishment just because she's my mate. She was just as drunk as everyone else." He stated.

"So, why didn't you get drunk, Pete?" Bella questioned.

"Are you kidding? At a party like that, it's always more fun to be an observer than a participant—then you don't miss a thing." He replied. "Drop me off at the shop. I need to finish rebuilding a transmission. I don't think Rose is going to make it in to help today."

I dropped Pete off and headed home with Bella. Later, I held her tight as we soaked in our jacuzzi. I took a good look at my wife. She looked completely at ease and content in my arms. It was a long time coming, but I think she was finally at peace with herself. I kissed my mate on her lips and simply basked in all of the happy feelings she was radiating. I hope we can stay this way forever.

**Maria's POV **

"You fucking idiot! Manuel, I told you to train the newborns not cull them! Now, we have to go and search for more humans to turn!"

"I'm sorry, mistress. I didn't mean to kill them. They were just so annoying."

It's been over seventy years since the Major ran from me and I still hadn't found anyone effective enough to raise a proper army. Well, that's not exactly true, I did find someone a few years after he left. That James was pretty good, a great fuck too. James was good, but not as efficient as the Major and the Captain. That duo was who I needed.

I need to start over again. Manuel and Rodrigo were nowhere close to any of my past second and third in commands. They were more like Beevis and Butthead or Dumb and Dumber. They were both stunningly handsome and excellent in the sack, though. Latin men always knew how to treat their women. They weren't neanderthals like the Major, the Captain, and that James. All those three assholes did was fuck me until they came without ever thinking about my needs. Selfish motherfuckers!

You know what I need is a fucking vacation. I haven't had one since I've been changed into a vampire. I need a goddamn break. I'm taking Manuel and Rodrigo with me because, damn it, I need them for my release. After a few years, I think I'll regroup and figure out what to do.

"Manuel, Rodrigo!" I called.

"Yes, mistress." They both said.

"We are not creating any more newborns for the time being. We're going on vacation and you two are coming with me. Oh and I want to start with Disneyworld. I've always wanted to go there. I also want to go to that new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios while we're there. I like Voldemort's way of thinking. After that, I was thinking we can swim to Cuba from the Florida Keys—maybe I'll get lucky and meet Fidel Castro."

"I think Castro is dead." Rodrigo said.

"No, no that was just a rumor spread by various news stations when he fell ill. He's still alive." Manuel responded.

"Whatever! We go to Disneyworld, Universal Studios, and Cuba. After that we tour South and Central America. I prefer being able to speak Spanish when I travel." I said. "We'll come back and start fresh in a few years."

"Why can't we go to Spain?" Rodrigo asked. "I've always wanted to go there."

"We can't go to Spain because it's too close to Italy. We don't need the fucking Volturi breathing down our throats." I informed them.

"Who are the Volturi, again?" Manuel asked.

"They're the pricks who think that they're the rulers of the vampire world. Sheesh! How many times do I have to tell you fuckers that?" I swear these two are dense!

"I thought you said that you were the ruler of the vampire world, mistress?" Rodrigo questioned.

"I am. Those Volturi fuckers are delusional, unlike me. Now, let's lock up and get the fuck out of here. I want to start my vacation now."

I finally feel like I'm doing something right. I need to clear my mind and start fresh. A few years should be enough time to allow me to figure out how to get the Major, the Captain, and James back—with those three by my side and Manuel and Rodrigo fucking me, I should be invincible. I don't want James' pet, Victoria, or the Major's pet, Charlotte, with us again, though. Those women were nuts even by my standards.

"Mistress, may we make love to your beautiful body, once more, before we leave for our vacation?" Rodrigo asked.

My panties became soaked at the thought of the two of them making love to me. Like I said, they knew how to pleasure a woman. Ahh...life is sweet. Even for an old warlord like me.

**So, what did you think? I know that tons happened in this chapter and I'd love to hear your thoughts on everything. I promise to write back! XOXO**


	40. Chapter 40

**This chapter marks a new beginning for our vampires. Bella and Jasper are stronger than ever, the other couples could use a bit of work. We need the family to have a tight bond in order to face the second demon so we'll be giving them a bit of time to work on their issues. Of course, these are my vampires so they'll be enjoying life at the same time.**

**I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for the support you've given me throughout this story. I truly appreciate every review, message, fave, and alert. You can hang out with your choice of vamp and take in a movie with nose plugs, of course.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. She can't have Rex and Amanda though, they're mine. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

_**Five Years Later...**_

**Riley's POV**

Life can change tremendously in five years. That statement was especially true when it came to our family. We were moving today, this time to live and work in the New York City's Tri-State Area. We held out as long as we could in Boston, but we had all been leading our lives there for over thirteen years so it was time for a change. The humans around us were all aging, but our family stayed youthful and vibrant looking.

The family dynamics had changed considerably. For one, Eleazar and Carmen were no longer in the area. They were living in Argentina where they could converse in their native Spanish for a while. They planned on spending half of their time in Argentina and half of their time in this area—they purchased a small apartment in Brooklyn for that purpose.

Rex, Tanya, Garrett, and Kate purchased a house in Fairfield, Connecticut where they would commute to various jobs from. Irina, Laurent, Vicky, and I chose to stay with Carlisle and Esme in the neighboring town of Westport, Connecticut along with Edward, Amanda, Mike, and Alice. Peter and Charlotte and Rose and Emmett each purchased their own homes in New Jersey. Peter and Charlotte opting for Far Hills while Rose and Emmett bought a small house in Fort Lee. Vicky was tickled pink because she herself had been born and bred in neighboring Edgewater, New Jersey as a human.

Then there was Bella and Jasper. The two of them had taken off immediately after they received their master's degrees from Harvard. I missed them tremendously, of course, but I knew they needed to spend time getting to know each other after the rocky first few years of their marriage. They ended up moving to the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates of all places. We asked them how they could live in such a sunny area and they responded by saying that it was actually quite easy. They simply dressed in traditional Arab robes and head scarves. This covered them from head to toe and allowed them to go out on even the sunniest of days. Most of the parking lots were covered and the windows on their Range Rover were tinted pitch black. Ironically, the two of them felt as if they had more freedom there than anywhere else in the world.

Jasper being Jasper purchased an enormous villa from a sheik that had high security and every amenity imaginable to the mind. Case in point, he even had a helicopter landing pad on the roof. Over the last four years, we all took turns visiting them. The key was coordinating with their schedule so we could catch them when they were in the country. They spent an enormous amount of time traveling around the world and a month each year visiting their friends in India—Emmett and Rose usually joined them there.

I could see why they enjoyed Dubai though. Heck, if I could afford it, I'd live there too. Dubai was a modern, bustling hub of business with an incredible nightlife and one of the most incredible shopping malls in the world. The shopping mall even had an indoor ski slope and an ice skating rink. To top it all off, the desert heat in Dubai actually felt soothing on our frigid, vampire constitutions.

While in Dubai, Jasper decided to concentrate on his assets and investments for fun. Who the hell does that for the sake of fun? According to Peter, he more than doubled his net worth in four years time. I shuddered to think about how much that actually was. Peter said that if it were a race, Jasper could probably run circles around even the Volturi. He played with some of Carlisle's, Peter's, and even the million dollars each that Carlisle was holding for me and Bella plus my 401K. He was able to almost triple our money for us with his shrewd investments.

As much as they enjoyed Dubai, Jasper and Bella missed living in the United States. They were finally coming home sometime this summer. This time, they were going to live in their luxurious Upper East Side house in New York City. I was excited to see them and couldn't wait to give my kid sister a hug.

The last time I saw her was a year and a half ago on the ten year memorial of Charlie's passing. Peter, Bella, and I celebrated his memory by going to a University of Washington Huskies football game then visited his grave site. We were stunned out of our boots when we got there and ran into Billy Black. The conversation that ensued was interesting to say the least.

"Bella, Riley—how are you?" Billy asked us.

"We've been well, thank you, Billy." I responded. "We're just visiting Charlie. It was ten years ago today that we lost him."

"I know—that's why I'm here. He was my best friend from the time we were babies. Our mothers would throw us in a playpen together while they sat and had coffee." Billy said.

"You knew Helen?" Peter asked, hopefully.

"Of course I did. She was like a second mother to me. She was the one that forced me to stay in high school when I wanted to drop out. She was the one that came after me and Charlie with a fly swatter when we were caught smoking cigarettes in high school—not a pleasant experience when she did it in front of our whole football team. Helen was a phenomenal lady. I'm sorry, who are you?"

"My name is Peter. I'm Helen's father." My great-gradfather introduced himself.

Billy Black was stunned silent. He soon recovered and simply said, "You're Peter Piper."

"I am." Peter admitted.

"Charlie used to be so proud of the fact that he was Peter Piper's grandson. Charlie had a speech problem when he was a boy and Helen being a teacher taught him the 'Peter Piper' tongue twister. She'd always tell him to make you proud because you were watching over him from heaven. In fact, when we were growing up, her favorite way of discouraging us from doing something naughty was to tell us that we wouldn't want to disappoint Peter Piper." Billy explained.

"Thank you, Billy." Peter said, gratefully.

"You're welcome. I'm just happy that Bella has her family to look after her for eternity. I was worried about her well being. Now that I know that she's with her great-grandfather and her brother, I can rest easy." Billy said.

Bella came out from behind Peter and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Billy."

"I miss him." Billy cried to her. "He was my best friend. There will never be another Charlie Swan again."

"No, there won't be, but he loved you like a brother, Billy." Bella soothed.

Something miraculous happened then. A ray of sunshine hit Charlie's tombstone and the four of us were blanketed by warmth. Later, Bella told us that she experienced a similar phenomenon when she was visiting Charlie's grave with Jasper. We left Forks after that. Peter and I returned to Boston while Bella flew to Tokyo where Jasper was waiting for her. Neither of us had seen her since then, but we'd talk often on the phone and send frequent emails to each other. All I knew was that I couldn't wait to see Bella.

**Bella's POV**

"Bella!" My husband was calling me from somewhere in the house.

"I'm in our room!" I called back.

"Oh there you are. Guess what?"

"What?" I asked.

"I went to the laundry room to throw in that load of laundry and we don't have a washer and dryer in our house." Jasper stated.

"Huh. Really? That's odd. I walked downstairs to check it out for myself and sure enough the laundry room was empty. Esme must have forgotten to put them in when she set up this house for us all those years ago.

"Okay, guess we're not doing laundry today. What should we do now? Maybe we should go visit the family." I suggested to my husband. We'd been back in the States for a week and we still hadn't seen the family. Every time I suggested it, he would dance around the subject. It was almost as if he didn't want to see them.

"I have an idea. Let's go purchase a washer and dryer." Jasper suggested with false enthusiasm.

"Jasper, it's four in the morning. There's no way we can purchase a washer and dryer at this hour." I said.

"Well the stores open in five hours. If we walk at human speed. We'll be there just in time."

"And where exactly are you planning on walking to? New Jersey?" I asked. "Jasper, what's wrong? You've been skirting around the issue of seeing the family for a week now."

Jasper sat down and grimaced. "I don't want it to end. I was happy in Dubai with just you."

"I was happy too, but we can't keep avoiding them. Like it or not, they are our family. Besides, we're the only ones that live in New York City. Everyone else lives in Connecticut and New Jersey—we don't have to see them every day." I pulled him in for a hug.

Four years in Dubai was like paradise for us. For the first time, neither of us had to answer to anyone else and we were actually able to spend the time getting to know each other. I mean, really know each other.

Every once in a while, some of the family would come and visit us. Jasper pointed out how nice it was to be able to see them with the knowledge that they were leaving in a couple of weeks. I had to laugh at that one. I also agreed with those sentiments.

"Jasper, things are going to be different this time. Esme and Carlisle live in Connecticut. They don't even have rooms for everyone. Their house is much smaller than the monstrosity she had in Amherst. On top of that, Peter and Char and Rose and Em live all the way over in New Jersey. They're actually two states away from Connecticut. I, for one, don't plan on any overnight visits. I'm through with that." I explained. "Besides, we've been away on our own for four years. I'm sure they aren't expecting things to go back to the way they were before we left."

"You're probably right. It's just that I'm happy being with just you." He said, kissing me. I don't know how it happened, but I was suddenly pinned underneath my mate completely naked with him sheathed inside of me.

"How the fuck did you do that?" I asked.

"Language, Bella." He chuckled, then made love to me.

A few hours later, Jasper and I were scouring the internet and the phone book trying to figure out where to purchase a washer and dryer in New York City. It wasn't an easy feat. There were clothing stores, electronic stores, even toy stores, but finding a place that sold major home appliances seemed next to impossible.

"Don't they have a Sears or something that we can go to?" I asked.

"I found one. It's in Brooklyn." Jasper said. "Let's go."

We found ourselves in the appliance department at Sears talking to an overly helpful salesman who was aching to make a commission off of his sale. "Listen, Harry, we just want a washer and a dryer. It's that simple." Jasper said.

"Well, do you want a top loading washer or a front loading washer?" Harry asked.

"Front" I said at the same time Jasper said, "Top."

So, it began. Jasper and I started having a full blown argument in the middle of Sears as to which type of washing machine to get. I argued that a front loading washer was more energy efficient. Jasper argued that he felt that our clothes got cleaner with a top loading washer. Poor Harry was caught in the middle of our argument. He actually went on lunch break while the two of us were still arguing about which washer to get. By the time Harry got back from his lunch, we had settled the argument. I won this one after I used the argument that a front loading washer was newer technology. I also told him that he could pick whatever brand he wanted. Naturally, Jasper picked some fancy German brand—I would have been happy with just Kenmore, but Jasper being a typical male has to have the best of the best and the newest of the new.

We cashed out of Sears and decided to check out Brooklyn before heading for home. It was an interesting part of the city. Ethnically diverse and extremely eclectic. If I were still human, I would have loved to check out all of the restaurants. This was definitely a place that I'd have to explore with Rex.

"Bella, we have to buy a car." Jasper said. We had sold his Corvette and my truck before we left the United States four years ago.

"Yeah, I know. I don't think we need two vehicles though, do you?" I asked.

"No, we were fine with one vehicle in Dubai and even in Cambridge we took one or the other. What kind of car should we get?" He asked.

"Don't know. Not a stick shift—I hate those." I said.

"How about another Range Rover? You liked the one we had in Dubai." Jasper suggested.

"I'm fine with that. Those were really comfortable to drive. I have a feeling that the only time we're gonna be driving is when we visit the family out of state and when we go on road trips anyway—so I'm fine with anything. We don't have to get anything so fancy." I said.

"Yeah, we do. I like fancy." Jasper admitted.

"Okay." I said. I learned to pick and choose my battles. Arguing about things I could care less about like cars weren't worth the battle with Jasper. I could drive a beat up ol' truck and be happy. Jasper, on the other hand, had his freaking male ego that seemed to make it's presence known at times like these.

A few hours later, we were the owners of a brand new Range Rover with windows tinted to the legal limit and whatever the hell extras that Jasper had put in. It was being delivered to our house in two days time—same as the washer and dryer, after which we were going to visit the family.

_**Two days later...**_

**Jasper's POV**

"Are you ready to go, baby?" I asked my wife. I really didn't feel like going to Connecticut, but she was right. It's been ten days since we've been back in the States and we really couldn't put off seeing the family any longer. We called them yesterday to tell them that we'd be stopping by later today.

We pulled into a beautiful, secluded waterfront estate. This was a change from Esme's norm. She generally picked out homes that were located in the middle of the woods. This was nice, really nice.

We rang the doorbell and were immediately pulled into hugs by Amanda and Vicky. We walked inside and noticed everyone was there to see us. Pete, Char, Rose, and Em had come all the way from New Jersey while Garrett, Katie, Rex, and Tanya had driven from neighboring Fairfield, Connecticut. We all sat in Esme's huge living room to catch up. I pulled Bella onto my lap—I needed to feel her close to me. I don't know what it was, but I was completely nervous being around the family. I actually felt uncomfortable around them. Maybe it was the fact that we'd been away from them for four years. I don't know, it just felt weird being around them.

Garrett broke the ice. "So, Jasper. Rex and I started a new War Room for us at our house in Fairfield. We were just waiting for you to get back to break it in."

"That's awesome, man. When do I get to see it?" I asked.

"Anytime. Rex and I don't work during the summer. It's one of the great perks of teaching." He said.

Everyone was working—well, almost everyone. Rose and Pete had opened up another auto repair shop in New Jersey.

Garrett, Rex, and Vicky were teaching at high schools in Connecticut. Vicky was a math teacher while Rex taught history and P.E. Garrett simply taught history.

Emmett, who had earned his PhD in Computer Science at MIT was now a college professor in that same subject at Rutger's University in New Jersey. I couldn't quite grasp my mind around that image.

Esme had started another design firm in Manhattan—apparently, it was taking off just like the one in Boston had. Carlisle had Vicky suggest to Esme to concentrate more on her design business rather than on being an overprotective mother. It was working wonders. He started this as soon as the master's bite was inflicted and every six months or so, Vicky gives Esme a reminder. Not in a painful, violent way, but she somehow managed to figure out how to work with Esme's subconscious so that she had no idea that the master's bite was actually being utilized. I'd have to ask her how she does this because that's a skill that could come in handy.

Amanda and Tanya had opened up their own clothing boutique in Westport, Connecticut. They sold trendy clothes for men and women and they had a special section with fun t-shirts.

Laurent had opened up his own fitness studio where he taught martial arts, zumba, yoga, and a whole slew of other activities there all day. Katie actually worked for him as an instructor.

Irina found a job at a non-profit organization helping homeless people get back on their feet. She really had a big heart and the job was perfect for her.

Alice worked at Walmart as a store manager. She actually enjoyed it and was hoping to eventually get promoted to district manager.

Charlotte was working at what everyone coined as an upscale adult store in Manhattan. I mean, honestly, how upscale can a sex toy store be? Regardless, she loved her job and that's all that mattered.

Mike and Edward actually opened up a Newton's Olympic Outfitters here in Westport, Connecticut. The business was taking off and people liked the idea of having personal service at an outdoors store instead of the bland, generic feel of somewhere big like Bass Pro Shops. Frank, Mike's partner, wanted to retire and sold his twenty percent share in Newton's Olympic Outfitters back to Mike. Mike then sold a forty percent share in the company to Edward. Apparently, between the two of them, they were constantly flying back and forth between the Pacific Northwest and Connecticut. Newton's Olympic Outfitters was a huge hit on both coasts.

Riley, of course, was now a physician at a hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was starting out as a young doctor fresh out of residency so he could stay as long as possible. I asked him if he missed being a psychologist.

"Are you kidding?" Riley chuckled. "I'm counseling enough people in our family that I haven't even had a chance to miss it."

We, then, got to Carlisle. Carlisle Cullen—the man who for as long as I've known him has been a physician in the emergency room said, "I'm actually trying to figure out what to do. I want to take a little break. Maybe go to college for once. What about you, Jasper? What are you going to do?"

"Don't laugh, okay? I've actually enrolled in the Building Trades program at Bronx Community College. I'll be learning everything from carpentry to plumbing to electrical—even boiler repair." I admitted.

Of course, my family being who they are all started chuckling. Bella and I had actually discussed this and decided that since it bothered me so much that I wasn't good at home repairs maybe I should take classes in it. It actually was a good idea and I was excited to start in the fall.

"Well, Jasper, I think it's a mighty endeavor you're undertaking." Carlisle said. "I just need to find something for me to do now. Bella, what are you doing?"

"I'm going back to school." Bella said. "I'm majoring in English at Columbia. You know how much I love to read and write. I thought I'd do something about it—take a break from history."

Bella's decision to go back to school had shocked the hell out of me. I thought for sure that she would want to start working considering she had been so adamant about earning her keep in the past. Something happened while we were in Dubai that made her realize that she really didn't have to work. So, when she approached me in May with a tuition bill for Columbia I was rendered speechless. I paid it, happily, of course, but I was still perplexed as to why she'd want to go back to school after insisting that she wanted to work.

I had asked her then and she replied with, "Did you want me to work? I can, if you like."

"No, no." I had said. "I was just curious as to why you want to go back to school all of a sudden."

Bella smiled at me, then. "I think we have more than enough work managing our assets and investments, don't you?"

Finally, she got it. That's what I had been trying to tell her all this time. In Dubai, I had Bella take more responsibility in our finances. I think she finally realized how much time and attention this all took. Not only was I working with our assets, I was helping Carlisle, Pete, and Riley build up theirs as well. It was pretty much a full time job. All I knew is that I was grateful for that MBA I earned about thirty years ago, it sure helped me in managing our finances. Speaking of which, I'd have to send Bella to school for an MBA eventually—maybe I'll go with her. It's a fun course.

Esme decided to take us on a tour of her house. It was beautiful. At 11,000 square feet it was considerably smaller than the Amherst house. She had seven bedrooms—five of which were occupied plus two guest bedrooms. There was a swimming pool and an indoor tennis court and a hot tub outside. Apparently, Rex at one point in his life was a certified tennis pro so he was giving everyone tennis lessons now. He asked Bella and I to join him the next time he taught. I was having enough trouble picturing vampires playing tennis let alone give him an answer. Wouldn't we destroy the tennis balls with just one swing?

Fortunately, Bella stepped in with an answer. "Sure, Rex, it might be fun. Just to let you know, I'm not exactly athletically inclined. I got straight C's in high school gym."

"She's not kidding. Bella sucked in gym." Mike confirmed. "It was nice watching her titties jiggle while she was attempting to play sports though."

"Michael!" Alice whacked him in the head. "I'm sure Bella doesn't want to hear about how you were ogling her breasts during gym class in high school."

"That's okay, Alice, I never paid attention to Mike during gym class. I was too busy staring at Trent Compton's abs." Bella said.

"What?" I asked at the same time as Mike.

"Ooh, I remember him." Alice said. "He was hot for a human."

"Oh, yeah." Rose agreed, licking her lips. "Perfectly chiseled abs and that ass. Kind of made ya want to reach out and spank it."

"You know, I don't understand what was so great about Trent Compton." Edward said. I agreed. What the fuck was so hot about that geezer?

"I didn't notice anything special about him." Emmett piped in.

"Are you kidding? His body was like the male equivalent to Jessica Stanley's tits." Bella stated.

"Yeah, those were great tits." I mused. "Actually, every male who attended Forks High lusted after those tits."

"And my cock's actually been locked in between those melons." Mike said proudly. Alice beat him on the head a couple of times. "Ow! I'm sorry, honey! You don't have to get all violent!"

Mike really was a way better husband to Alice than I ever was. The two had gotten married before we left for Dubai. Would you believe it? Bella was Alice's maid of honor and I was Mike's best man. I thought it was a hoot. Who would have actually thought that we would have reconciled our relationship that much?

Alice had gotten much better with her spending. Earning her own keep at Walmart helped tremendously. She now understood the value of money—ironically, more than I did. Alice now dressed exclusively in clothes from Walmart. She also reworked her designer clothes and made them trendier. Vicky helped her using her stellar sewing skills.

"I don't mean to change the subject, especially since this Jessica Stanley person seems to have magnificent breasts, but Rex and I are going to Philadelphia in a couple of weeks. We're gonna tour all the Revolutionary War Sites and we also have to sign up for next year's Valley Forge Re-enactment while we're there. Are you in?" Garrett asked me.

"I'm in, for sure." I said excitedly.

Bella chuckled at me. I guess I was worried about nothing before coming here.

"Hey, can I tag along?" Emmett asked. "Those re-enactments seem like a lot of fun. I want to give them a try."

"The more the merrier." Rex stated. "The re-enactment isn't until February though. We're just touring Philadelphia."

"So, Bella and I are going out." Rose declared. "We'll be back in three to four hours. Don't follow us."

"Can I come?" Peter asked.

Rose and Bella looked at each other.

"Eh, why not. Come on." Rose said.

The three of them were gonna hustle pool, that's what they were gonna do. I wasn't planning on following them. I learned my lesson about being possessive about eight years ago. Nope, I sure as hell wasn't gonna follow them. Besides, Pete was with them and he would never, ever let any harm come to any woman that was with him—especially his great-grandbaby.

"Come and see the store." Mike said. "Em hasn't seen it yet either. We took a page out of Bass Pro Shops and spiffed up the displays a little. Anyway, I think you'll like our stock. Carlisle just purchased a fishing boat off of us. He's taken to fishing lately."

Well, that's news. I wonder what's up with Carlisle? First he gives up practicing medicine and now he's taken to fishing? It just wasn't like Carlisle to be so...so...relaxed? Would that be the word for it?

The men all decided to check out Mike and Edward's new shop. They had been in business for about close to six weeks and were doing really well. They had spent the six months prior to moving from New Hampshire driving to Westport on the weekends to set up their store.

"Mike, Edward? Why do you guys have a yoga display in your store?" Emmett asked.

"That was actually Laurent's idea. He pointed out that forty percent of his yoga students were male, but there weren't enough man-centered yoga equipment available for purchase in standard stores. Anyway, the yoga equipment is our third best selling merchandise. Camping is first, fishing is second, then yoga, and hunting." Edward explained.

"Yoga beat out hunting?" I was appalled. Apparently so was Emmett cause he had his hands on his hips and he had a deadly scowl on his face.

"You should give it a try." Edward said. "You, Pete, and Em are the only guys in our family that don't do yoga. Even Garrett comes to yoga classes."

Uh, yeah, that's cause Pete, Em, and I are real men. We aren't seeking to be feminized anytime soon. Thank you very much.

"I'll think about it." I said. "Show me your rifles."

_**Two hours later...**_

"Carlisle, can we store this stuff in your garage? Bella and Rose will kill us if they found out we purchased this much. They don't like the idea of us hunting anyway." I explained.

"If you knew your wives wouldn't approve, why did you go out and purchase so much of this stuff." Carlisle asked.

Em and I both shrugged. The fact was that whenever either of us saw an outdoor equipment store, we'd go nuts buying everything from left to right without even thinking about it. Fortunately, Mike and Edward sold everything to us wholesale, but still Bella and Rose were gonna flip their shit as soon as they saw this stuff.

"What wouldn't we approve of?" Rosalie narrowed her eyes at us as she walked into the garage with my equally ferocious looking wife.

"How the fuck were you two planning on keeping a fishing boat a secret from us?" Bella asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't mind you two fishing, but why all the secrecy?" Rose questioned.

"It's just that you girls got upset the last time we went to Bass Pro Shops and bought a lot of stuff."

"That's cause you two bought hunting gear. We didn't see the point in vegetarian vampires hunting live animals." Bella explained.

Well, fuck, I wasn't about to tell my wife about the two rifles and ammo that Em and I purchased for our next hunting expedition. Hell, Garrett and Rex were coming with us. We'll just stash that shit at their house.

"Nah, honey, we're into fishing now. Just like Carlisle is." I grinned at Bella. She looked suspiciously at me. "In fact, you and Rose should come with us this weekend."

Both of their jaws dropped. "Um, no, Bella and I have plans this weekend." Rose lied.

"Yeah, we're going shopping this weekend. That's right. Shopping." Bella said.

Pfft! Bella willingly shopping? Yeah, right. Since I was lying too and Emmett wasn't exactly admitting to his hunting purchases either, I decided to go with it. "Oh, good. Where were you girls gonna go shopping?"

"At the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey." Rose answered confidently. Yep, things were back to normal alright. Rose and Bella covered each other for the bullshit they spouted just like Em and I did for each other. That's right, Em and I were back to being real men cowering behind our intimidating wives.

"We still have two months left in the summer. Are we going to India soon?" Emmett asked.

Em got along really well with Sahil. The two of them would go on hunting trips that lasted for days. Once, they even ventured all the way into Sri Lanka.

I snapped my fingers then. "Shit. That's what I meant to tell you guys. I just got an email from Amar. They want to come and visit us this summer. Amar and Sahil have been taking the girls out in public more to test out their bloodlust. They're pretty sure they'll be okay. They were even able to hop a flight to Calcutta, do some shopping, then fly back."

The last time we visited our Indian friends, it occurred to me that their women had not been exposed to humans since becoming vampires four hundred years ago. Their bloodlust was completely untested. Amar and Sahil dealt with humans frequently with their tea business, but the girls were completely sheltered and rarely left the palace.

"Well, that'll be cool. They're gonna freak when they see how small our bathrooms are, though." Emmett stated.

"No kidding. I'm not so sure if Amar will understand that he has to actually wash himself." I added.

"I don't understand." Carlisle seemed really confused. The four of us explained how Amar and family kept to the ways of a four hundred year old maharajadom. Is there such a word as maharajadom? Hell, I wasn't the one majoring in English, Bella was. I'll let her figure this shit out.

"Interesting. I'm looking forward to meeting your friends." Carlisle stated. "It's rare for me to be able to meet vampires older than I am."

"So, Dad, why aren't you working?" Bella went straight for the gusto.

Carlisle sighed. "I have no idea. I kind of lost steam somewhere along the line and I realized that I've never really taken time off for myself. Do you realize that I don't even have a single degree?"

"What?" The four of us all shouted at once.

"But you're a doctor. A really good one." Bella said. "I know this for a fact. You were my doctor in Forks."

"It's true. I've never actually been to college or medical school. All of my medical training was done on the job and through observation. Medical schools didn't even exist until the 20th century and by then, I had more knowledge than most of the professors at medical schools."

"Um, I'm going to Columbia in the fall. Maybe you should come to school with me." Bella suggested.

Yeah, maybe that's a good idea. Carlisle needs to get out into the world a little more and he needs all the help he can get. Bella would be perfect for him plus it would give me peace of mind knowing that Carlisle was with her.

"I might just do that." Carlisle nodded his head. "Yes, I just might."

Well good. Just then, I noticed that my mate's eyes were pitch black. It dawned on me that we hadn't been hunting since arriving back in the States.

"Hey, Carlisle, where can we go hunting around here?" I asked. Midtown Manhattan may actually prove to be a problem. It wasn't like Cambridge where we could run to a rural area in no time if we needed to.

As soon as Carlisle told us where to go, I grabbed Bella's hand and took off running. We took down a few deer then shared a bear. I looked in my mate's eyes and they were pitch black—this time with lust. I saw a little pond and carried her to it. I carefully stripped her clothes off then worked on mine. I planned on making love to her slowly, the area was beautiful and picturesque and my naked muse on the ground was doubly so. Her glistening pussy was beckoning me to come in for a taste. I didn't hesitate to do so. I buried my tongue straight between her folds and started lapping up her honey.

"I need you, Jasper. I need you inside of me now." She whispered.

I entered her slowly and moved softly inside of her. I kissed her deeply, passionately. I wanted her to feel how much she meant to me. Four years together had solidified our relationship. We now operated as one. I was absolutely in love with Bella—those turbulent times a few years back brought us closer together. We had to fight with everything we had to make our relationship work.

Neither of us wanted the typical male-centric vampire mating relationship. We wanted equality in our marriage. In order to make it work, we needed total honesty. Our first year in Dubai was spent getting to know each other. We stripped down each and every part of ourselves—more so than we did in London. Back then, we were still wary of losing each other. This time, there were no holds barred. Everything from Bella's lonely, non-childhood spent working to my time with Maria was bared to each other. Each and every relationship we had, from Edward to Tommy and Alice to Amber, was dissected.

We clawed and fought with each other with our whole hearts. We both cried and held each other until we had nothing, but complete honesty between each other. Well, okay, aside from the trivial ones like hunting guns and Bella's inevitable, "I didn't do anything special with Rose."

We both finally understood what Amar meant when he referred to sex as a 'mating ritual'. It wasn't just sex it was a physical baring of the souls. Every touch, every kiss carried a message of warmth, of caring, of security, of love to each other. This was love making in it's purest form—the others had no idea what they were missing out on.

Bella shuddered to an orgasm at the same time I did. I sunk my teeth into her neck, securing our bond and effectively ending our ritual for the night—afterwards we bathed in the freshwater pond by the moonlight. I dressed my mate, then myself, then carried her back to Carlisle and Esme's house. I didn't need to carry her back, I just felt more comfortable with her skin touching mine.

I put her down before we reached the front door and kissed her tenderly.

"Don't you two ever stop?" Peter asked as he came waltzing out of the door.

"No, not really." I answered, smugly.

"So, Char's having a little housewarming party at our house on Friday night. You guys are coming, right?"

"I'll be there." I said. I wasn't about to answer for Bella. She was never able to come to some sort of comfort zone with Peter's mate after her jealousy of Bella was made known. It actually became worse after I explained to Bella exactly what Char and my relationship had been like. Char was remorseful and knew that she was in the wrong, she especially wanted to make amends with Bella since Pete was her great-grandfather, but Bella wasn't giving in. It was going to be a long, road for Char and she knew it.

"Bella?" Peter asked, hopefully. He, more than anyone, wanted that relationship to be repaired, but he wasn't about to force it. He was actually on Bella's side in this situation.

"Sure, I'll be there." Bella muttered.

"Good, that's everyone then. Uh, bring your swimsuits. It's gonna be a pool party." Pete said as he loped back inside the house.

"You don't have to go, you know. You can always cancel." I said.

"Uh-huh and leave you there with her. I trust you completely, her—not so much." Bella said.

The two of us joined the family in the living room for a while longer. Soon, the morning dawned upon us and everyone who had work started filtering out of the house. Since we were already in Connecticut, I decided to visit Rex and Garrett's war room while Bella decided to check out Tanya and Amanda's boutique. I had her take the Range Rover because I knew that once I got to the war room, I wouldn't be leaving for a few hours.

A few hours later, we had our battle plans all laid out and we decided to give the war room a rest. Emmett stopped by and suggested we give our new hunting rifles a test run. Good idea. We donned the hunting camo that we purchased at Newton's, shouldered our new rifles, and set out in Garrett's truck for some nearby hunting grounds. We hiked deep into the woods and found a good spot.

"Shit!" Emmett suddenly jumped up and fired his rifle.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? You're gonna scare the fucking deer away!" I chastised.

"Uh, can someone help me find my pinky?" Rex asked. "Emmett shot it off when he scared the skunk away."

"I did? Sorry man." Emmett said, apologetically.

"Did you see which direction it went?" Garrett asked.

"No, but he shot from that direction so I'm guessing that the trajectory is somewhere behind me towards the left. We got on all fours and started looking for Rex's pinky.

"I found it!" Emmett yelled. We walked over to Rex and handed him his pinky. It was covered in dirt and twigs.

"Um, maybe we should wash it before reattaching it." I suggested. We found a little pond and rinsed off his pinky.

Rex, who had never had to reattach a limb before asked for help. Since I had the most experience it fell to me. "Spit on it. It'll hurt less if you use your own venom." I said.

"OUCH!" Rex shouted as I fused his pinky back on.

"Were you in the military or what? You need to man up, dude!" Garrett chastised.

"I told you, Garrett. It's the modern military. They don't make soldiers like they used to back in our day." I commented.

"What the fuck do you mean by that? Are you saying that I'm less of a soldier than you are. Let me remind you fuckers about who owned who in paint ball." Rex argued.

Oh, that was a low blow. "That was eight fucking years ago, asshole! Knew you couldn't win in a real gun fight so you had to bring up the only only one that you could win in, huh?" I asked.

"No, shit! Little boy can only use automatic weapons! Give him something that he actually has to reload with bullets and powder and he'd probably falter after the first round!" Garrett sided with me.

"Hey! I did two tours in Iraq, assholes!" Rex yelled.

"Guys! Guys!" Emmett shot his rifle off in the air when he couldn't get our attention.

"What?" Garrett, Rex, and I asked, completely annoyed, simultaneously.

Just as Emmett was about to speak, the four of us were sprayed by two pissed off skunks. It seemed the skunk that Em tried to shoot went and grabbed a friend.

"Not again." I moaned. "Bella's gonna kill me."

"Yeah, well think about how Rose is gonna react. They aren't gonna let us scent them for at least a week." Emmett sighed.

"What the fuck do you mean by we won't be able to scent them for a week? I scent Katie once every two hours when she's home." Garrett sounded appalled.

"Dude, isn't that overdoing it a bit?" This coming from me who scents his mate at least three times a day.

"Nah, can't be too careful. Katie's a beautiful woman. You never know what strange men will approach her." Garrett replied.

"I never really understood this scenting stuff. I think it's a crock of shit." Rex said.

Wrong thing to say to three very male vampires. We sat Rex down and gave him a lecture on Vampire Mating 101. These modern male vampires didn't have a real understanding as to what makes a real man.

"Alright, you archaic fuckers, I get it. Now, whose mate are we going to call about our skunk situation?" Rex asked.

"Not mine." Emmett and I said instantly.

"Definitely not Katie. She'll shock the shit out of us once she gets a whiff of us." Garrett stated.

"Hey, I'll call Tanya. She's pretty understanding." Rex offered.

"Good idea." I said.

Rex called Tanya who asked us to meet them at the house. Gee, I'm beginning to rethink my ways of thinking. Maybe I should be a bit more relaxed in my ways like Rex is. Rex had a smug expression on his face as we sat down and watched 'Commando' on DVD.

The movie ended and Rex popped 'Dodgeball' in next. "Hey, isn't Tanya taking a little long?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, it's getting to be seven pm already." Garrett commented. "We called her three hours ago."

Just as 'Dodgeball' ended, we heard the sound of cars braking in the driveway.

"Where've you been, honey, we've been waiting for almost five hours?" Rex asked.

The four of us looked up and were met with Katie's fury-filled eyes. "OUT! OUT! Get your skunk stink asses out of my house!"

Oh shit. Not good. If Katie knows, that means...

Rose pulled into the driveway in Peter's truck with Bella riding in the passenger seat. They both climbed out wearing haz-mat suits. I noticed that the bed of the truck was loaded with gallons of some product called Skunk Off and the more familiar baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap.

Bella reached into the bed of the truck and tossed haz-mat suits to Katie and Tanya. They promptly donned the suits.

My mate approached me. "So, you want to tell us what happened?"

I wasn't about to lie so I explained everything from Emmett shooting Rex's pinky off to it's reattachment and finally to our getting sprayed by two angry skunks. Bella had the nerve to giggle.

Bella and Rose got to mixing. They were, after all, familiar with the process. It was their second time around with this fiasco.

"Did Mike and Edward sell you the guns?" Rose asked, casually.

"Yes, dear." Emmett answered like the good lap dog he was.

Rose looked at Katie who took off in her car. A half an hour later, she came back with Victoria and Esme dragging a howling Edward and Mike. All four of the newcomers were dressed head to toe in protective raingear and rubber gloves.

"You two are going to get the skunk odor out of Katie and Tanya's house." Esme ordered. She handed Mike and Edward scrub brushes and the Skunk Off and started directing them. "That's what you get for selling those idiots hunting gear!"

"Okay, guys, the solution is all mixed. I called a vet and this time we're gonna try the Skunk Off first and then the standard solution." Bella said. "Take your clothes off."

"Right here? I mean, couldn't we find a more private..."

I was interrupted by my female second-in-command who ordered, "You heard her! Strip!"

The four of us ripped our clothes off while our mates began the arduous task of de-skunking us. Naturally, Rex had to rip his clothes off the stripper way. I noticed every single female eye was on him as he ripped his shirt off, then his pants while sensually eyeing each woman around him.

"Fucker! Do you have to be so dramatic?" Emmett asked. "There's nothing sexy about a skunked stripper."

"Yes." Rex answered, wagging his eyebrows..

Vicky removed our wallets and cell phones from the pockets of our clothes and put them to the side while she threw our clothes away in a big black trash bag. I noticed she triple bagged them for security.

"You two couldn't learn your lesson the first time, could you?" Rose asked. "Why is it that Bella and I always have to come out to save your asses after you hunt?"

"Dunno." Emmett shrugged. "I guess we need you more than we realize."

"Yeah, besides, you weren't supposed to find out. Tanya was supposed to keep it a secret." Garrett piped in.

"So, you were going to make poor Tanya scrub all four of you down? Now, that's kind of insensitive of you boys." Bella was trying to make us feel remorse.

Yep, it sure was, but damn it, it was a good plan until someone opened her big mouth.

"So, how did you girls find out about this anyway?" I asked.

"I was standing right next to Tanya when Rex called. I was helping her and Amanda out in their shop." Bella chuckled.

"Naturally, she called me. You see, Bella knew it would be way too big of a job for Tanya to handle herself." Rose smirked.

Bella took a whiff of me. "Hey, Rose, I think the vet's right. This Skunk Off works great. Now all we have to do is douse them with the homemade solution then you can give them their buzz cuts."

"What?" Rex grabbed onto his hair. "Uh, no thank you. I don't want a buzz cut. I had enough of that in the Marines."

"It's not like you have much of a choice. The vet said that most of the odor lingers in your hair. It's either a buzz cut or no touching Tanya for two weeks." Bella explained.

"I pick option B." Rex stated. "No one's touching my hair."

"You also have to live outside with absolutely no comforts of home for two weeks. We'll get you a tent, of course. You'll have to hunt alone and have no contact with any of the family for fourteen days." Rose added. "Oh and being in the outdoors twenty-four, seven puts you at risk for getting skunked again."

Rex sighed. "Alright, give me a buzz cut."

An hour later, we were all skunk odor free. Rose was nice. She gave us all flat tops so at least we had a bit of hair left on top.

Garrett patted the top of his head. "This is another problem with the modern military. The hair. I don't see the purpose in having everyone cut their hair. At least we were able to keep our hair long in the real army—all we had to do was keep it tied back with a ribbon."

"I agree. They're all focused on hair and image instead of providing proper military training." I weighed in with my opinion. God! I missed my hair. Again.

"Not this shit again, you old fuckers. How many times do I have to tell you that with each major war, our military has improved? We learn from the tactical and training errors made in the previous wars so that we don't make the same fucked up mistakes that you did." Rex explained. "The wars you both fought in were archaic at best—Garrett during your war, the army was still in it's infancy stages. Same as the Confederacy during the Civil War."

What the fuck did the little boy just say? "You son of a bitch!" Garrett impaled Rex with a punch to the jaw.

I jumped in there too. "You may know your weapons, boy, but let's see how you do with your fists!"

"Bring it on motherfucker! We learned how to handle to enemy combatants at once in the Marines, something you geriatric fuckers nev..."

Rex was knocked down by one well-placed punch to the face by Emmett. Our big lug of a brother picked up Rex and had a chat with him. "Now, Rex, I have no doubt that you're a stellar fighter, but you've got to show those men respect. They were the forefathers of our country. Without them, America wouldn't be what it is today. They fought in wars that you know you would have been scared shitless to fight in. I sure would have been. Let's go back inside the house and watch 'The Patriot'. I always like the part when Mel Gibson pulls out the ol' stars and stripes and convinces everyone to stay and fight—I mean that's what it's all about, isn't it?"

"That and when Heath Ledger goes out looking to avenge the death of his girl. That was hot." Rosalie added.

"Ahem!" Emmett made like he was clearing his throat. "Honey, I'm on a roll. I know you like the Heath Ledger part, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about freedom, pride in your nation, justice."

"And honestly," Bella said, "all of this would have more of an impact if the four of you weren't buck naked."

"Personally speaking, I'm enjoying the view." Tanya added.

"I think we're done in there. We even got Garrett's truck smelling normal again." Edward came out with Mike. They smelled like skunk.

"Can we go home now? I need a shower." Mike stated.

Rose and Bella sighed and started mixing more solution.

"Strip!" Vicky ordered. Poor dudes, all they did was sell us guns. I think we'll have to put off hunting for a few years again. Let the women calm down a bit. Yep, that's definitely what we have to do.

**Hasn't Jasper and Bella's relationship improved tenfold? What's going on with Carlisle, though? What did you think of our four hunters? Let me know and I'll write back. You know how much I love hearing from you. XOXO**


	41. Chapter 41

**Thanks so much for your reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. I have the most supportive and most intriguing readers-I have so much fun reading your messages and reviews. A pool party for all of you.**

**Rose and Em are going to run into problems in this chapter. For the first time ever, you might actually be angry at Em. *mama4dukes, runs and hides***

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Jasper's POV**

"Bella, we haven't been out of this bed in three days. We need to leave now if we're picking up a gift before going to Pete and Char's."

"It's not my fault that you look so damn sexy in that haircut Rose gave you." Bella pouted. She was sitting up naked and she was playing with her own tits. Fuck it all to hell. We have time for one more round, don't we?

An hour later, we were on our way to New Jersey discussing what we were going to pick up for Pete and Char's housewarming party. It dawned on us, then, that neither of us had any idea whatsoever what to bring to a housewarming party.

"In my day, mama used to send over a pie whenever someone new moved in." I stated.

"Hmm...I've never actually been to a housewarming party before." Bella said. "I would guess you'd bring wine if they were human and maybe a plant."

"Fuck it! We're stopping at the liquor store and grabbing a case each of Jack Daniels and Patron. That should be good enough." I made an executive decision.

"Oh! Good idea. We can stop at Macy's and pick up shot glasses and whiskey tumblers to go along with it." Bella suggested.

"I like that. It'll be our standard gift whenever anyone has a housewarming party." I agreed. The great thing about Bella is that she was really no nonsense about things like gifts and whatnot. I remember Alice being all concerned about frippery whereas Bella is more the get in, take care of business, and get out type.

We quickly made our purchases and headed to Pete and Char's house in Far Hills. "Fuck me, that's a huge house." Bella stated. "I think it's bigger than Esme's house."

"Yeah, Pete paid four million for it. I guess Char fell in love with it upon seeing it and he couldn't say no to her. You know how he is with her." I said. "You know, if you asked me for a house, I'd buy you one."

"I know. I just haven't seen one that I really like yet. Besides, I can live in a tent and be happy."

I rolled my eyes at her. I've been begging my wife to make a big purchase for years now. She came home all excited one day in Dubai and said that she finally purchased something big. I got all excited and asked her what it was. It turned out to be Scooby Doo floor mats for our Range Rover. Oh well, maybe someday she'll see something that excites her.

I grabbed the cases of liquor while Bella took the bag with our swimsuits in it plus the gifts from Macy's. Pete came out to greet us. We were the last ones to get there. He showed us to a room in their house where we could get changed.

"This is actually your room—in case you needed to get away from the big city we figured that you could always come here." Pete said, sheepishly.

Bella and I threw on our swimsuits and...uh, "No, fucking way are you going out there wearing that!"

"It's a bikini."

"Couldn't you wear a one piece?" I asked, aghast. It was red, stringy, and barely there.

"I don't own any, besides it's only family."

"Uh, here." I threw my shirt on her and buttoned it up all the way to the top. I even buttoned the sleeves up for good measure.

Bella crossed her arms in front of her and asked sarcastically, "Are you sure you covered me up enough? Perhaps you should go and see if you can rent a nun's habit for me."

It's not a bad idea, really. Bella took the shirt off. "Hey, what are you doing? I just got that perfect."

"It's mid July and it's a fucking pool party, Jasper. The people invited are all family. No one is going to ravish my body except for you." Bella pointed out.

"Fine." I groaned as we went to join the party. I put my arm around Bella and kept her by my side. Peter and Char's pool was humongous. It was at least three times the size of a standard residential swimming pool and it had three levels and a waterfall.

"What do you think of the pool?" Char asked.

"It's beautiful." Bella replied, nicely.

"Pete hired a pool architect to come in and design the perfect pool for us. Each tier graduates in temperature from warm to hot. The main pool at the bottom is warm, the second tier is warm/hot, and the top tier is hot." Char explained.

"Bells! Come on in for a dip!" Riley yelled from inside.

Bella dove in to join her brother.

"She's still mad at me, isn't she?" Char asked.

"She's not mad at you. She's just uncomfortable around you." I sighed.

"Doesn't she realize that I'm not a threat to her?" Char had venom tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, she knows. It's not about you being a threat. Listen, you're gonna have to talk to her yourself. You can talk to me all you want, but it's not gonna solve a thing."

"Oh, sure, if Rose would just leave Bella's side for thirty seconds, I might be able to do that." Char said, sarcastically.

"I told you before that she and Rose are especially close. You're not ever gonna get in between that relationship." I stated. I took a glance around and everyone was enjoying themselves. Mike was setting up a volleyball net inside the swimming pool.

"I want to be Bella's friend, Jasper. I really do. We were friends before, well before, you know—all the shit started with you, me, and Pete. Can't she just let bygones be bygones?"

"Charlotte, some things just take time. This is one of them. You can't push her." I warned.

"I know. Pete said the same thing. I fucked up so royally with Bella. I wish I hadn't. She was the first friend I ever had and, stupid me, had to go and get jealous." She sighed.

I gave Char a hug. "Just give it time. She'll come around."

I wasn't about to get in between Char and Bella and neither was Peter. I'd talked about it with him. Pete didn't blame Bella for feeling the way she did about Char. Char had been jealous of Bella because of her friendship with Pete, but mostly because of her being mated to me. When that was brought out in the open, Bella became pissed off—mainly because Char's jealousy was completely unfounded. From that point on, Bella and Char's friendship settled into a civil one. Pete surprised me the most, although he wanted that relationship to be repaired, he thought Char deserved to feel the consequences of her actions.

Char left to go hang out with Vicky. That friendship, so far, had withstood the test of time. They both shared the distinct displeasure of having been pets in Maria's army. Both women's bodies were marred with scars. Here, though, amongst family—no one ever judged. Pete and I were covered in bite marks too. Alice had always been embarrassed about my scars and asked me to cover them up. Bella had never mentioned them once. When we were in Dubai, I finally asked Bella why she didn't ever mention my scars.

Her answer was typical Bella. "They don't bother me, do they bother you?"

"No, I guess they don't." I told her.

"They're part of who you are, Jasper. You'd be less of a man without them." She concluded.

That was it. The subject of my scars was never brought up again. They didn't bother Bella one bit. She accepted them as a part of who I am.

I noticed Bella, Rose, and Em sitting in the top tier of the pool. I decided to join them. As I took my place in the pool, I noticed that Em had a frown on his face.

"What's up, bro?" I asked.

"Nothing." He said, between gritted teeth.

"Don't sound like nothing to me." I commented.

"You know the weekend that we're going to Philadelphia?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah."

"Our wives want to go to Montreal that weekend."

"Can't it be another weekend? Em and I really want to go to Philadelphia and to be honest, it wouldn't be fair to Rex and Garrett for us to cancel." I pointed out.

"No, it can't be another weekend and you and Em aren't invited. Bella and I want to do a weekend away—just the two of us." Rosalie said.

Oh, is that all. By now, I was used to Bella going off for a couple of days or even a week without me—and vice versa. As long as we gave each other prior notice, neither of us minded. Em clearly wasn't happy. If this wasn't a test for him, I didn't know what was.

"Have fun." I said. "Just make sure you call us when you get there so we know you arrived okay."

Emmett narrowed his eyes at me as if I were a traitor. "You're just gonna let them go—just like that? What if they get hurt? What if some rogue vampire attacks them?"

"Em! The same could be said for you and me in Philadelphia. We can't expect our wives to sit around and wait for us at home while we go and have fun." I said.

"I like Montreal. I don't understand why we can't go with you. Why can't you two just go on a different weekend?" Emmett pouted.

"Emmett, we need this." Rose said. "Bella and I are giving you enough warning so you're aware. You and Jasper are going to be away the same weekend anyway so what's the difference?"

"The difference is that you aren't going to be at home. You'll be away in unfamiliar territory without us to protect you." Emmett argued.

"Fine! Is that the way you want to play it, Emmett?" Rosalie yelled. "Then, Bella and I are going to Philadelphia with you because we don't trust your asses alone in unfamiliar territory!"

"What the hell do you mean by you don't trust us?" Emmett shouted.

I got out of the pool and held my hand out for Bella. This wasn't our argument. Emmett still was massively overprotective of Rose. He'd better get over it quick because this is exactly what caused Rose to run to Asia and I'll be damned if she brings Bella along with her the next time she runs.

Bella and I were walking around the pool when she reached up on her tippy-toes to kiss me.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For being you." She smiled. "Okay, so when you go to Philadelphia, you have to send me a postcard from the post office at 316 Market Street."

"Why?"

"They cancel stamps using the postmark B. Free Franklin on it. Did you know that Ben Franklin was the very first postmaster general?" Bella gets so excited about history. It still turns me on each time she gets that look on her face.

"Okay, I'll send you a postcard and take a picture in front of the post office. I'll even pick up a Ben Franklin t-shirt for ya." I said.

"Cool!" Bella said, excitedly. "You're so lucky. I've always wanted to go to Philadelphia."

"We can go there anytime, Bella. It's only two hours away." I chuckled.

"I keep forgetting that we're not in Boston anymore." Bella said. "Oh! That reminds me. I was wondering if we can go on a little drive one weekend—just the two of us. There's a little artist's colony in Pennsylvania called New Hope that I want to go to. It's only about an hour away from Manhattan."

"Baby, you don't even have to ask. We'll make a weekend out of it. Let's look online to see what else there is to do around there." I suggested.

"Jay! Bells! Get in here and play volleyball with us!" Riley called out to us. We hopped in the pool and joined in the game. I gave Bella a kiss before moving to the other side—it was men versus women.

"Wasn't this a good idea?" Mike whispered. "This way we can watch their tits bounce up and down."

Figures. Wait a second. "Hey fucker, that's not really fair. Your wife has no tits." I told Mike.

"I know that. She has no ass either. Give a sad fucker like me a little break. You know what it's like to be married to her."

"Fine—keep your eyes off of my wife, though." I warned.

"Are you fucking with me? Let me show you how much fun it is to have Bella on the other team." Mike passed the volleyball to Bella.

Instead of trying to get it. She screamed and ducked underwater. Mike and I both chuckled. After that, everyone passed the ball to Bella. Each time, she'd either scream and duck or do a lame attempt at grabbing the ball which made her tits jiggle.

After a while, she gave up and left the game. "Gee whiz, Bella, you're the only vampire I know that can't play volleyball." Rex commented. "I'm enjoying the view, though."

Fucker. Rex thought Bella was hot and he was never shy about voicing his opinion.

"I'm not good at any sports that require hand-eye coordination. Hang on, that's not entirely true. I've always been good at beer pong and billiards." She said.

"Those are all sports that go hand in hand with copious doses of liquor, sis." Riley said.

"What can I say? I'm a lush." Bella wagged her eyebrows as she sat at the edge of the swimming pool and watched us play. She eventually cracked open a bottle of Jack and started drinking from it.

Oh good, she'll be nice and horny for me by the time we get home. What the hell am I saying? I just spent seventy-two hours doing all sorts of kinky shit in bed to mate. Something has got to be wrong with me. Maybe I'm a sex addict.

I scratched my head and looked at Bella. She smiled and blew me a kiss. I went to join her at the edge of the pool and took a swig from her whiskey. We noticed that Emmett and Rose were still arguing. They were rehashing the same shit over and over again. In this case, I hated to say this, but Em has to loosen his hold a bit or he's gonna lose her. I mean, all she wants to do is go to Montreal with her sister for a weekend.

Eventually, the volleyball game broke up. Emmett and Rose left the party early. Char put on some music and everyone either lounged around or danced. I finally got to two-step with my Bella. Unbelievable! It took eight fucking years to get to this point. I had to laugh. She and I were gonna be just fine.

_**Monday Morning...**_

**Rose's POV**

I've had it! I've absolutely had it with that possessive, neanderthal brute that I'm married to. I'm leaving. I won't ask Bella to come with me. She and Jasper just got their shit back together. All I wanted to do was go to Montreal for one weekend. One fucking weekend and he won't even let me do that. I'm scared though. I don't have guts like Bella does. I don't know where to go.

I'll have to stay in the United States. Where, though? Forks. Forks is where I'll go. I've always felt safe and secure there. I have enough cash to buy a used car once I get there and the garage in the house is still set up so I can fix it up.

I'm leaving now. Em will think I'm at work so he won't suspect a thing. I'll call my sister once I get there to tell her I'm okay. Say goodbye to Mrs. Rosalie McCarty—welcome back Rosalie Hale!

**Bella's POV**

"Bells, it's Laurent."

"What's up?"

"Can you come in and help at the studio until two? Our morning receptionist has the flu."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I replied as I ended the call. "Jasper! Where are you?"

"I'm downstairs." He called.

"Well, did you hear the phone call?"

"Yep, I'll come with ya. I want to go hang out in Garrett and Rex's war room."

"Okay. I'll be ready in five minutes."

Jasper dropped me off at the studio. It was so Laurent, I loved it. The entire studio was serene in a peaceful, Japanese style. The floors, the walls, everything was inlaid with bamboo. There was a weight room, a spinning room, two fitness studios, and a separate yoga studio. Katie was teaching a class called Body Pump where you worked out with weights to music. Apparently, Rex came in to teach a class called Boot Camp two evenings a week. The class sold out as soon as word got around about the instructor. Men couldn't get in even if they wanted to so they opened up a new class called Boot Camp for Men. That class sold out too. Most of the guys wanted whatever Rex had. Unfortunately being an incubus doesn't come to just anyone.

"Thanks for coming in, baby girl." Laurent said.

"No problem. I like keeping busy." I stated. "Oh, Jasper asked me to tell you that he wants to resume his karate lessons."

"Tell him Sunday nights at 7pm. All of the men plus Vicky and Irina are here then."

"I think I'll come, then, too." I decided.

"Good girl. I have to go teach a Mommy and Me yoga class now. These are the brochures. Have them fill out these forms if they want to register for classes. This is the list of filled classes. These are the waiting lists for boot camp and for my hatha yoga class. Bottled water is two dollars each. The prices are marked on everything else. Can you work a cash register?"

"Uh, yeah, since I was fourteen." I said.

"I forgot, little girl." Laurent patted me on the head. "Oh, here's the key for the spray tanning booth. Thirty dollars a session. Have them watch the instructional video before heading in. Family is free. I'm ordering you to go use it after I'm done teaching this class. You're as white as a ghost."

"I'm a vampire." I pouted.

"Yes, but do you have to be so obvious about it." With that statement, he left to go teach the class. Did he say Mommy and Me? I took a quick peek in the class and sure enough Laurent was pretending to be a cat along with a bunch of mom's and their preschoolers. He's good with kids though. He's extremely patient.

Laurent's business was hopping. I thought I would be able to just sit around and read for four hours. Nope. I was signing people up for classes, letting people into the spray tanning booth, and it was unbelievable the amount of parons who forgot their bottles of water.

Vicky came in for a spray tan around noon then sat with me for a bit after I ran into the tanning booth while she watched the front.

"Are you sure I look better?" I asked.

"You look more human then when you were human." She stated. What the fuck? First Laurent tells me that I look like a ghost, then Vicky tells me that I looked inhuman when I was human. What next?"

"You need to cut your hair, honey. Your ends are becoming all scraggly." Vicky ran her fingers through my hair.

I guess the hair was next. Do I look that bad? Vicky left a few minutes later to head to a jewelry supply store. She was taking a class for making a new style of bracelet. After that, she was going to the YWCA to take a quilting class. I gave her a big hug and sent her on her way. Then, I thought about the fact that we were probably going to be inundated with bracelets and quilts soon. Oh boy.

Around two pm, I left the studio and walked next door to Newton's. There were three shops in this mini strip mall: Newton's Olympic Outfitters, Laurent's Ab Lab, and Vamped. Carlisle purchased the vacant strip mall after Mike and Edward told him of their initial plans. After that, they worked on convincing Laurent, Amanda, and Tanya to move into the additional spaces.

As soon as I walked in, Edward threw a Newton's polo on me. He even had a nametag that read Isabella ready for me. "Uh, you already know what to do. I have to go install a cargo rack on this guy's SUV."

"You know, you used to want me to quit my part time job at Newton's when we were dating." I called after him, sarcastically. "Thanks for asking!"

He ran back, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and said, "Aren't you glad you didn't listen to me? I love you, sis."

"You, girl." A snippy, society mom walked up to me and handed me a list. She was dressed in designer duds from head to toe and wore dark sunglasses. "My twins are going on a camping trip with the boy scouts. They need everything on this list. I want top of the line everything. Their sizes are on the back. Have everything packed and ready to go to camp. My husband will be by to pay for everything in a couple of hours."

"Uh, ma'am. I can get you most of these things, but toothbrushes, toothpaste, some of the toiletries—you're gonna have to get across the street at the Walgreens."

The bitch huffed. "I don't have time for this crap, I have a hair appointment in the city in an hour." She reached into her purse. "Here's five hundred bucks. Go across the street, buy whatever it is they need, and keep the change." She walked out of the store after that. Okay, if that's the way she wants to play it, fine. Bitch. It's a wonder she even gave birth to children.

I gathered up everything her sons' needed and packed them up nicely. She wants top of the line, then the bitch gets top of the line. I threw in everything from high tech, sweat absorbing underwear to the best socks money can buy—at twenty bucks a pair, I refuse to even let Jasper purchase them. I don't care how much money we have. Titanium mess kit, check. Backpack, check. Hiking boots, size 8, check. Sleeping bags, check. Swim trunks, check. Towels? Uh-oh. Oh I know, I can throw in those high-tech camping towels—five each should do, check. Flashlight, check. Battery, check. Swiss Army Knife, check. Done. I tallied up her bill which amounted to roughly five thousand dollars. Now, if it were me. I would have splurged on the backpack and the hiking boots, but other than that, everything else would have been from Walmart. Who knew how these society bitches thought? I swear they have no appreciation for money whatsoever.

I ran across the street to Walgreens, picked up their toiletries and shoved it into the backpack for them. I pocketed the four hundred and seventy dollars remaining like she said. I didn't need to, of course, but I call it her penalty for being such a bitch and for making me do all of her shit for her.

About an hour later, her executive husband swung by to pick everything up.

"Well, hello, gorgeous." He said. "I think my wife might have stopped by earlier for my sons. She said you'd have a couple of packages ready for me."

"Yes, I do, sir. Here's your invoice." I handed Mr. Creeptacular the bill while he eyed me up and down, then read my nametag.

"I don't need to see that, Isabella. Such a pretty name. Just run my card through." He handed me a black credit card as if I should be impressed. I ran the card through and had him sign for everything.

"So, Isabella, are you single?"

"No." I held my left hand up for him to see my wedding band. He seemed a little taken aback by the size and quality of the diamond. That's right, fucker, it's a custom made Harry Winston.

"Does your husband treat you, okay? Obviously not, if he has you working. A pretty girl like you should be pampered." That shit was actually trying to pick me up. "How about I take you out for dinner on the town tonight?"

"No, thank you." I said, politely. I grabbed the two backpacks and carried them out to his Mercedes. I noticed that he only carried the sleeping bags. Some gentleman he is.

"Come on. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be working at a place like this." Mr. Creeptacular was relentless as he opened the trunk to his car up. The fucker actually grabbed my ass while I placed the two backpacks into the trunk of his car for him.

"Get your hands off of me!" I snapped, just as a Range Rover pulled up in the stall next to his.

"Take your fucking hands off of my wife if you know what's good for you." Jasper growled. I instantly smelled the stench of urine as Mr. Creeptacular peed his pants. He frantically dove into his car and sped off.

"Hey, baby, you ready to go?" Jasper asked.

"No, she's not. Here, put this on." Edward threw Jasper a Newton's shirt with a nametag that read Jasper on it. "Today's super busy and Mike's in Oregon so I need your help. I'm not paying you either."

"Okay, we'll stay." Jasper chuckled.

"Thanks, Bella knows how to work the registers and stuff."

We stayed until closing then headed home. Laurent dragged Jasper in for a spray tan before we left. I don't know what everyone's issue was about our skin. We're fucking vampire's for God's sake.

We were about halfway home when I felt an incredible jolt in my chest that had me doubled over in my seat. Jasper had a look of sheer shock on his face.

"Baby? What's wrong? Baby?" He asked.

We were stuck in the middle of traffic and he couldn't pull over. "Pain." I groaned. "Rose."

Just as my sister's name tumbled out of my mouth, Jasper's cell buzzed. As soon as Jasper answered the call, the voice on the other end cried, "She's gone! Pete said she called out of work—never showed up. Rose is gone!"

"Are you at home?" Jasper asked.

"Yes." Emmett sobbed.

"Stay there, don't move. We'll be right there." Jasper instructed before hanging up the phone and looking at me. "We have to get to Em. He's bound to do something stupid. How's your chest?"

"She's in pain. I don't think she's hurt physically, but she's in pain." I said. A couple of minutes later, my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller id, it was Rose.

"Rosie? Where are you?"

"I couldn't take it anymore, Bella. He's so stifling. All I wanted to do was go to Montreal with you and he was so bullheaded about it. Do you realize that last night, he actually had the nerve to lay down the law? He said that since I'm just a woman and he's the man, he's the head of the household, therefore, I should be listening to him. I need you, Bella."

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Forks, but don't tell him, please."

"Tell her you'll be right there." Jasper said.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Yes, thanks, Jasper." Rose said.

"I'm on the way to the airport now." I assured, before hanging up the phone. I looked up at my mate.

"I'll keep Emmett at bay. I won't say a word to him. Just try to get her to come home. I'll work on Em—he's stubborn as an ox and he obviously didn't learn the first time she ran. I don't want them to have to go through what we went through, babe."

"I love you, Jasper." I said.

"I love you, too, Bella." He replied. "Fuck, this traffic is worse than Boston."

"No, shit. I'm really missing Boston right now." I said.

I looked over at my mate and, for some reason, was completely turned on. I think it was the fact that he was being extra sensitive and understanding. I took my seatbelt off, leaned over, and undid his shorts. I had his whole length in my mouth before he could say one word to protest. Not that he ever did, but hey.

"Fuck, baby." He moaned.

"Mmm...we can do that too, if you want." I said.

Jasper was moaning as he fought with the traffic and his need to let go.

"Cum, Jasper, I know you want to." I said. He released his seed straight onto my tongue screaming my name at the top of his lungs. I packed him back up in his pants, sat up, and put my seatbelt back on.

"I want one of those as soon as you get home." Jasper ordered.

"Now that's getting greedy, don't you think?" I chuckled.

Jasper wagged his eyebrows at me. A few minutes later, he finally pulled into the airport.

"Don't bother waiting with me. I'll text you with the flight info. You need to get to Em." I said.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jasper pulled me into his arms and gave me a deep, lingering kiss. "Be safe. I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too." I said. I watched my husband drive away, then rushed to the airport counter to get to my sister.

_**The next day...**_

As soon as the plane landed, I left the airport and headed for the house in Forks on foot. It was faster than renting a car and hailing a cab and it was still dark out so I could run undetected. I ran inside the house and found Rose balled up on the floor crying.

"Oh, Rose." I said, picking her up. I let her sob in my arms for a few hours.

"He was so cruel. I'd never, ever seen Emmett this way. I thought he was going to hit me." She said.

"Oh, I'm gonna rip the motherfucker apart. You tell me everything, Rosalie Lillian Hale. You tell me everything, now!" I yelled.

She told me everything. She told me how they had argued over and over again about her going to Montreal with me. Em finally flipped out yesterday morning and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her as he yelled at her that he was the man of the house and therefore the law. That was enough to scare the shit out of Rose so she drove to work, parked the car, and had a taxi come and pick her up and take her to the airport.

I was beyond pissed. For Em to scare Rose this way just went beyond the proper boundaries of marriage, mating, whatever.

I went outside and knocked down a few trees. I was so pissed off. My cell phone buzzed at that moment. It was Jasper. "I kicked the fucking shit out of him, Bella. I ripped his goddamned arms off. He told me he shook her. How dare he fucking lay his hands on a woman. I know he didn't hit her, but aaaagggghhhh! Oh, and I'm sorry about that time eight years ago when I ripped your clothes off because I was jealous of Peter. That was so wrong of me."

"Baby, you already apologized for that." I said. "How's Emmett doing?"

"Don't bring her home yet. Carlisle's talking to him and so is Pete. Riley's on his way. I had to get away because I was so pissed off. How's Rose?"

"Crying. Sad. Scared. Everything she should be." I said.

"Alright, he's coming outside so I'm hanging up now. I love you, baby. Be good."

"Love ya'." I managed to get in before he abruptly hung up.

I ran back into the house. "I want to do something crazy, Bella. Something ridiculous. Something impossible and outrageous! I thought he had changed after India, but I guess not." Rose said.

"You two didn't work on it." I stated. "You went back to the way things were instead of making sure you made changes. It took Jasper and me a good five years after India for things to really change. It takes a lot of hard work, Rose. You don't want to run away like I did. I'm not saying that I wasted those two years, but it hurts to be away from your mate for so long. It's really painful. Besides, when you're away from each other, you're not really working on your problems together. I'm not saying that you should go back now, he certainly deserves to be alone for a while for how he treated you. I'm just saying that you shouldn't let two years go by."

Rose was sobbing. I sighed as I held her to my chest. "What kind of fun do you want to have, Rose?" I asked.

"I've always wanted to drive across the United States in a convertible." She said.

"Isn't that kind of what they did in Thelma and Louise?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we're Rose and Bella. We're better. I have some money to buy a car." She said.

"Keep it. If we're doing this, we're doing this right. Between you and me, I've always wanted a bright red, convertible Ferrari." I admitted. "Jasper's been wanting me to spend some money for years—he won't mind."

"A Ferrari? Really? Oh, let's do it! Let's go to Las Vegas too. Maybe we can pretend we're celebrities or something. I want to be pampered, Bella. I only want to do the nomad thing in India, the food's good there." Yeah, those tiger's certainly are delicious.

"Okay, Vegas it is. There's a Ferrari dealership at the Wynn we can go to." I said. If being pampered and pretending to be celebrities is what Rose wants then that's what we'll do. I need to get her talking because, if anything, I learned that avoiding the topic can be more detrimental to your relationship than anything.

Rose locked up the house in Forks. I visited Daddy at his grave and introduced him to Rose before we left. Rose actually embraced his tombstone and said that she would have loved to have had him for a father. She broke down and went on a long diatribe about how her human father never allowed her any freedom and raised her to obey men and marry rich. She even told Daddy about Royce and his friends and what they did to her. She, then, spoke about our adventures in Japan and India and how she and I are connected by our souls. After that, she sat and sobbed. I held her for a little while until Rose said she was ready to leave. We told Daddy that we'd see him later and left.

We decided to run to Las Vegas and hunt along the way. We shared a grizzly bear that Rose literally ran into. Whenever she and I shared a feed, it cemented our bond together. I always knew when she was in distress because I felt tightness in my chest. It was different from a mating pull. That pain was beyond horrific, but the jolt I felt in the car was nothing like I'd felt before. It was just as strong.

We got to Las Vegas and ran to the Forum Shops. "How much cash do you have Rose?" I asked.

"About eighty thousand." She said.

"Good, give me five." I said. "I only have four hundred and seventy dollars with me. I got tipped today by the ultimate bitch mother while I was working at Newton's. I have to go to the bank tomorrow. I know for a fact that there's a branch here that I can go to."

"She tipped you four hundred and seventy dollars?" Rose asked. I explained what happened and had Rose cracking up. "So, you're saying that she gave you five hundred bucks to pick up toiletries for her kids to go camping with?"

"Yep and she told me to keep the change, then her creepy husband tried to pick me up. The fucker grabbed my ass. Jasper scared the fuck out of him." I stated.

"Bella, I just realized something. If all you have is four hundred and seventy bucks, weren't you carrying any of your own cash?" Rose asked.

I shook my head no. "Bella, you're the only billionaire I know that walks around with no cash. You should at least carry cab fare with you in case of emergency." She looked at me disapprovingly as she handed me the cash.

I walked with Rose to the concierge desk and spotted the person I was looking for—Claude.

"Hello, Claude." I said.

"Mrs. Whitlock." He said, instantly recognizing me. "You still look, young and beautiful. How may I assist you today?"

Oh, shit, I forgot about the aging thing. "Claude, I'm so happy you noticed. I have an excellent plastic surgeon." I said, covering for my faux pas. "I was wondering if you could book a suite for my sister and me. Only the best. Not the Hugh Hefner Skyline Villa though. That's only for when Mr. Whitlock is with me. We also need the services of a personal sho..."

I paused as I saw Rose shaking her head at me. "Okay, scratch the personal shopper. We'll do that ourselves. We want two cases of Jack Daniels waiting for us at our hotel room and the name of a place where we can play billiards. Tomorrow morning we'll need you to find us room at a full service spa and beauty salon. And, anything else, Rose?"

"We want to see strippers, really, hot male strippers." Rose added.

Claude chuckled. "Easy enough. I'll send you where I go."

I handed Claude the five grand. "For your services while we're here." I said.

"This is too much, Mrs. Whitlock." Claude tried to return the cash.

"Not really, I plan on utilizing your services often, Claude."

"Mrs. Whitlock, I'm your man. I'm here for your disposal during your visit."

"Good. We're going to do some shopping now and we'll stop by to get the name of the hotel before we leave."

Rose and I ran around the Forum Shops and picked up a couple of days worth of clothes. "Why did you say no to the personal shopper, Rose? I thought you wanted to be pampered."

"Do you like shopping with Alice?" Rose asked.

"Good point." I said.

"Bella, are you sure this is okay? You've been paying for everything." Rose seemed worried.

"Are you kidding. Jasper will be ecstatic. He's always bitching and moaning about how I don't spend any money."

We went back to Claude. "Mrs. Whitlock, I have two suites prepared for you. I wasn't sure which was more to your taste. One is more on the refined, luxurious side. It's at the Venetian Hotel where your spa date is scheduled to begin at 10 am tomorrow. The other is actually an offer from the manager of the Palms Hotel. When I mentioned you were in town, he offered one of any of his suites, including his fantasy suites, for you and your sister. If it were me, I'd take advantage of it. Free is always good." Claude winked.

"I agree." Rose said.

"Okay, the Palms Hotel it is." I said.

"Excellent, I have a vehicle waiting for you outside. Let me get your bags for you." Claude said. He gave me his card, thanked me again, and asked me to call tomorrow.

"Claude, can you have two suitcases delivered to our hotel so Rose and I have something to put our purchases in?" I asked, as we were heading out.

"Absolutely, I'll work on that as soon as I return to my station." Claude waved us off as the limo pulled out.

The manager of the Palms was there to greet us as the limo pulled up in front of the lobby. I let Rose pick the suite. She chose the fucking Barbie Suite. I was going to be living in a room modeled after Barbie's fucking Malibu Dream House. I was in a hot pink hell. Sad because I love hot pink. Oh well, at least there's a jacuzzi in here.

Rose did something to my scraggly hair and made it look fabulous. All the while telling me that I really needed to get it cut. No shit, it's been a while. I did, however, have all of my body hair threaded off while I was in Dubai so at least I'm doing okay in that department. My sister dolled me up, then herself, and we headed out for a night out on the town.

We started off with the casino downstairs. "I have no idea how to gamble, do you? The last time I came here I kept losing and Jasper kept winning. I feel lucky though. Let's try something easy like blackjack." I suggested.

"Oh my God, I forgot my purse upstairs. I'll be right back." Rose ran up to the room.

My cell started ringing. It was Jasper. Excellent timing. "Babe, how are you holding up?"

"Fine, you got my text, right?"

"Yes, how is ol' Claude doing?"

"Efficient, same as always. How are things at home?"

"I had to knock Em out because he's hysterical without Rose. I haven't given him his arms back yet. I will, once he calms down. How's Rose?"

"She's avoiding the topic and trying to forget. She wants to be pampered so I'm letting her have her way for now." I stated. "My plan is to get her home within ten days. Any longer and I don't know how I'll hold out without you."

"Don't worry, if it takes longer than ten days, I'm coming to join you girls."

"While I have you on the phone, how much do I gamble initially with blackjack?" I asked.

"Why don't you start small—like a thousand dollars." Jasper suggested.

"A thousand dollars? That seems like a lot."

"Really? I started with a ten thousand dollar bet the last time we were there."

"Okay, stop. I'll figure it out myself. I don't want to lose the lucky mojo I'm feeling." I said.

"Alright, baby. Now listen, knowing you, you probably don't have any cash with you. If you go to any casino cashier, you can pull out as much as you want using the credit card. It's much safer than carrying around wads of cash. We pay it off every month anyway so we won't be charged any interest."

"Got it. Use credit card at casino cashier." I repeated. "Oh, the manager of the Palms gave us the room for free. He remembered you from the last time."

"Okay, then try and gamble at least a hundred thousand in his casino, okay? He's trying to recoup his losses from the last time."

"Uh, sure." I gulped. How the fuck am I supposed to do that? I've never wasted a hundred thousand dollars just for kicks.

"Baby, I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"I can't wait. I love you." I said.

"Remember, Bella, you have to spend to win." Jasper instructed before he hung up.

Rose came downstairs a couple of minutes later with her purse. My phone buzzed with a text.

**From: P Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**Roulette for Rose—she needs to feel confident. No blackjack for you. Go to high stakes slots only. Trust me. **

"That was from Pete. He said that you need to go to the roulette tables and I have to go to the high stakes slot machines." I stated.

"Well, I'm not betting against him." Rose said.

"Neither am I. I wonder if we just go and place our bets now."

Another text came in.

**From: J Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**Geez, Bella, are you that clueless? Go to the casino cashier first and pull out two hundred thousand dollars in casino credits using your credit card. Split the credits between you and Rose. Get cash for whatever credits you have left before leaving Vegas.**

I did exactly as Jasper instructed and gave Rose a hundred thousand dollars in credits. We split up and she headed for the roulette tables. I made my way into the high stakes slot machines area. I looked up at the machines and realized that the minimum bets went from five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars a pull. Fuck me. I figured a high stakes bet was like twenty dollars.

My phone buzzed again with a text.

**From: P Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**$5000. Don't be afraid, baby girl. Keep going til you win.**

I put my head up high and walked up to the casino attendant. I handed her my credit slip. She stamped it and set me up at the slot machine of my choice. I picked the one with the picture of Elvis on it cause I felt good about it.

First pull. Nope, nothing.

Second pull, nothing again.

Third pull, oh God, I'm down fifteen thousand dollars.

Fourth pull, stop thinking about it Bella.

Fifth pull, this is hell.

Sixth pull, what the fuck?

Seventh pull, isn't seven supposed to be a fucking lucky number?

Eighth pull, damn it—the Chinese say that the number eight symbolizes prosperity. Maybe that only works in China.

Ninth pull, aaaagggghhhh!

Tenth pull, this machine is defective, I know it.

Eleventh pull, Jasper won a fucking truck with one pull.

Twelfth pull, I'm going to cry.

Thirteenth pull—_Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! _Holy fuck, I think I just won. What the fuck did I win?

A balding man suddenly approached me. "Ma'am, how are you this evening? If you could come with me please?"

"What did I do? Did I break the machine? I'm sure my husband can pay for it." I said, worriedly.

"No ma'am." He chuckled. "You just won the largest payout on a slot machine in the history of this casino. The payout for that particular machine was 2400:1 and your chances of winning was, well, pretty much once in a lifetime. It won't happen again, I can assure you."

"Oh." I opened and shut my mouth as I followed the man. 2400 times 5000. 2400 times 5000. Oh, I hate math. I really do. I can't figure this shit out for the life of me. A text came in.

**From: P Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**Twelve million, you dunderhead. There is no way that you inherited my brains if you can't calculate something that simple.**

Well, that was mean of Peter. Some great-grandfather he is.

**From: I Whitlock**

**To: P Whitlock**

**Oh, yeah, Gramps, well I bet you can't understand Shakespeare and you'll never best me at pool. **

Another text already.

**From: P Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**Touche and tell him, "No, thank you."**

No, thank you, for what. I was so engrossed in the texts that I had no idea that we were already at the casino cashier. I heard the last part of the sentence that the balding man said to me, "...so, may we process the full twelve million in casino credits?"

"No, thank you." I replied.

The man's face fell. "Well, then, Mrs. Whitlock, how shall we process this for you?"

"A cashier's check in my name will be acceptable." I stated.

**From: J Whitlock**

**To: I Whitlock**

**Good girl.**

What the heck were Jasper and Peter doing? Having a play by play discussion about me.

A few minutes later, with my check securely placed in my purse, I decided to go hunt for Rose. She was at a roulette table surrounded by male worshippers. Is that one guy actually begging on his knees? Yes, I believe he is. As soon as she caught sight of me, Rose left the table.

"Did you win?" I asked.

"Nope, absolutely nothing. I just lost a hundred thousand dollars, but these men are doing wonders for my confidence!" She giggled. I looked behind us and there was a trail of men following Rose. Well, no wonder she feels good. That has to be a huge boost for her confidence.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

"Let's go back up to our rooms and chill out. I don't feel like male strippers tonight." Rose suggested.

Oh, thank God. Maybe I can get her talking. We pushed the elevator button and waited. "Rose this is creepy. Those men are standing behind us waiting to take the elevator up with us."

Rose looked back and flashed them a brilliant smile. Just as the elevator door opened, she yanked me inside, pushed the button to our floor, and kissed me square on the lips. The men stopped abruptly just before the door, causing a pile up in front of the elevator. As the door closed, I heard one of the men saying, "I knew they were lesbians!"

I rolled my eyes as Rose smiled smugly at me. We got to our room and decided to unwind and get cleaned up. Rose wanted to take a bath so I decided on a shower. The bath and shower were housed in separate rooms. I turned on the lights and my jaw dropped. There was a fucking stripper pole in the middle of the shower. Did they ever make a Stripper Barbie? No, no I don't think so. I looked around the room and saw that there was a sound system where we can stream music in from. There were alternating disco lights, lighting up the luxurious steam shower too.

I don't know what made me do it, but I turned on some music, set up my phone on record and filmed myself dancing naked around the stripper pole in the shower. I shook my ass, played with my tits, and even flashed my snatch. I planned on sending it to Jasper later tonight. After my shower, I dried off, threw a robe on and went to sit with my sister.

"Bella?" Rose said. I looked up to acknowledge that I heard her. "Why do you think Emmett is so protective of me? Why can't he just allow me a little personal freedom?"

"I think a lot of it has to do with his own personal insecurities." I stated. "What do you know about Emmett? I mean, really know about him. When I first ran to London, I found that while I knew Jasper—his little quirks, his habits, what he liked, and disliked; I didn't really know him on a truly personal level and vice versa. To be honest with you, I don't think most people get to know their spouses intimately. My parents certainly didn't know each other and in our family, I would say that maybe Garrett and Katie are the only other couple that really know each other."

"How did you and Jasper get over your issues? I mean, you two seem so much closer now that you're back from Dubai." Rose noted.

"It wasn't easy to get to where we are today, Rose. That first year in Dubai, we bared our souls to each other. There's absolutely nothing that Jasper doesn't know about me. It's kind of like you and me in India. There's nothing that you don't know about me and vice versa." I explained. To this day, Rose, Jasper, and Peter were the only ones that knew about my slip-up in England. "That first year, there were days when we were on top of the world, other days when we wanted to kill each other and just get it all over with, but in the end we were a stronger couple and we knew that as long as we had each other nothing would ever bring us down again."

Rose broke down and started sobbing again. At some point, she took off to her room to be alone for a while. I decided to take the opportunity to go to my room and send the little video I made to Jasper. A few minutes later, my cell buzzed.

"What the fuck are you trying to do to me, baby?" Jasper asked.

"I just thought I'd send you a little something to remember me by." I said, nonchalantly. "The shower in this Barbie Suite was very interesting to say the least."

"My dick can slice through diamonds right now. You owe me a dance as soon as you get back, my mate."

"Can't wait." I said and hung up the phone.

By four pm the next day, Rose and I had gone to the spa and had every treatment under the sun done to us. We even had our hair cut. We both had highlights added to our hair for the summer for fun. We got back to our room and plopped onto the sofa.

"Bella, I want to go home." Rose said. "I think you're right. Nothing is getting solved with us being here."

"Okay, let's pack our stuff and hit the airport." I suggested.

"What about your Ferrari?" Rose asked.

"I don't really need one. I can always rent one if I wanted to drive one. Once you own your dream car, it's no longer a dream car." I stated. "Oh, and don't you dare tell Jasper about the Ferrari thing—he'll go out and buy one as soon as you tell him."

"Okay, sis. You sure have a funny way of looking at things." Rose said with a perplexed expression on her face.

I smiled at her. After gathering up our belongings and cashing in my remaining casino credits, Rose and I left immediately for the airport. We arrived in New York City at 5:30 am the next morning. Jasper was at the airport to pick us up. He drove us to Emmett and Rose's house where an extremely repentant Emmett was waiting for Rosalie.

Jasper and I didn't stay. We headed straight for home. As soon as he parked, Jasper threw me over his shoulder and ran me into the bedroom.

"I believe you owe me something, Bella." He said, his smoldering black eyes coercing me to do his every bidding. Damn it. Why does he have to be so damn sexy? I noticed a brand new addition to our bedroom—there was a fucking stripper pole in the middle of it.

"Dance, Bella." Jasper ordered. Why does he have to be so good at being in charge? Oh, yeah, he's the Major—and he's all mine.

**Rose and Em certainly have issues to work out. Thank God, Bella was able to convince Rose to go and work her problems out face to face with Emmett. Speaking of Bella, she and Char have issues to contend with too. I felt kind of bad for Jasper and Bella, they finally get back to the States and they're being forced to help out the family with their businesses. If I were them, I'd stay as far away as possible from that strip mall. Hmm...now that I mentioned stripping, Bella can certainly be naughty. Oh, and that Barbie Suite with the stripper pole really exists at the Palm Hotel. I'd love to hear what's on your mind. I promise, as always, to respond.**

**_In other news, I've posted a new fic called You'll Find What You're Looking For At Walmart. It features a loveable Peter and a Bella with a backbone that doesn't brood as much as in this fic. You'll find some familiar characters playing very different roles, but they'll all band together against an evil force. I hope you'll give it a read and let me know what you think. I'll write back to ya-that's a promise. XOXO_**


	42. Chapter 42

**Thank you very much for all of your wonderful, reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. I've made so many wonderful connections because of this story and each and every one of you makes me smile. You can watch strippers with either the male vamps or the female vamps-take your pick. **

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Jasper's POV**

The weekend rolled around and I was in Philadelphia with Rex and Garrett. It was already day two of our trip. Emmett chose not to go with us. He and Rose left the day the girls came back from Las Vegas for their townhouse in Rochester. They were attempting to mend their crumbling relationship. Bella was kicking back at our place in Manhattan. She wanted to unwind after her unexpected trip to Forks and Las Vegas to rescue Rose. I didn't really blame her. She kept telling me how the manager of the Palms Hotel showed them all of the suites he had available and Rose picked what Bella deemed to be the Flaming Pink Hell.

"Jasper, there was Barbie wallpaper all over the room and a display case of Barbie dolls. Do you know how fucking creepy that was? If I were human, I wouldn't have been able to sleep. The only saving grace was the shower with the stripper pole in it." She showed me pictures of the suite. In fact, she showed me pictures of every suite that she and Rose toured. I filed it in the back of my mind that we were doing the Erotic Suite with their treasure chest full of adult toys the next time we're in Sin City.

I was jogged back to the present by Rex. "Hey guys, we should go check out Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It's not too far of a walk from where we are."

We had just come from Franklin Court where the B. Free Franklin Post Office is located. All three of us sent a postcard to our mates from there. Rex and Garrett were envious because Bella's probably the only one that would appreciate it. Well, duh, she was the one that told me about the place.

After touring Philadelphia and picking up souvenirs for our mates, we went back to the hotel room to unwind a little.

"Guys, we should go have a couple of drinks and maybe shoot some pool." I suggested.

"Great idea. I don't know anything about this city, though." Rex said.

"We can ask the concierge. Let's go." I said.

Garrett approached the concierge, "Hello, I was wondering if you could suggest a place where my friends and I can go and unwind a bit. You know, play a bit of pool, have a couple of whiskeys, maybe watch some sports. We just want to go as we are in our Levis."

The concierge eyed us up and down and nodded his head. "I know the perfect spot—it's called The Bike Stop on Quince Street. It has everything you're looking for and it's only a five minute walk from here." He gave us directions, Garrett tipped him, and we were on our way.

We got to the bar and showed our ids to get in. We noticed that the first level was a nightclub with dancing so we asked where the pool table was. We were sent to the next floor up.

"I'll go order some drinks. Jacks all around?" I asked. Garrett and Rex both nodded. I managed to convince the bartender to sell me a bottle of Jack Daniels. I brought it back to our table along with three glasses. By the time I sat down, I noticed that Garrett and Rex had already made new friends.

I was introduced to Johnny and Joe. They were native Philadelphians. One of their friends, Steve, came to join us about five minutes later.

"This is a really cool hangout spot. It's nice to be able to relax without women trying to hang all over us." Rex stated.

"Oh, I know what you mean." Johnny said. "Women can be so aggressive and clingy. You tell them you're not interested or they're not your type and they're still so persistent."

"No shit." I said, thinking about all the times I've gone out and women have practically thrown themselves at me.

"So, where are you guys from?" Steve asked.

"Rex and I live in Fairfield, Connecticut and the Major here lives in Manhattan." Garrett replied.

"Ooh! The Major. I like your monicker. Did you serve in the armed forces or is that just a boudoir name?" Joe asked.

I thought about my last session in the bedroom with Bella and stated, "Both."

"If you live in Manhattan, there's a bar like this in Chelsea called The Eagle. You'd like it. You can relax with our kind there just like here." Steve informed us.

"Thanks, Steve. That's mighty kind of you to give us that information." Garrett said.

"Looks like the pool table's opened up. You guys want to join us?" I figured, I'd be nice and invite these guys.

"Sure, I'd love a game of pool myself." Joe said.

Garrett and Rex played like I did. It was absolutely no fun playing with Bella. She just ripped me apart each and every time. While we were in Dubai, she tried to teach me some of her tricks, but I'd either lose patience with myself or get really turned on by her and end up taking her on the pool table.

"Major, you're fucking projecting lust." Garrett whispered.

"Sorry man. I was imagining fucking Bella on a pool table." I said at vampire speed.

"I can see why you were projecting." Garrett chuckled, so did Rex upon hearing our conversation.

Rex racked up the balls and broke. He played against Johnny. They were pretty evenly matched. After a close game that Rex ended up winning, it was my turn to play against Steve. Garrett went to get more drinks for us.

Steve broke and took solids. It was my turn and when I leaned over to shoot, I felt something brush against my ass. I fucking missed. What the fuck?

Garrett came back with another bottle of Jack Daniels. I filled my glass to the top and downed it. It was my turn to shoot again. I leaned over, took my shot, and when I straightened back up, fucking Joe wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear that he thought I was divine. He, then smacked my ass with his bare hand. What the fuck?

I looked up to see Rex being cornered by two shirtless dudes clad in leather pants only and Johnny was running his hand down a very confused Garrett's chest.

"Dude, I don't roll that way." I told Joe. "I'm married."

"Oh, did you leave your partner at home?" Joe asked.

"Yes." I stated. "Excuse me."

I grabbed Garrett, then Rex, and the three of us ran out of there at vampire speed.

"This is your fault, fucker!" Rex said. "Once you told the concierge that you wanted to hang out somewhere in your Levis, he took it to mean that you were looking for a gay bar. They have a whole legion of fags that wear button front Levis jeans cause supposedly it's some sort of a turn on. These are called jeans man, jeans."

"I didn't know. I feel so dirty right now. That Johnny guy asked if he could cuddle with me." Garrett whimpered.

"Oh, yeah, well at least you didn't have some dude wrap his arms around you and smack your ass." I shouted.

"You wanna know bad? The two dudes that were trying to pick me up wanted to pop my cherry." Rex cried.

The three of us all looked at each other and started laughing. "Let's go find a strip joint. I can't take this shit." I stated.

We found an upscale gentlemen's club called Delilah's. The place was mobbed and the women were beautiful. We talked, drank, smoked cigars and got hard-ons watching the women, but damn it we needed to feel like men again after the harrowing experience the three of us had just gone through.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel room and drove back home. Garrett and Rex dropped me off at my house and took off for their own. I walked inside and called for Bella, but she wasn't home. I buzzed her cell and she said she was on the roof.

The roof? What the fuck is she doing on the roof? I'd better run up to check to see what she's doing.

"Hey, this is nice, baby." I commented. Bella was setting the roof up to look like a tropical oasis.

"I'm not done yet. I need to go to the nursery and pick up more plants." She stated. "How was Philadelphia?"

"Good. I got you a whole bunch of souvenirs." I said.

"Anything special happen?" She asked, casually.

"No, no, nothing special." I said.

"So, you didn't get spanked at a gay bar, then have to go to a strip joint to feel like a man again?" She smirked.

"How did you...was it Alice or Peter?" I asked, between gritted teeth.

"Alice. Who else would have that much detail? Did that one guy really want to cuddle with Garrett?" She asked, curiously.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "and two dudes wanted to pop Rex's cherry."

The two of us had a really good laugh. "Oh, Amar called while you were in Philadelphia. They'll be here in three weeks. We need to set up the guest bedrooms. I was also thinking that the six of us aren't going to fit in the Range Rover. I think we're going to need to trade vehicles with Riley while they're here."

"Good point. So, what are you trying to do up here?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I'm just winging it. I'm gonna put out more plants and I figured some teak deck furniture. What do you think?"

"I like it. We can relax up here in the evenings when our friends are staying with us. Did they say how long they'd be here for?"

"Two and a half weeks." Bella replied. "Oh and Esme and Carlisle are already suggesting that they'd be better off staying at their place because it's more rural. I'm just warning you."

"Uh, no. They're our friends. What the fuck is it with them always trying to butt into our lives?" I growled.

"Come with me, baby." Bella grabbed my hand. "It's overcast out. I want to go for a little drive. I need to hunt anyway. The last time I went was in Forks."

"Yeah, it's probably a good idea. We need to start setting up for our friends anyway." I was more than a little annoyed at Esme and Carlisle suggesting that our friends stay with them. I needed to blow off some steam and think about how to broach the topic of boundaries with them again. The good thing is that I'm sure that we had Em and Rose on our side on this one—if they could get their shit together.

I looked at my smiling wife as we left our house. She was emitting nothing, but joy and peace. I couldn't help, but let myself bathe in those emotions. When I considered all the crap that we went through during the first few years of our marriage, it was hard to believe that we were at the place we were today. I'm such a lucky guy.

_**Friday night...**_

**Alice's POV**

Yippee! I have a rare Friday night off and we're going out on the town on a ladies night. Rose was still gone with Emmett in Rochester and, I hate to say this, but I was elated and so were the rest of the girls because this way she couldn't hog Bella all to herself. We were going to a nightclub called Element in Manhattan for some drinks and dancing and, at 11pm, we were going upstairs in the same club to see Hunk-o-Mania. I was so excited! I'd only been out with Bella once and that was for my bridal shower so I was really looking forward to tonight.

It took a while for us to get to where we were today. I was such a horrible person before that I couldn't even make any friends. It took hundreds, probably thousands, of hours of counseling with Riley for me to realize that I suffered from an illness. I still go to him once a week. Actually, a lot of us go to Riley for counseling. I have no idea how he keeps his head together. Anyhoo, when the Amber debacle happened, the first person to comfort me after hearing about Jasper's infidelity was Bella. Bella, who was hurting more than I was at that point. That made me realize what a complete fool I had been. Not only about Jasper, but about Bella too. She really was a nice person and all I did was manipulate her in Forks. Mike and Riley both encouraged me to email her while she was away. Bella always responded and, by the time she and Jasper had returned from London, I felt really close to her. I even asked her to be my matron of honor at my wedding. I was really careful in my wording too. I knew that she hated any sort of fanfare and whatnot so I told her that all she had to do was show up to two dress fittings and the wedding. She accepted and she even surprised me with a bridal shower.

Bella was meeting us in front of the nightclub since she lives in Manhattan. Oh, there she is.

"Hi, Bella!" I greeted her, excitedly.

"Alice—how are you?"

"Good, good. Are we all here?" I asked.

"We're waiting on Charlotte, I think." Bella stated. "Oh, here she comes. Nine pm on the dot."

"I'm not late, am I?" Char asked. "Pete dropped me off at the other end of the block so I had to walk here in my heels. I don't care what anyone says, heels are uncomfortable."

"Here, here!" Bella stated. "Alice, how do you wear heels all day long while working at Walmart?

"I don't know, I guess I'm just used to it. I'm so short that I have to make up for my deficiency in height somewhere."

"I'm short, but I won't sacrifice comfort for vanity." Char stated.

"Alright, let's go inside already! I want to see Hunk-o-Mania." Amanda was getting antsy. She was always antsy come to think of it. I wish she and Edward would stop having sex everywhere in the house. One time, Mike and I came home after a hunt and they were on our bed. I flipped out. So did Mike. We forced Edward to purchase a new mattress for us. They're like rabbits, those two, I swear.

Sex has gotten much better for me. Mike is so patient and a great teacher, too. I feel really bad for Bella having to be with Jasper. She must have an awful sex life. From what I can remember, Jasper was extremely selfish in bed. I also think he has a small penis cause I don't even recall feeling him inside of me. It's a wonder that he was able to teach Edward what to do the first time he had sex.

We got inside the nightclub and got lucky with seats. A bachelorette party was just leaving so we took over their table before anyone else could.

We ordered drinks and settled in for a chat. "Edward wants to try anal sex." Amanda blurted out.

Okay, I can't really help her there. Apparently, neither could Bella. In fact, no one could so we all deferred to Charlotte.

"Why the hell is everyone looking at me? Pete likes titty fucking. We tried anal sex once and I didn't like it, so we never did it again." Charlotte said.

"Okay, the occasional finger in the ass—I've tried, but not the whole penis." Bella blurted out really fast.

"Oh, it's actually quite nice as long as he takes it slow." Tanya stated. "You have to use a lot of lube and not venom either. Don't let him tell you that venom works just as well cause that's a crock of shit."

"Doesn't it hurt?" Bella asked. "Jasper's always begging me to try it, but I'm too scared. Actually, come to think of it, I think all men beg for it. My human ex-boyfriends asked me too."

"They all ask, sweetie. It's up to you whether or not you want to give it to them. I'd say try it once." Katie said. "If you don't like it. They'll never ask again."

"I agree with what Katie said and Tanya's right, venom is not a substitute for lube." Vicky stated. "What are the men up to tonight? Do you know?"

"Laurent told me they're going to a hookah bar called Le Souk." Irina said. "I think there are belly dancers there too."

"Sounds like a fun spot." Vicky noted.

Suddenly, we heard a great roar of applause coming from the table next to us.

"What on earth is that all about?" I asked.

"Oh, they're just doing body shots." Bella stated. "They suck at it, if you ask me."

"No shit, Bella, Char, and I once brought a whole bunch of Marines to their knees when we were in Massachusetts." Tanya said.

"Tanya, go order us some tequila. Let's show these bitches how they're really done." Bella was wearing an eerie expression on her face. Oh my. I've never seen this side of Bella before.

Tanya came back to the table with four bottles of tequila and a carefully balanced tray of shot glasses. They were really busy so I just grabbed the bottles and the shot glasses, I hope that's okay.

"Isn't that theft?" I asked.

"Only if we weren't going to pay them for them.." Bella stated. "It's not our fault they're busy. Who's up first?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Me!" Char started jumping up and down.

"Calm down, chica. Titty shot or blow job?" Bella asked.

A what? What kind of debauchery is this? Are they all lesbians? Charlotte I can see and Tanya too, but I had no idea that Bella liked women.

"Don't look so surprised. You're next Alice. In fact, do a blow job off of Alice, Char." Bella ordered.

"But, but, um, um, really...I'm not one for public displays of sex. Excuse me...hello...dear God in heaven...um..." I started stuttering.

Bella sat me down on a chair and shoved a shot glass filled with tequila between my legs. Char started licking up my thighs, then suddenly, she grasped the shot glass between her teeth and downed it. Everyone started cheering. Phew! I'm just glad I got through it.

Char repeated the process, this time with Vicky. She placed the shot glass between Vicky's breasts and downed the tequila. People were hooting and hollering at the sight.

We all started doing body shots off of each other and there was a huge crowd gathered around our table.

"Okay, ladies, I learned a new way in Amsterdam. Watch and learn." Bella announced. Katie lift your shirt up to right under your boobs and lean back a little. Tanya, take this shot of tequila and pour it on Katie, from right under her boobs slowly so it drips right onto my tongue."

Bella slid her tongue right under Katie's naval and started lapping up the tequila. The applause was thunderous. Now, we had Navy sailors surrounding our table cheering us on. I've never, ever let loose like this with just the girls—this was so much fun!

A few minutes later, it was time to settle our tab and hit Hunk-o-Mania. Oh! I don't want to stop! This is so much fun!

"Come on, Ali, you're drunk." Bella said and walked me to Hunk-o-Mania so I wouldn't fall. We sat in our seats and waited for the show to start. Five absolutely gorgeous men strutted on stage and started gyrating their hips.

"This is like The Full Monty, but with really hot guys!" Amanda commented. She started whooping and hollering out loud-cheering for the men to take it all off.

All the women started yelling. Bella shook her head. "They don't even come close to your Rex, Tanya."

"No kidding. These men are just hip gyrators, Rex had the power to draw you in—although it could have a lot to do with him being an incubus." Tanya noted.

"Will you two shut the fuck up! Some of us are trying to enjoy the show here!" Irina yelled.

"Sor—ry!" Tanya and Bella replied sarcastically.

Halfway through the show, I started to feel kind of guilty for watching male strippers.

"What's wrong, Alice?" Vicky asked.

"Oh, I feel kind of guilty for watching male strippers while the men are only at a hookah bar." I stated.

"I highly doubt that all they're doing is sitting in a hookah bar, that's probably where they started off the night. They're probably hustling pool at a pool joint by now. Lower your shield for a second, Bella. Take a peek, Alice." Vicky instructed.

My jaw dropped at what I saw. "Aarrgh! Those bastards. Lotharios. Philanderers—the lot of them!"

All of the women became instantly concerned. "What, what did you see, Alice?" Tanya asked.

"They're at a Gentlemen's Club in a private VIP lounge room. Two women are performing at once exclusively for them." I stated, shocked when I saw Mike slip a twenty in her thong.

"What? Why that filthy...what's the name of the club?" Vicky asked.

"The Penthouse Executive Club." I stated.

"Penthouse? As in Penthouse magazine?" Amanda asked. "Edward keeps a stack of those in his underwear drawer."

"Yes." I growled, angrily. "I'm putting a stop to this immediately." I got up off of my chair. Vicky, Amanda, and Irina stood up too.

"Aren't you girls coming?" I asked Bella, Char, Katie, and Tanya.

"Aren't you ladies being a little hypocritical?" Bella asked.

"Absolutely not. There's a difference between watching strippers in a private room and watching them in public." Vicky stated.

"If you say so." Bella said. "I think I'll just hang back here and enjoy the view."

Amanda, Irina, Vicky, and I hailed a cab to the Penthouse Executive Club. We tried to get inside the club, but they wouldn't let women in.

"Where there's a will, there's a way." Vicky stated. We snuck in through the employee entrance and scented our way into where the men were. To say they were shocked was an understatement.

"How dare you!" I slapped Mike across the face. The female strippers kept dancing until Amanda told them to beat it.

"I can't believe you men have the nerve to come to this type of place!" Irina chastised.

"We were just watching them—no big deal." Laurent stated.

"Uh, where are Bella, Char, Katie, and Tanya?" Jasper asked.

"They're still watching Hunk-o-Mania." Amanda said.

"So, I'm assuming that you ladies came from Hunk-o-Mania, too?" Peter questioned.

"Yes, but that was performance art." I explained. "This is debauchery."

"I don't see a difference, do you, Rex?" Peter asked.

"No, not really. Did they happen to mention if I was better than those guys?" Rex asked.

I rolled my eyes and huffed. "Yes, Rex, Tanya and Bella both said you were more talented."

"Yes!" Rex did a fist pump.

"Time to settle our tab, gentlemen. We're getting thrown out in three minutes." Peter informed the men.

"You guys wait outside. I'll take care of the bill." Jasper stated.

"You sure, man?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I've got this." Jasper insisted.

"Thanks." The guys all said. They were completely oblivious to the fact that we were there and angry.

We left the club and waited for Jasper to finish settling the tab. As soon as he came outside, he invited us over to his place for drinks and a dip in their jacuzzi pool. They have a jacuzzi pool? What kind of people have a jacuzzi pool?

I was going to say no considering that Mike and I had a lot to discuss, but everyone else accepted including my husband so I had to go. When we got to their Upper East Side house, I was stunned by the enormity of the place. It was designed impeccably from top to bottom. Jasper gave us a quick tour of his house.

"Jasper, why do you have a giant, artificial tree next to your jacuzzi pool?" I asked.

"Bella likes to swing from it." Jasper smirked.

We ended the tour with the rooftop which was designed like a tropical oasis. Apparently, Bella worked on it all by herself.

I took a peek in their bedroom and I had to ask. "Jasper, why do you have a pole in the middle of your bedroom?"

"I like when Bella swings from it." Jasper chuckled.

"Bella sure likes to swing from a lot of things. Is that a new fitness trend?" I asked.

Jasper thought about it and said. "Uh, yeah, I guess it could be."

Jasper opened up his liquor cabinet and brought out a few brands of whiskey. He invited us all to help ourselves. We soon settled into little groups where we were all conversing about the evening's events.

I wonder where Bella and the girls are?

**Charlotte's POV**

"I can't fucking believe those idiots?" Bella stated.

"No, shit. What's the big deal about watching strippers? It's not like the guys are gonna go home with them. They're not desperate." Tanya said.

"They have us as mates. We blow away any stripper hands down, there's no way they're desperate." Katie laughed.

"More importantly, what's with the double standard? We can watch half naked men shaking their asses on stage, but they can't go and do the same? I just don't get it." Bella pondered. "The night's still young, let's go do something fun."

My cell phone buzzed with a text.

**From: P Whitlock**

**To: C Whitlock**

**Party at Jasper's. See you there. **

"I just got a text from Pete. There's a party at your house, Bella." I announced. I was so excited. Maybe Bella and I will have a chance to talk.

"My house it is, then. Where did you park?" Bella asked Tanya and Kate.

"The lot that's two blocks over from your house." Tanya stated.

"So, we either cab it or trek it—it's only about four miles that way." Bella said.

"Trek." I said. "Those cabs are stinky. We started walking immediately.

"I've got a question, Bella. Why do you and Jasper live in the middle of New York City instead of somewhere more rural?" Tanya asked.

"Beats me. Come to think of it, all of our properties are in urban areas. Hmm...I wonder why?" Bella pondered. "Wouldn't it make more sense for a veggie vamp to purchase properties in more rural areas? Then again, it can get boring. I'm one of those people that absolutely has to live near a big city."

"Fairfield's not that bad and neither is Far Hills. We can run to Manhattan in twenty minutes and even if we drive at human speed it's only an hour away."

"Yes, I know. Fairfield is also a ten minute drive from the parents." Bella pointed out. "That's just way too close for comfort."

Manhattan past midnight on a Friday night in the middle of summer was alive and active. Taking a look at the amount of people lining the streets, you would think that it was still early evening. The four of us were chatting away while we walked. So far, Bella had not shown any sort of animosity towards me—that was a good thing.

We were trekking along on a quieter street when Tanya, Katie, and I came to an abrupt stop. Bella being young and sheltered did not recognize the scent so she kept walking. I yanked my husband's great-granddaughter to my side and clamped my hand over her mouth. Bella was about to protest, but Tanya motioned for her to stay silent. I kept Bella behind me as the three of us went to investigate. I'll be damned if anything should happen to Bella, Pete would kill me—so would Jasper for that matter. Even worse, I don't even want to think about what Vicky would do.

"Looking for me?" A big, brutish vampire asked the four of us. Okay, now might be a good time to panic. This guy could give Emmett a run for his money. He was with a pretty female vampire, probably his mate.

"Felix, you asshole!" Tanya hit him playfully on his arm then went to hug him.

Kate hugged him next. "What the fuck are you doing away from your lair?"

"I was released. Gianna and I have been wandering the United States for ten years now." He stated.

"Why were you released?" Kate asked.

Released from what? From whom? Now, I'm curious.

"Conduct unbecoming of a member of the Volturi. I fell in love with a human girl. They released me because of my years of service and because I have no real talent except for brute strength. I'm so expendable that I wasn't even considered a threat. They were going to drain my mate, but Marcus stepped in and pointed out that it would be unusually cruel to separate a vampire from his mate and against Volturi law. This is my mate and wife, Gianna. Gianna, meet Kate and Tanya Denali."

"Hello!" Gianna said, in thick accented English. She was extremely—chirpy.

"Um, Char, you can get out of your crouched position and stop protecting Bella. This is just Felix—he's a teddy bear." Tanya said.

"Nice to meet you teddy bear, my name is Charlotte Whitlock." I put my hand out for him to shake from my crouched position.

"Pleasure to meet you. Who might you be?" Felix asked Bella.

Bella straightened out and extended her hand to both Felix and Gianna. "I'm Isabella Whitlock. We're going to a party at my house now. Would you like to join us?"

"A party? I love parties. I haven't been to one since I was changed. I'd love to go." Gianna jumped up and down, excitedly.

Felix and Gianna each had oversized hiking backpacks with them. They followed us to Bella's house which was less than a mile away at this point. We walked inside and as soon as everyone caught sight of the newcomers, the men got into crouched positions—shielding their mates while Jasper, Pete, and Garrett stepped in front of us. Rex was sitting perplexed on the sofa. I keep forgetting that he's a pretty young vampire like Bella is too.

"Jasper, I invited them. They're friends of Tanya and Kate." Bella explained, peeking out from behind Jasper.

Felix!" Irina came rushing out from behind Laurent and enveloped Felix into a big hug.

"Sorry. Come in." Jasper said. He took Felix and Gianna's backpacks from them. "Do you like whiskey?"

"Jack Daniels—straight. Gianna prefers wine, if you have any." Jasper threw Felix a bottle of Jack and a bottle of wine. "Did you want a glass? We're not exactly refined here, but we have them just in case."

"No, this is great." Felix said, surprised. "I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. My name is Felix Goodwin and this is my mate and wife Gianna."

"I'm Jasper Whitlock, you've already met my mate and wife Isabella." Jasper stated.

"Major Jasper Whitlock of the 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment?" Felix asked, shocked.

"Yes." Jasper confirmed.

"I'm honored to be in your presence, Major." Felix stated.

Katie introduced the newcomers to everyone. Felix stepped in and explained his history. Apparently, the Volturi let him go without any severance pay, but he and Gianna felt lucky to be allowed to live. They stipulated that Gianna must be changed and in control of her bloodlust before they were allowed to leave.

"Wait a minute? So, you've been nomads for ten years?" Laurent asked. "That's brutal."

"Laurent, you were a nomad for hundreds of years, ten years is nothing." I stated.

"I know, but he actually had a place to live. I didn't from the time I was changed. There's a difference there, you don't miss what you don't have." Laurent pointed out.

"So, Felix? When were you changed?" Jasper asked.

"Oh, you're gonna love this answer, Jasper." Tanya said knowingly.

"July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I was a sniper for General Lee when I was hit with a stray bullet during the Battle of Gettysburg. By that time, the battle was almost over for us and there really was no hope left. When our forces retreated, they left most of the dead and the wounded. I was bleeding out from my stomach something fierce. It quickly became pitch dark and I made my peace with God—then some Yankee in a dark blue uniform told me, 'You don't get to meet God, you fucking Rebel shit.' Then he bit me and disappeared.

"Who was this Yankee fucker? Is he still running around? We should go rip him apart. Yankees like that shouldn't be allowed to exist." Jasper's southern twang was becoming thicker and thicker the angrier he became.

"No, he's not." Vicky answered, surprisingly. "You and Emmett killed him in Phoenix. That would have been James. That story sounded eerily like his favorite one to tell. You were slumped by a sycamore tree, right?"

"That's right and it was a beautiful summer night." Felix confirmed. "He was blonde and wore a blue ribbon in his hair. He had the most evil grin that I'd ever seen."

"That would be James." Vicky said. "He told me that he stole a Union soldier's uniform so he could get on the battlefield and start draining the wounded. When he heard you praying, he thought it would be a fun joke to change you. The guy was a dick. I'm sorry you had to meet him."

"So, Felix, where are you from?" I asked. "I detect a bit of a twang, but I can't place it."

"Charleston, South Carolina, ma'am." Felix said.

"Ooh! Like Rhett Butler." Bella said.

"Si, Via Con Vento." Gianna said, excitedly.

"She said, yes, Gone With the Wind." Felix stated. "I told you Gone With the Wind is a romanticized version of the Civil War, honey."

"Here, here!" Jasper agreed.

Bella rolled her eyes. "We know that, but Rhett Butler is still every woman's dream!"

"I thought Mr. Darcy was every woman's dream?"

"Orgoglio e Pregiudizio." Gianna chirped.

"Pride and Prejudice." Felix translated.

"No, Mr. Darcy is every woman's fantasy. Rhett Butler is still somewhat attainable, but he can be a prick."

"Esattamente!" Gianna declared with a fist pump.

"Jasper, I want to jump into your jacuzzi pool." Edward said.

"Yeah, me too." Laurent agreed.

"Well, come on, let's go." Jasper motioned for us to follow him.

"Hey, they have a pool just like this one at the Hugh Hefner Skyline Villa at the Palms Hotel." Tanya stated. "Only there's a bunny at the bottom of theirs."

"Yeah, I know, it's the same pool." Jasper informed us. "We enjoyed the one there so much that I had one put in here." It so figures. Only Jasper would do something outrageous like that. What the hell am I talking about? Peter had a million dollar pool put into our house just for me. That's outrageous too.

Bella got bathing suits out for all of us. Gianna and Felix actually had their own in their packs. They asked if they could shower before entering the pool so Bella directed them to the showers.

We were all splashing around having a great time when Alice asked, "Bella? Could you tell me more about the Swinging for Fitness that you do?"

"Huh?" Bella asked, perplexed.

"You know, Swinging for Fitness? Jasper said that you like to swing from that tree there and from the pole in your bedroom." Alice said.

"Hmm...you tell her, Jasper." Bella deferred to her husband.

"I don't know what Bella does in that tree—knowing her it's something kinky, but that pole in the bedroom is a stripper pole." Rex explained. "She probably sheds her clothes and gets down and dirty for Jasper.

Alice became wide-eyed. "Why would you need a stripper pole in your bedroom, Bella?"

"To add spice to our sex life." Bella answered.

Alice gave Jasper a once over. "I understand completely." She said, sympathetically.

Now, what the heck is that supposed to mean? Jasper is one of the best lovers on the planet.

"Just let it go." Pete whispered in my ear. "Remember, Jasper didn't even penetrate her for the last few decades of their marriage. She probably thinks he's a lousy lay."

Alright then, maybe there is some merit to Alice's thinking. That was kind of mean of Jasper to not penetrate her.

Before we knew it, it was Saturday morning. Laurent, Katie, Edward, Mike, Tanya, and Amanda had to run back to Connecticut because they all had businesses to open up. We'd been having so much fun that we'd all lost track of time.

"Why are your eyes golden?" Gianna asked.

"They feed from animals." Felix told his wife.

"Yes, it allows us to interact in society more. We can go to school, work, own businesses. We can pretty much lead normal lives with certain exceptions, of course." Jasper explained.

"I want to live in a house, Felix. I am tired of traveling." Gianna stated.

"I know, honey, but we don't have much in the form of resources. We only have what's on our backs. The Volturi took everything else from us." Felix tried to explain.

"You can live with us." Garrett offered. We have a house in Connecticut with plenty of space. Katie and Tanya would love to have you."

"Yeah, come on over." Rex said. "You can play in the War Room with Jasper, Garrett, and I."

"You could also come with us," Irina offered, "but frankly, I would live with Katie and Irina. Our parents tend to be a bit overbearing."

"Oh, can we? Please?" Gianna asked.

"Of course." Felix said, then turned to all of us. "Thank you, this is the first time since Gianna was changed that I actually feel hope."

"I can get working on some new documents for you and your wife on Monday." Jasper stated. "I can tell you for a fact that without the documents, you're helpless."

"Mi Scusi. I have another question. Is it a requirement for the men to shave their heads in this family? I noticed that except for three of the men, everyone else is almost bald." Gianna asked.

Bella started clutching her stomach and laughing—we all soon joined her. With the exception of Pete, Riley, and Laurent, the rest of the men were sporting crew cuts.

Victoria stepped in and answered Gianna's question. "The only time we give the men crew cuts is when they're being punished. They were very bad boys last week."

Felix had a shocked expression on his face while Gianna plastered a sinister smile and said, "I really think I'm going to enjoy your family."

The Connecticut group left, taking Felix and Gianna along with them, after that. It was just me and Pete with Bella and Jasper now.

"So, I've got a question for you ladies. How come you didn't come after us at the strip joint like everyone else?" Peter asked.

"Oh, please! Like we'd get jealous at something so trivial." Bella stated. "I met you and Jasper at a strip joint for fuck's sake."

"Besides, they were being really hypocritical by going after you guys, don't you think?" I added.

"Alright, I'm going to start cleaning up this mess." Bella said.

"I'll help." I offered.

"Uh, you girls do that. Pete and I are going to the liquor store to restock the whiskey. That Felix guy knocked off a case of Jack by himself." Jasper winked at me. He was giving me a chance to reconnect with Bella.

"That much?" Bella asked. "I don't even think it affected him at all."

The two of them left and it was just me and Bella. We threw the empties in the recycling bin and straightened everything out. We worked quickly, side by side, tackling everything from the floors to the tabletops-until the only thing we had left to do were the towels and swimsuits that everyone used.

"Thanks, Charlotte." Bella said, gratefully.

"Anytime." I responded as I sat down on the sofa. "Bella, I want to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"For being jealous, for being immature. I was in a really bad place eight years ago. I had no right whatsoever to get in between you and Jasper—he's always been yours to begin with just like Pete's always been mine. I just hope that one day our friendship can go back to where it was before." I looked up at Bella hopefully.

"We can work on it Char and thanks for apologizing. I also want to thank you for protecting me from Felix and Gianna. You didn't have to." She said.

"Oh, yes I did. Believe it or not Bella, you're still young and naive. You had no idea that there were even vampires near us. Felix and Gianna were good vampires, so were the Indian vampires that you and Rose ran into, but you have to realize that most vampires aren't that way at all."

"I know, Jasper's always telling me that I still have a lot to learn." Bella admitted.

"Well, I'll try to help you along the way, okay? You have to understand that just the fact that we're Jasper and Peter's mates puts us in extra danger. Believe it or not, Maria hasn't given up on them. She still wants them back and she'll do anything to get them and that includes using us as bait. I never, ever want you to have to meet that vindictive whore, Bella—she's vicious and cruel and she'll think nothing of killing you and me so she can keep Jasper and Peter to herself." I told her. Bella really needed to know this. Vicky and I had discussed this at one point, Jasper and Peter both sheltered Bella from the topic of Maria, but that really didn't do her any favors.

"Thanks, Char—for being honest." Bella said.

"Anytime, Bella." I stated and I meant it too. I tried to stay calm. I was actually jumping up and down for joy inside. I felt like Bella and I had a breakthrough today.

"Honeys we're home!" Peter called from the outside. "Open up before we drop these boxes." He and Jasper were each balancing five cases of whiskey each.

I opened the door for them. "Why the hell didn't you guys take two trips?"

"We're too lazy." Peter stated. "Come on cuties, hop in my truck. Jasper and I are taking you somewhere special."

An hour later, we rolled into an eclectic town in Buck's County, Pennsylvania called New Hope.

"Oh my God! I've been wanting to come here. Thank you!" Bella gave both Pete and Jasper pecks on the cheek.

The four of us strolled the picturesque town. We browsed the little shops and market stalls and the tons of artist's galleries and antique shops. There was a mill and a creek with a waterfall while the rest of the town was surrounded by rolling hills.

"Um, Jasper!" Bella called from a store.

"What is it, babe?" Jasper asked.

"I think I just found something valuable in this store. He's selling it for a buck, but it looks to me like an authentic Confederate battle plan for the Battle of Antietam. Look! Here's a map, too." Bella sifted through the dusty papers.

"Sir, are you sure you only want a buck each for these?" Jasper asked.

"Pfft! Take 'em. I've been trying to get rid of those for thirty years. No one wants 'em. If you like Civil War stuff, I have a confederate saber I've been trying to get rid of too. Twenty bucks and it's yours." The elderly man said.

Jasper's eyes bulged. He took a look at the saber, handed the man a hundred dollars for the saber and the map, told him to keep the change, and left with his prizes.

"The saber alone is worth about thirty thousand dollars. The papers are worth even more." Jasper informed us. "Great find, Bella. I'm really liking this town."

As evening approached, we loaded up our purchases in the truck and decided it was time to leave. Peter dropped Jasper and Bella off at their house, then headed back to our house.

"Feel better, Sug?" My husband asked me.

"I do. You knew she'd talk to me today, didn't you?" I questioned.

"You know me too well. Glad you two are on the mend." He winked, then sighed. "I want you to train her. Make sure she can fight. You keep up with everything I taught you, too."

"Why, Peter?" I asked, concerned. He was being cryptic and I knew whatever it was he was hiding was going to be bad.

"Five years. She's coming for us." My husband stated.

"Who? Maria? Can't we just run? Leave the country, maybe?" I was desperate. Maria was someone that I never wanted to encounter again.

"It's gonna happen no matter where we are, but we can take her this time. All I know is that the only way for this to end is for Maria to face Baby Girl. You can't tell Jasper either. He'll run with her and the outcome will be worse that way. Train Gianna, too. She'll be a strong fighter."

"Peter, please don't talk that way—you sound like it's gonna be the end for you." I sobbed. I was terrified.

My mate pulled over on the side of the road to hold me. "I ain't gonna lie to you, five years from now we're in for some scary times. If we can get through it, though, we'll have peace for all of eternity. Right now, I want you to enjoy life. We're gonna have a good five years. I ain't going anywhere—for now."

Oh God! Why? Why isn't he giving me any straight answers?

"Peter, please!" I cried desperately. "What is it that you're hiding from me?"

"Now you know better than to ask me that. If I'm not telling you something, it's for a good reason. You need to be strong for me."

"Okay, Peter." I said with determination. I was falling apart inside. Peter made it seem as if he wasn't going to exist after five years.

"Oh, and, uh, one more thing." Peter said.

"What more?" I asked. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"You have to make nice with Rose and Alice." Pete stated.

"Is that critical?" I asked, cause that was asking for a lot.

"Yes, Sugartits—it is." My mate stated with finality using his favorite nickname for me. Aw, fuck! Alice, even if she redeemed herself somewhat, was someone that would be difficult for me to get along with and Rose was a bitch with a capital B. Even Vicky, who could bring most bitches to their knees, thought Rose was a bitch. The next five years was gonna be tougher than I thought. I really hate Maria for doing this to me. Bitch!

**What did you think of our three hot male vampires' trip to the City of Brotherly Love? Alice has made a massive effort to redeem herself-trust me, that's a good thing. Were you surprised by the new family members? More importantly, what did you think of Char's effort to improve her relationship with Bella and of Peter's cryptic chat with Sugartits? I'd love to hear what you think. I'll always respond, I promise. XOXO**


	43. Chapter 43

**Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, alerts, and faves. You guys are all so wonderful and keep me motivated. A limo ride with Carlisle for all of you.**

_**I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for the delay in getting this chapter to you. I've been trying to post it since Friday and have been unsuccessful at my attempts due to issues with this website.**_

**This story is AU/OOC/OTT.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Carlisle's POV**

Bored. Completely, utterly, absolutely bored out of my skull. Bored with my life, bored with my wife, bored with my kids, bored with my career, bored with my car—just plain bored. Bored stiff. Well, I am a stiff—come to think of it, no wonder I'm so bored.

I need a change, that's what I need, but what? I like Bella's idea of attending college, but, then again, it's so typical—so boring. I want to do something different—something that'll shock the socks off of even me.

Hmm...I think I'll start with a new car. I've been driving a fucking Mercedes since 1926—switching out models every three to four years. Well, I'm sick of it. I want a fun car. I want sex on wheels. I want a goddamned Audi R8—that's what I want. I want a machine that'll make women cream their panties on sight. I'm twenty-three—not fifty-three, it's time my car reflected that.

I cleaned out my Mercedes and made my way to the Audi dealership. Within an hour, I had traded in my one month old Mercedes S-600 for an Audi R8. I decided to take my car into Manhattan for a spin. YES! This is the way to go! Fuck yeah! Oh fuck, is that a cop? Damn it! I'd better pull over.

One speeding ticket later, my very first one—mind you, and I was on the road again. "On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again..." Why the hell am I singing that song? Fuck Willie Nelson. I need to become more hip, more in the now. I checked out my profile in the rearview mirror. Fuck! I even look old. I don't look twenty-three. Riley's twenty-three and he looks twenty-three. I look thirty-three. The fact was that I was right in the middle when it came to age. At twenty-three, I was the same age as Riley, Amanda, and Katie. Rex was the oldest at twenty-nine, then came Eleazar and Peter at twenty-seven, Esme and Carmen were next at twenty-six, and we rounded off the older set with Vicky and Laurent at twenty-four.

Last night, the guys went out to a gentleman's club, but I wasn't invited. I wanted to go. I love a beautiful woman as much as the next guy, but because I'm the designated father, they didn't even consider the fact that perhaps I wanted to go and get down and dirty too. Damn it all to hell!

What I need to do is to change my looks. I'm just going to pull in front of the Standard Hotel and have them valet my car. I might as well check in too. I don't feel like going home tonight. I don't feel like going home ever. I'm so sick of my life!

I asked the concierge where celebrities get their hair cut in New York City. He told me that there was a salon called Garren New York within Henri Bendel's. I had him book an appointment for me and made my way there. Once inside, I told the owner to spare no expense and make me a new man. He asked me if I wanted a dramatic change. I told him absolutely, yes. We opted for coloring my hair a chocolate brown, similar to Bella's natural color. He also gave me a hip, new haircut and waxed my eyebrows so that they'd frame my face more. He then booked an appointment for me at a waxing salon exclusively for men called Manwax, as well as a spray tanning studio and told me that I should probably vacation in Florida more because my skin was so pasty. I paid, thanked the man, and took a cab to Manwax.

Fuck me! That shit hurt! I don't know how Rex and Laurent put up with that kind of pain. I wonder if Nair works with our vampire constitutions? I don't see why not. If waxing works, Nair has to work. That was painful, really painful. It was the worst when the technician was ripping the hair off of my inner thighs. I was actually contemplating draining her because I didn't think that a person that willingly inflicts that much pain on another person should be allowed to live. The bitch is more evil than those Volturi torture experts.

I left the waxing salon and made my way to the tanning studio next. I opted for the extra dark. I stripped my clothes off and donned the plastic shower cap and paper thong underwear that they provided for me. How the hell am I supposed to stuff my cock into this. Oh well, I'll do the best I can.

I waited in the room until a spray tan artist came in armed with an airbrush. She sprayed my body from head to toe, then asked if I wanted her to airbrush some abs on me.

"I have abs, don't I?" I asked, a little perplexed. I'm a fucking vampire. There aren't any pudgy vampires that I know of.

"Yes, beautiful ones, but we can make them look more toned and defined with the airbrushing." She replied.

"Sure, why not." I might as well go for the gusto.

I left the tanning studio and decided to do some shopping. I needed to get rid of these dowdy, middle aged looking clothes that Esme picked out for me. It's mid summer and I'm wearing slacks for God's sake. I decided to call the owner of the hair salon and ask him if he knew of any personal shoppers that would be available in an hour. He called one that he knew for me and I met him an hour later in front of my hotel. I told him that money wasn't an issue and give me a new look. When I told him that I wanted to look my age, he hailed a cab and surprisingly, we went shopping in Greenwich Village. I purchased everything from shorts to jeans to graphic T's to hooded sweatshirts. After a few hours there, we made our way to Hugo Boss where he suggested I purchase two suits for more formal evenings as well as some outfits for going clubbing in. That's what I'll do, I'll go clubbing tonight.

At around 9 pm, I paid the personal shopper for his services and made my way back to the hotel. I decided to pierce my ear. Having been a vampire for three hundred plus years, I knew how to pierce vampire skin. I took my titanium needle and drove it through my left earlobe. I placed a diamond stud that my personal shopper helped me pick out into it. He assured me that straight men pierced their left ear and I believed him because the man was flaming like a hot poker and he had an earring in his right ear.

I changed into one of my hip, new clubbing outfits and asked the concierge where I should party. He sent me to a club at the top of the hotel which he said was formerly known as The Boom Boom Room, but was now known as the Top of the Standard. Apparently, it was next to impossible to gain admittance, but with my new look, he had no doubt that I'd get in. He even put a call into the manager for me.

I walked inside and decided to hit the bar. I ordered some single malt Scotch and decided to observe my surroundings. There was a triangular hot tub in the middle of the bar. I planned to partake in that. I refilled my Scotch several times as the crowd started building. I decided to join a group of popular looking people and chat with them. It turns out, one of the men was some sort of rock star. Since the ladies were flocking us, we decided to hop into the hot tub with them.

"So, Carlisle, what do you do?" A gorgeous blonde woman asked me. I told her that I was a doctor. As soon as I said that, I was flanked by several women. Each and every one of them were vying for my attention. Apparently, a doctor was more stable than a rock star. I became pissed off at the thought. That was me in a nutshell, Carlisle Cullen, physician, stable all around—never changing, always able to provide financial and familial security. Well, no more. Tonight, I was going to party.

"Hey, let's ditch these chicks and hit the Penthouse Executive Club." I suggested to my new rock star buddy whose name eluded me, but I didn't give a fuck.

"Hells to the yeah on the strippers, but let's hit Sapphire—the chicks there are way hotter!" He cheered. We got out of the hot tub, got dressed, gathered up a few more friends and hopped into his limo to Sapphire. We were shown to a VIP lounge area where a few strippers showed their wares to me and my new friends. Hell yeah, this was the life!

**Esme's POV**

Where in fucking hell is Carlisle? It's past midnight and he hasn't picked up his phone all day. Honestly! I have no idea what's gotten into him lately. He refuses to work, decided to take up fishing, but lost interest in that in a matter of minutes; he's been brooding and inattentive, and when Emmett ran into that mess with Rose I had to practically force him out of the house to go and help Jasper defuse the situation. Now, he won't pick up his cell phone. Whatever! He's a big boy and can take care of himself, hopefully he'll work his way out of his slump soon and come back to me.

**Jasper's POV**

"Oh, fuck, Bella! Damn! Keep doing what you're doing!" My wife was riding me cowgirl style and slamming her pussy down on my cock over and over again. Each time she came down, my dick hit her core, and she moaned in ecstasy.

I sat up, rolled her onto her back, and threw her legs over my shoulders. I started fucking her hard. I wanted to hear her scream. A few minutes later, she pulsating onto my cock as I blasted my seed deep inside of her. I sunk my teeth into her neck and had her clawing at my back in both pleasure and pain. I was in the middle of bathing her wound when her cell phone rang. What the fuck?

Who in motherfucking hell is calling my mate at 4 am? I decided to answer her cell.

"Bella?"

"No, Carlisle, this is Jasper. How can I help you?"

"Um, I need you to come and bail me out of jail." Carlisle stated.

What the hell? Carlisle's in jail?

"Sure, but shouldn't you be calling Esme?" I asked.

"No! I don't want to see her. I don't want anything to do with her or anyone else in Connecticut for that matter. Just come and get me. I'm at the 17th precinct jail on East 51st Street."

"I'll be right there." I stated.

Bella was peering up at me with a shocked expression on her face. We bolted out of bed, skipped the shower, and threw on some clothes. We were out of the house in seconds and on our way to pick Carlisle up.

At the precinct, I got to the window, filled out the appropriate forms, and paid Carlisle's five hundred dollar bail. Bella was standing anxiously at my side, worried out of her mind. An officer escorted Carlisle out and released him to us. I loaded him up in our vehicle and made my way to our house.

As soon as we got inside, I questioned him. "Carlisle, what the fuck is going on?"

"I'm bored." He stated like a belligerent teenager. I eyed Carlisle up and down. He was dressed differently from his norm, he had colored his hair close to Bella's chocolate brown shade, and he was tan. Not slightly tan, but tanned like he had just come back from Hawaii.

"Is that an earring, Daddy?" Bella asked.

"Yes, what do you think? It suits me, doesn't it?" Carlisle grinned.

"Okay, why the hell were you arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, Carlisle?" I questioned.

"Seemed like a fun thing to do at the time. My buddy and I thought that maybe the strippers might want to see naked men for a change considering that they had to strip for men all the time." He stated. "You should have seen the faces on the women! They were licking their lips and cheering us on. See, check out my new abs—Dina airbrushed them on. Anyway, management didn't appreciate us and before we knew it, the cops were on the scene and we were being hauled into a paddy wagon."

"Okay, who is this buddy of yours?" I asked.

"Don't know, he's some sort of rock star. I met him at the Boom Boom Room. We were partying together there, hung out in the jacuzzi along with some money grubbing chicks that we met. Anyway, I'm fine now so I think I'll just make my way back to the hotel. I think I'll soak in the tub then go for a spin in my new ride."

"What new ride? You just bought a new Mercedes, didn't you?" I asked.

"Got bored with it. Traded it in for an Audi R8. Sweetest ride I've ever owned." Carlisle blew a kiss in the air. "Oh, don't say anything to Esme. I don't feel like dealing with her ass."

Carlisle left our house with a grin while Bella and I stared slack jawed at him.

"Uh, what the hell is going on with him?" Bella asked. "He's apparently bored with everything and why the fuck did he call my cell?"

"I have no idea. He looks more his age, but, damn, his attitude could use a bit of adjusting. He's acting like he's sixteen." I said.

"No, kidding. What did he mean when he said that he didn't feel like dealing with Esme or with anyone else in Connecticut?" Bella looked to me for answers that I simply didn't have.

"I don't know, baby. We just have to let them work out their problems on their own. What time is it?"

"Almost 7 am. Why?"

"Cause we need to pick up more towels and bedsheets for our guests." I said.

"Well, it's a bit early now, don't you think? The stores don't open until ten." Bella stated.

"I know that, I just want to plan our day." I said, just as our doorbell rang.

I went to answer the door because I immediately recognized the scents behind it.

"Hey, guys." Emmett said, as he and Rose walked inside hand in hand. Rose gave me a hug, then Bella.

"Were you able to work everything out?" I asked.

"Yeah, thanks for everything. The talk we had was long overdue. It should have been done before we even got married." Emmett stated. "We just wanted to stop in and say that we couldn't have gotten through this without you."

"Anytime. We love you both and we want only want the best for you." I smiled. "Oh, hey, I'm glad you two stopped by. Our friends from India are gonna be here the weekend after next. I wasn't sure what you two wanted to do, but we set up a room for you two here in case you wanted to stay here."

"Awesome!" Emmett shouted. "I'm still on summer break anyway, I can hang out with you while Rosie's working."

"Rosie! What do you think?" Emmett called out.

"That's fine. I'll just commute to work from here while they're visiting." Rosie yelled from the kitchen where she and Bella were chatting about something.

"Jasper, can we talk?" Emmett motioned upstairs.

"Yeah, sure." I led him up to the rooftop that Bella had diligently put together. "What's up, bro?"

"I'm telling you, the time in Rochester was the worst week of my life. At any moment, I was ready to hurl myself into a pyre and take Rose along with me because I'm that fucking selfish. Did you feel that way when you were in Dubai with Bells?"

"Yeah, I cried more that first year than I did as an infant. I cried for me, I cried for her. Both of our pasts were so fucked up that it was getting in the way of us growing as individuals and as couples. We needed to deal with our own skeletons and then get rid of them once and for all." I explained.

"I had to hear about Rose's gang rape, man. She remembered every single detail—clear as day. The things they did to her. Jasper, I felt like putting her out of her misery so she didn't have to live with that God awful memory. I know that Bella knows. Rose said that she told her while they were in India. You know, I never realized how close the two of them are to each other. It's almost as if they have some sort of mating bond." Emmett said. "I'm just glad that they have each other because Rose needs a sister she can depend on—especially since I'm such a moron."

"I know, Em. When Rose took off last week, Bella felt a pull that had her doubled over in pain. It shocked the shit out of me. I drove her straight to the airport and sent her to Rose because I knew that Bella needed to be with her. I would have told you then, but you weren't in your right mind." I explained.

"Jasper, I know why I'm so protective of Rose. We figured it out together." Emmett dropped his forehead into his palms and took a deep breath before speaking again. "When I was a kid, I watched my baby sister get murdered. She was a pretty little thing, little Lilly Marie, she had beautiful blonde hair like Rose that fell in ringlets and big brown doe eyes like Bella did when she was human. I was twelve and Lilly Marie was eight. I was watching her while my mama ran an errand to deliver a meal to our neighbors who had just lost their daughter to the second flu pandemic that happened in 1927—not the Spanish flu like Edward was dying from. Anyway, as soon as the father saw my mother he grabbed his shotgun and ran over to our house. He bolted into our house and shot Lilly Marie in the back of the head shouting that she didn't deserve to live if his daughter couldn't. He looked at me pointedly and apologized saying that his wife will look after his daughter and my sister. Then, he ran home shot his wife, the rest of his kids, and finally himself. I couldn't do anything to save her or anyone else, Jasper. I was a big kid, but this guy was armed with a gun and huge. I watched her die right in front of me. I wished so many times that he had taken me instead of Lilly Marie. She was just a baby."

Emmett was bawling. I knew it wasn't manly, but I put my arm around him and held him. He needed me, he was opening up to me, and I was honored that he trusted me enough to tell me his story. What a tragic thing to have to witness and at such a young age. I don't know if I would have made it through life after witnessing such a thing. The atrocities in my life happened after I was changed, my childhood was blissful and carefree. It didn't escape me that his little sister's name was Lilly Marie. Rose's middle name was Lillian and Bella's was Marie. No wonder Em was extra protective of those two. They both must remind him of his little sister in a way.

I sat with Em on the roof and let him cry in my arms. He needed this release. After a while, Emmett spoke again. "You have to help me, man. I don't ever want to be like I was last weekend with Rose. I want her to be able to take little trips with Bella without me flipping out."

"Listen, Em, to be honest, it took me a while to let Bella go on trips alone. I started off by letting her go on overnight trips by herself to places that were fairly local—you know, about two hours away at the most. We started increasing the distance little by little. All the while, Bella and I would keep tabs on each other. Now, she can fly halfway across the world by herself and I'm fine with it. Keep in mind that Bella and Rose are probably two of the most responsible women in the family. Oh, and being away from your mate has some definite perks. One, you can get a lot of thinking done and two, you can do all the shit that you want to do without her complaining."

"Shit man, we can go hunting. Better yet, we can go to Bass Pro Shops and go nuts, hunt, fish, drink whiskey til we collapse, watch porn, jerk off, then play a fuckton of Xbox all in our underwear." Emmett said, excitedly.

"Now you're talking, bro. We can also scratch our balls whenever the fuck we want to without our wives bitching to us to go wash our hands. You ready to go downstairs?" I asked.

"Yeah, Jasper, and thanks." He said sheepishly.

"Anytime." I stated.

Rose and Emmett left for their house shortly after our talk. Bella and I decided to drive into New Jersey to do our shopping.

"Looks like Rose and Emmett are making headway." Bella stated.

"Yeah, he and I had a talk. Call it a bonding moment, if you will. You're too far away, come and sit on my lap." I motioned. My mate somehow managed to squeeze onto my lap while I was driving. She buried her face into my neck and I relished in the proximity. I needed to feel her skin on me because I was still feeling a little shaky from that horrific story that Emmett told me. Ironically, I felt worse for Em because he was only a kid himself when he witnessed such terror. His little sister was put out of her misery instantly, but poor Em is still living with what he saw.

I took in Bella's scent knowing that, at this point, it would be the only thing that would calm me. "I'm assuming that Em told you his story." It was a statement, not a question.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Rose told me while you guys were talking. She had no idea until Emmett told her this weekend. She felt so selfish because in her eyes, this was a worse tragedy than her being gang raped. She told me that she, at least, was able to talk to Emmett about her rape throughout the years, but he kept the atrocity that he witnessed buried inside of him for all of these decades. Oh, Jasper, why do bad things happen to good people? Why?" Bella started weeping.

I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled off of the highway and into a supermarket parking lot. I held Bella and the two of us had a good cry together. We both loved Em and we didn't like what we heard because we knew it hurt him. Witnessing such trauma at such a young age would leave a person scarred for life and insane, yet Emmett stayed strong. He managed to still become a great person with a heart of gold despite what happened. A few minutes later, I drove us to a Marshalls so we could get our shopping done.

"Hey, Bella?" How are these flip-flop things? I wore them once when I borrowed Riley's, but I can't really remember if they were comfortable or not. Oh, and I need new sneakers, these are wearing out from the soles."

"Um, Rex, Riley, Mike, and me like flip-flops. I like being able to wiggle my toes. They're definitely not for running, but I can wear them just walking around in the city. Why don't you pick up a pair and see if you like them." Bella suggested.

"Which ones? They have the rubber kind and the one with the leather straps."

"Riley and Mike like the one with the leather straps and Rex swears by the cheap, rubber ones from Old Navy. I have both." Bella stated.

"Okay, I'll get both too. Help me find some sneakers in a size 11. Can we go to Old Navy afterwards?" I asked.

"Yeah, I want to go there anyway. I don't know where there's one around here, though. I'm sure the cashier can tell us, though."

Our shopping cart was filled with tons of towels and a couple extra sets of sheets plus some more shorts and flip-flops for both me and my wife. We were both discussing how, while we loved New York City because there was tons to do, the Boston and Cambridge areas were easier to live in because there seemed to be more amenities for day to day living there. New York was a bit cumbersome to live in because we couldn't just hop in our car and drive anywhere because parking wasn't readily available.

We loaded up our purchases in the Range Rover and headed to our next stop. Bella reached into her purse and grabbed a check. "Here, I don't know what to do with this. It's the winnings from Las Vegas. I'm still carrying around the casino credits I cashed in too."

"Bells, you should have given this to me as soon as we got back. We lost out on a week plus of interest—when it's an amount this large it accrues quickly. You're gonna take care of this tomorrow at the bank. I'll come with you, but you need to handle this yourself instead of always leaving it to me." I stated, firmly. Although Bella had taken a bigger role in maintaining our assets, she still had a long way to go. I figured a small amount like twelve million was a good place for her to start.

"Okay, but I kind of wanted to spend some of it." Bella said.

Oh, this is interesting. Mrs. Whitlock actually wanting to spend money. I think if I were human, I'd have a coronary. "On what, baby?"

"Hear me out. I love our house in Manhattan, I really do, but living there can become a bit tiring. I was thinking that we could buy a house in the suburbs somewhere. Not in Connecticut—it's way too close to everyone's homes and businesses. They'd be all up in our lives and the ones with businesses would have us working at their shops all of the time."

"Good point." I agreed.

"New Jersey is out because, well, I just don't like it." Bella admitted. Good, because aside from the shopping, I wasn't a fan of New Jersey either. "So, that leaves Long Island or Pennsylvania. We need to do some research, though."

"Alright, we'll look online and, then, drive to some of the areas that we find. You still have to deposit the check, though, so that the money is actually flowing in our account." I explained.

"Okay, there's the mall with the Old Navy." Bella pointed. Shit, I'm going to miss it. I made an abrupt right turn and a fucking pick up truck slammed right into Bella's side. "Fuck! Babe, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why the hell didn't you wait until you got to the second entrance up ahead?" She asked.

"I didn't see it!"

"You didn't see it because you were going too fast! How many fucking times do I have to tell you to stay within speed limit?" Bella was pissed off.

"At least I don't fucking drive like a little old lady in a Cadillac!" I argued back.

I got out of our vehicle to inspect the damages. The front end and Bella's side were completely totaled. The man driving the Ford F-350 came barreling out of his truck, apologizing, and asking if everyone inside was okay. Within five minutes, there were police, fire engines, and ambulances, on the scene. The F-350 sustained only minor front end damage, our Range Rover was pretty much destroyed.

We exchanged insurance information and assured everyone that we were physically fine—Bella even did jumping jacks to prove her point. I could see why everyone was concerned because her side of the vehicle was smashed into mine. The F-350 was able to drive away, but we had to wait for a tow truck. We got everything out of the vehicle then sat down and figured out what to do. Peter, suddenly, pulled up in his truck.

"Need a ride?" He asked. "I should make you walk for being so careless, asshole. How are you pumpkin?"

"I'm fine, our Range Rover is dead though. It's being towed to your shop." Bella stated.

"Yeah, I know. Rose is there right now. She's gonna chew you out, bro. Come on, let's go and inspect the damages." Pete said. We loaded up our stuff in Pete's truck and made our way over to his shop where they had just unloaded our vehicle.

Rose came out looking like a viper and started chewing me out about responsible driving. Emmett happened to be there too and she started nailing into him about an accident he caused before Bella was even born. He and I had the distinction of being the only two in our family to cause a car wreck.

"What the fuck happened to your heightened vampire senses and reflexes?" Rose asked. "You have them, you should fucking use them. I can't believe you two! Why Bella and I are stuck with idiots like you, I have no idea!"

Bella was chuckling alongside Peter watching Rose tear into us. Poor Emmett, his accident was in 1967 and Rose was still hung up on it. Well, at least we know Rose is feeling better.

"So, is the Range Rover a complete loss?" I asked. Wrong question. Rose barreled into me stating that it absolutely was and started rehashing shit over and over again. Pete and Rose closed their shop up around six pm and took us shopping for a new vehicle. They were going to handle the insurance company paperwork from their shop.

"We might as well get something with enough room to seat our friends from India." Bella stated.

"Good point. Any suggestions?" I asked.

Pete and Rose suggested a Lincoln Navigator, Emmett said to get a Hummer, while Bella stated that either a Ford Expedition or a Chevy Suburban would be fine. She didn't see the need for the extra luxury. In the end, Bella and Emmett ended up winning. They saw a Toyota dealership across the street from the Lincoln dealership, test drove a Land Cruiser, and declared that it was the most comfortable car to drive. We were in the middle of making a deal with the Lincoln dealership when they called our cell. We had to leave the poor salesman hanging, but after test driving the Land Cruiser I had to agree with Bella. It was capable of seating seven and had everything we needed.

We drove home in our new vehicle and parked. Esme's Mercedes screeched to a halt in front of our house a few seconds later. She looked desperate as she tumbled out of her car and into my arms. I didn't know what was wrong so I picked my mother up and carried her into our house. Bella was right on my heels.

"Your father left me!" She cried. "He called me at the office and told me that he was bored and that he wouldn't be coming home—ever. I tried calling his cell phone, but he has it turned off. What is going on with him?"

Okay, let's just add to the never ending drama that seems to be today's theme. Ironically, the car accident that Bella and I were in was the most minor incident that happened today.

"Did he say anything else, Mom?" I asked.

"No!" Esme sobbed. I tried calling Carlisle from my cell, but it went straight to voicemail. Esme was getting increasingly agitated and out of control so I knocked her out, using my gift, and put her to bed in one of the guest rooms.

"Jasper, I'm going to call Riley and have him come down here." Bella stated. "He's not working now, is he?"

"No, I think he works during the day so he should be fine. Have him run down because mom's car is here plus it'll be quicker than driving."

Riley was over in less than a half an hour and we were discussing what we had witnessed with both Carlisle and Esme today.

"I was afraid Carlisle would do something drastic." Riley stated. I hate to say this, but we have to just let him be. He's going through a mid-life crisis and, unfortunately with him, he came to the realization that he's always been living on the straight and narrow and that he's never really done anything for himself."

"I'm curious, why would he call Bella's cell when he was arrested?" I asked.

"Ah...that would be because he feels like he can relate to Bella the most. Bella's always done what's been expected of her just like Carlisle." Riley explained. "On top of that, Bella's the child that he feels most comfortable with because she's non-judgmental. He knows that her love is unconditional."

There was a pounding on the front door. Emmett came rushing inside clutching his laptop followed by a frantic Rose.

"Esme called us and told us that Carlisle's missing. She asked us to meet her here." Rose said.

"We have to let Carlisle just be." Riley said. "He's having a mid-life crisis."

"Now? Three hundred and fifty years later? What the fuck?" Rose asked.

"He's displaying the classic symptoms—boredom, career change, a sudden change in appearance, abruptly swapping his car out."

"Well, what can we do to help?" Emmett asked.

"Nothing, just be there for him. If he calls to ask you to go out with him then go out with him. Don't judge him. He'll come to eventually, but you have to just let him think this through himself." Riley instructed. "I'm gonna take Mom home now. How long do you think she'll stay knocked out?"

"I can pump more lethargy into her so she'll at least stay knocked out for a few hours. Would that be good?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's perfect. That'll give me enough time to come up with something to say to her. Em, you should at least try to see if you can track Dad down so we can keep tabs on him. Men in a mid-life crisis can act impetuously. I've gotta get going. My shift at the hospital starts in four hours. I have to go in early because one of the other physicians is on vacation."

I grabbed my sleeping mother and buckled her into the passenger side of her car. I pumped a ton of lethargy into her so that she'd stay asleep so that Riley could get her home.

Emmett had already started hacking into Carlisle's cell phone and credit card records. "Dude, it looks like he's staying at the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District. I'm gonna hack into the Standard Hotel's system now."

"Why would he be staying at a hotel?" Rose asked. Bella explained about Carlisle's early morning call asking us to bail him out and the sight of the "new" Carlisle we were greeted with.

"Motherfucker!" Emmett shouted. "He's already racked up over ten grand in charges in less than twenty-four hours. Most of it seems to be coming from the Boom Boom Room. He's staying in the Empire Suite at 1800 bucks a night. This is his second night so he's at 3600 bucks in room charges. He's racked up close to five grand at the Boom Boom Room and an additional sixteen hundred bucks in miscellaneous room charges including parking and a shitload of pay per view porn movies."

Emmett, then, went back to his credit card bill. "Shit! He's bought over fifty grand in new clothes and it looks like he spent fifteen hundred bucks for a haircut and color at some place called Garren New York, two hundred bucks at a place called Manwax, and a hundred at some spray tanning studio called Sundara. He also spent twenty grand at Tiffany on a diamond stud earring. Did he get his ear pierced or something?"

"Yep." I sighed. "He also traded his Mercedes in for an Audi R8. Speaking of which, you should probably wipe his arrest record while you're at it. We picked him up at the 17th precinct jail."

"Uh, guys, a hold just went through on his credit card for Party Time Limos. Let me hack into their system." Emmett worked his magic and a minute later, he stated. "Okay, it looks like they're on their way to pick him up right now. He's rented an eighteen passenger stretch Hummer with a hot tub inside."

My cell phone buzzed at that moment. "You and Emmett meet me at the Standard Hotel in fifteen minutes. I'm running down now. Bella and Rose stay at your house. I'm sending Char over there."

"You heard Peter, right?" I asked.

"I never doubt that fucker. You girls okay by yourselves?" Em asked, worriedly. "This ain't Boston, this is New York City.

Rose snapped her fingers. "Piece of cake."

"How about we text each other throughout the night?" Bella suggested, winking at me. "Now get out of here. You have twelve minutes left to make it to the Standard—it's on Washington at 13th Street. You'll never make it unless you run."

Emmett and I took off into the night. Peter was already waiting there. It seemed he ran at vampire speed from New Jersey.

"Alright, bro, why are we here?" I asked.

"The three of us are going to party with Daddy C. This way we can keep an eye on him." He whispered. "We just have to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid like cheat on Esme. We can do it under the guise of partying with him and his new 'friends'." Peter stated. "Just remember to act cool and pretend that you don't give a fuck about your women."

"I can't do that." I stated. "I'd feel guilty."

"Me too." Em said.

"Just do it. If not, Daddy C will get suspicious. We need to gain his trust. He's about to fuck up big time. Bella and Rose will understand. They're worried as fuck about him anyway. Now, come on, we're gonna make like we're headed into the Boom Boom Room. Oh, and chug some of this so you have liquor breath." Peter took a swig out of a bottle of Jack and passed it to me. I, then, passed it along to Em who did the same.

We made for the entrance of the Boom Boom Room just as Carlisle and his posse were stumbling. "Homies!" He greeted us. Homies? He must be talking to us.

"Daddy C, we were just headed into the Boom Boom Room to find us some babes to party with. Wanna join us?" Peter asked.

"Nah, you guys come with me and Johnny B—we got us some babes and we're gonna do it up in a limo with a hot tub."

Oh fuck. This shit's not good. "Hey, Jasper, that's Johnny B from the Pocket Rockets" Emmett whispered. "The guy parties day in and day out. He's in all the tabloids."

We all entered the ridiculous stretch limo that Carlisle had hired. There was a hot tub, a stripper pole, and neon strobe lights inside. Music was pumping inside—some Lady Gaga song I think. As soon as we sat down, we were immediately flanked by the skankiest bitches in the universe. "Let me introduce you to my bud here, this is Johnny B, he's the lead singer of the Pocket Rockets. He and I met yesterday at the Boom Boom Room and let me tell you—this guy parties almost as hard as we do." Carlisle stated.

"Whatcha talking about? Are you fucking telling me that these assholes party harder than I do?" Johnny B said, clearly annoyed.

"Who the fuck are you calling asshole, fucker?" Emmett asked.

"Now, boys, no fighting. Missy wants to party." Some blonde bimbo whined, then climbed straight onto Emmett's lap and shoved her tits into his face. He looked horrified, but Peter told him to just go with it.

I had some floosie named Holly wrap her arms around my neck. While Carlisle was nuzzling some tramp's neck, Peter whispered to me and Emmett that we had to suck it up for the sake of the family.

"I'm not telling you to fuck one of these whores, just make like you're enjoying yourselves." He whispered. "Do it for Esme's sake."

Shit! I felt like I was cheating on Bella just by being in this limo. I sucked it up and decided to do what Peter ordered. I knew better than to doubt the cryptic fucker.

"Hey, why don't you girls strip for us." I suggested lazily to the slutty bitches.

"Now, you're talking!" Emmett piped in. "There's a stripper pole right there. Get to it."

Peter and I smacked a few asses urging them to go. I glared at the fucker. I wanted the women to take their time so I ordered, "One at a time. The winner gets to blow Johnny B."

"Why Johnny B? Why not you?" One of the girls asked.

Uh, because the only lips that wraps around my cock is Bella's—not your disease ridden mouth. "Cause Johnny B's a celebrity. I'm just a regular dude from Texas."

Wrong fucking thing to say. "Ooh! A cowboy!" Several of them gushed and made their way back over to me.

"Uh-uh-uh! You beautiful ladies need to wait your turn over by the stripper pole. Show us how you can be obedient girls." I urged.

The girls shuffled back to the seats by the stripper pole and did as I commanded. They were weak minded idiots and easy to manipulate.

An hour and a half later, after several strip-offs, we crowned a winner who promptly went to blow Johnny B in the back of the limo. By now, Carlisle had taken his clothes off and was sitting in the hot tub with two women who were sitting on his lap.

A woman named Brenda sat her naked ass on my lap and started grinding her pussy on my cock. She tried to unzip my pants. I noticed Emmett in the same predicament with some chick named Josie.

"Uh, hey!" Emmett stated brightly. "We want to see you girls make out!"

"Ew! I'm not a thespian!" Josie announced.

"Thespian?" Emmett asked me, perplexed.

"She means lesbian." I explained at vampire speed, then added. "She's a fucking idiot."

"I'll tell you what, why don't you show me how you get off by yourself while Brenda and Marci show us how they make each other cum." I suggested.

The woman, Marci, who had been straddling Peter jumped off of him and started making out with her friend Brenda. Meanwhile, Josie was busy finger fucking herself.

"It's almost time." Peter said, cryptically. He motioned his chin in Carlisle's direction. He was still in the tub, but now he was making out with one girl while the other was giving him a hand job.

"Excuse me, can we stop now?" Marci asked.

"No, I need more. Lick her ass for me." Peter ordered. I pumped lust into the three women and soon they were crawling all over each other—even Josie the non-thespian, I mean lesbian.

"Trump Taj Mahal!" The driver announced over the speaker as he parked the limo.

"Get dressed ladies! We're partying Johnny B style now!" The rock star announced as he got dressed. Carlisle and the women threw their clothes on, then we left the limo.

Johnny B checked into a penthouse suite at the Trump Taj Mahal. He disappeared into one bedroom with two skanks while Carlisle took the other with the two whores that he was in the hot tub with.

The women surrounded Pete, Em, and me immediately. Peter whispered at vampire speed that he and Emmett were going to step out into the lobby and instructed me to knock out everyone in the hotel suite.

"Got it." I replied. They left the room announcing that they wanted to see if another room was available so we could party away from Johnny B and Daddy C. The remaining girls all squealed in delight. I checked in Johnny B's room where some chick was riding him while the other one sat on his face. I looked in on Carlisle next. He was moving a little slower, but he was already naked and he was about to plunge his cock into some tramp's pussy. I decided now was the time and pumped a fuckton of lethargy into the room. Carlisle and the two girls collapsed immediately. I scanned the other rooms and everyone was completely passed out.

Peter buzzed my cell right around that time. "You need to get Carlisle dressed and carry his ass downstairs. Make sure you pump enough of your sleepy mojo into the room to keep them knocked out for a few hours. I don't give a shit if you have to douse the whole floor."

"Alright, I'll see you downstairs in a bit." I told Peter.

I went to Carlisle's room and threw a plushy hotel robe on him. I wasn't about to deal with pants with his boner staring at me in my face. One of the women was laying on his clothes. Oh well, she can have them—I ain't touching her even if it's just to move her. I walked into Johnny B's room and made sure that everyone was passed out. I checked to make sure that I had Carlisle's cell phone and wallet. Everything seemed to be in order so I pumped enough lethargy into the suite to keep everyone knocked out for at least a few hours. I carried Carlisle out caveman style and noticed that a hotel maid with a big push style laundry cart filled with dirty linens was passed out in the hallway. I shoved Carlisle into the laundry cart, threw some linens on top of him, then wheeled him into the elevator.

I received a call from Emmett, then. "Bro, hit the B3 button instead of Lobby—we'll meet you down there."

I pushed the button and made it straight to the 3rd level of the basement—bypassing even the lobby. When the door opened, Emmett took the laundry cart from me.

"I closed out the charges with the limo driver and sent him home." Peter stated. "Johnny B can find a way home for himself and the whores."

"Great thinking, Peter." I said, sarcastically. "How the fuck are we supposed to get back home?"

"Need a ride?" Bella asked as she, Rose, and Char pulled up in our new Land Cruiser. Peter and I hopped inside while Emmett effortlessly lifted Carlisle out of the laundry cart and placed him on the floor of our vehicle.

"You guys stink!" Rose commented. "Those clothes are going straight into the trash. Maybe we should use that de-skunking solution on them."

"Now, Rose, it's not their fault they stink like skank. They took one for the family. No need to punish them." Bella opened the window as she said this.

"How did you know to come to Atlantic City?" Emmett asked.

"Char came to tell us that we were meeting you guys there." Bella stated, pulling over to the side of the road. "Someone else drive, I hate driving."

I wasn't surprised. My wife's limit for driving was about an hour. She abhorred it to no end. She didn't mind being a passenger, but driving was just something that she had limited patience for.

Char eagerly took the wheel while Bella moved to her seat in the second row. Thank God because Char put the pedal to the metal whenever she drove—my wife always drove at the legal speed limit. No one liked sitting in a car with her driving—except for Garrett, that is. He always drove at the legal speed limit, too. "Damn! I should have kept driving, the four of you stink like a pussy refinery. Carlisle smells triply bad, though. Pew!"

"Uh, no, Bella. Had you kept driving, we would never get to my house. You drive like a snail." Rose said.

Bella peered between the seats at the speed dial. "Char! You're going over 120 miles per hour!"

"No backseat driving. Shut her up, Jasper." Char ordered.

I grabbed my mate and started kissing her. It was the only way I knew to keep her quiet other than knocking her out. Bella responded immediately and before I knew it, I had my hand up her shirt and was playing with her tits like a teenager presented with his first pair of boobies.

"Uh, Jasper, you're projecting. There are four others plus one drunk, passed out fucker in the vehicle."

Huh? Did someone say something? I don't give a fuck. I have my gorgeous mate sitting on my lap and after being tortured in that limo ride from hell, I needed her now.

"Step on it, Char!" I vaguely heard someone say. "The Major isn't going to make it and I've witnessed enough live sex tonight to last me an eternity."

"Oh, holy hell, Em. I want you now!" Rosalie cried out.

"Don't you dare, Rose! I'm trying to stay in control of the vehicle. I'm pushing 125, the speedometer only goes up to 130." I heard Charlotte screech. "We're almost there!"

"Major! Major!" Peter yelled.

"I'm busy, fucker! Call me back later!" I seethed and went back to playing with my mate.

The vehicle came to a screeching halt and I heard people exiting and doors slamming shut. We were finally alone. I ripped off my clothes, then Bella's and plunged straight into her waiting, wet pussy. Over and over again, I had her screaming my name. A few hours later, I came back to reality and realized that we had pretty much destroyed the interior of our new Land Cruiser. The windows were busted out and there was no shifter or steering wheel to speak of. The seats were all disheveled and were ripped out of the floor of the vehicle.

"Um, Jasper, I think we've hit a new record low. We just destroyed our new car in less than twenty-four hours."

"No, baby, it was less than twelve hours. We bought the car around 7:30 pm, it's 7 am now." I stated. "You know something, though?"

"What?" Bella asked.

"It was worth it." I smirked. Bella kissed me full on the lips again. Eh, one more go won't hurt.

An hour later, we trudged our naked asses into Rose and Emmett's house. The two other couples were going at it like rabbits and screaming like banshees in heat. Carlisle was still knocked out on the living room sofa in his hotel robe. I pumped a bit more lethargy into him so he would stay that way for a while longer. Bella and I found a bathroom and hopped into the shower. After toweling her dry and scenting her, the two of us walked out of the bathroom wrapped in towels.

"Thanks a lot fucker!" Peter slammed his fist into my face. "Rose and I were supposed to open up the shop an hour ago. You just had to lose control of your lust right then and there, didn't you?"

"Thank you, Jasper." Charlotte ran up and kissed me on the cheek. "That had to be the best sex I've had in a long time." The two of them slipped into the bathroom that we just vacated. I heard another shower going off in a different room.

Bella scented out Rose and Emmett's room and rifled through their drawers for clothes that would fit us. We both had to make do with t-shirts and pajama pants—Rose was about five inches taller than Bella and Emmett was both taller and stockier than me.

The two couples came downstairs freshly showered. Peter and Char were dressed in borrowed pajama pants and t-shirts like me and Bella.

"Jasper, I love when you project. I really do, but can you do it on a weekend from now on? Some of us have businesses to run." Rose stated.

"Alright, Rose and I are going to work. You four can babysit pops, right?" Pete asked.

"We've got him." I said.

Peter and Rose left the house. A minute later, I heard an ear piercing scream come from Rose. Emmett, Char, Bella, and I ran out of the house to investigate.

"What in fuck did you two do to your new Land Cruiser?" Rose screeched. "This is completely totaled. We're going to have to report it stolen and torch it. There's no way the insurance company is going to compensate you for that. How the fuck are we supposed to explain how the steering wheel got embedded into the engine from the inside?"

We did that? Shit. I'm feeling pretty good about myself now. A thought then occurred to me. "That's what I forgot to do. I forgot to call the insurance company to insure the Land Cruiser."

"Well, that makes it all better, Jasper." Rose said, sarcastically. "Peter, I'd say you and I move this heap into the garage at your house and have fun with it. We can rebuild it from the frame up."

"Sounds good to me." Pete stated. They hopped into Rose's Pagani Zonda and sped away.

The four of us went back into the house. "So, what do we have planned for today?" Char asked.

"I'd say we wake Carlisle up, talk to him, then go car shopping." I suggested.

"That's fine." Em said. "We can hop in my Jeep. You three probably need clothes too and so does Carlisle. You're drowning in our pajamas."

"How about if Char and I hit a store and grab some clothes while you and Jasper man the fort?" Bella paused to think. "It might even be better if it were just you two when Carlisle initially wakes up."

That actually was a good idea. Carlisle might be embarrassed by his actions last night. Plus, I might need to bring out the Major to interrogate him and I preferred it if Bella and Char weren't there to see it. I nodded to Em who tossed Char the keys to his jeep. The two of them left the house immediately, both of them drowning in Rose's long pajama pants. They looked kind of cute.

"Are you ready, man?" I asked Em. He nodded at me. I sent Carlisle gradual bursts of energy. He opened his eyes with a groan and scanned his surroundings. His orbs eventually focused on me and Em.

"What happened?" Carlisle groaned.

"We should be asking you that. You were shitfaced last night, Carlisle." I said.

"Is that why my head hurts? I think I overdid it on the Scotch." Carlisle moaned, clutching his head. "Why do I smell like cheap perfume?"

"Don't you remember a thing about last night?" I asked. "You hired a party limo with a hot tub and a stripper pole and made your way to Atlantic City with a bunch of money-grabbing bitches and Johnny B. Peter, Em, and I happened to run into you as we were heading into the Boom Boom Room and you invited us to come along for the ride." He didn't need to know that it was a planned intervention.

"Did I? Did I...cheat...on Esme?" Carlisle asked.

"Almost. I stopped you before you could take the plunge, so to speak." I explained.

"Thanks, Jasper." Carlisle said, gratefully. He put his face in his palms and sighed. "I'm not ready to go home to Esme yet. We need some time apart. With her, everything is about family and work. I don't mind her concentrating on her work, in fact—I encourage it. The thing that bothers me is that she's so caught up in work and family that she's forgotten how to have fun. Everything is about keeping the kids happy. The fact is that you children are all adults and in many instances, like this one, we're learning from your example. Do you realize that I've been acting like I'm in my thirties or forties, but chronologically I'm not much older than you two? I'm only twenty-three. Rex is actually the oldest at twenty-nine and between me and him there are six vampires between us in age. I'm actually the same age as Riley, Katie, and Amanda yet I'm the family patriarch. How fucked up is that?"

How do you answer something like that? Carlisle had a point, we'd all been dependent on him for years—not taking into account the fact that he was just as young as we were. The poor guy probably felt excluded. While we were living it up, Carlisle was working hard and trying to be a responsible citizen and father figure when what he really wanted to do was join us as a brother.

I took a deep breath before speaking. "You know something? I think, maybe, we've all grown too dependent on you. We're all adults here and capable of making our own decisions. We excluded you from so called 'guys' nights out' because we didn't think you'd be interested, but in reality you probably wanted to join us. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too, Carlisle." Emmett stated.

"No, it's my fault too. I assumed the role of patriarch after changing Edward. That boy needed a father more than anyone. Jasper, you weren't around for his early years as a vampire, but Edward was a spoiled, rebellious adolescent brat and totally out of control. It was after Esme and I took a more prominent role as parents that he finally straightened out. Ironically, in many ways, Alice was the same way." Carlisle explained. "Esme took to the role of mothering with a vengeance—that's part of the problem I have with her. I love you both, but the fact is that I'd prefer you as brothers rather than as my children."

I wasn't surprised that he felt that way. The only person that he felt a paternal feeling to was Bella. Carlisle wore his feelings on his sleeve so he was easy to pinpoint. Esme, on the other hand, felt as if everyone was her child—except for Amanda, that is. She never really took to her.

"I didn't know that about Edward, but Alice was definitely a petulant child and with her extraordinary gift—it made her behavior much worse." I stated. "I would assume that you had a similar experience with Edward."

"At least Riley straightened both of them out. I don't know how he does it. He enjoys life. He gives himself the opportunity to relax while still keeping his career and family together. I was never able to do that—I have to focus on just one thing." Carlisle grimaced. "I think I'll go back to the hotel now. Can one of you give me a ride back? I'm going to check into a different hotel, somewhere a bit more reserved where I can think about my next move."

"We can give you a ride after Bella and Char get back. We only have one vehicle here at the moment. Rose's BMW is in Manhattan and so are Char and Peter's trucks. Jasper totaled his Land Cruiser. Go take a shower, Carlisle. The girls are bringing clothes back for you." Emmett suggested.

"I thought you had a Range Rover?" Carlisle asked me.

"Uh, yeah, I got into an accident yesterday, replaced it with the Land Cruiser, and had an incident with that as well." I explained.

"Jasper, you need to be more vigilant when you're behind the wheel." Carlisle chastised.

Emmett started chuckling then opened his big mouth. "Jasper and Bella got down and dirty breaking in their new SUV and destroyed the interior. It's parked in our driveway."

Carlisle shook his head with a chuckle then got up to bathe. Bella and Char came home a minute later.

"Did you talk to him?" Bella asked, throwing me an outfit.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it later. He doesn't want to go home to Esme yet, though. He wants to think." I stated.

"Perhaps that would be for the best." Char piped in. "My time living apart from Pete was painful, but we both got a lot of thinking done. He should at least call and explain things to Esme, though."

"Yeah, I agree. Where are his clothes? I'll go give them to him." I said.

Bella handed me a bag and I delivered it to Carlisle, advising him to at least call Esme.

An hour later, he had discussed things with Esme and we were on our way to the Standard Hotel. Carlisle ended up checking out. He called to tell us that he was staying at the Plaza Hotel for now and that he wanted me to meet with him tomorrow morning so we could go take a look at some apartments in Manhattan.

Emmett and Char left after dropping us off, Char in her truck and Emmett in his Jeep.

"What a fucked up twenty-four hours!" I commented to my wife.

"No kidding. I didn't think it would ever end." Bella slid onto my lap and relaxed into my arms. I turned the TV on and the two of us just chilled out and relaxed for a few hours.

"I'm so glad we got our shit taken care of early in our marriage." I stated to Bella.

"I'm with you a hundred percent. It's going to be a long haul for Carlisle and Esme, I think. Esme can be really stubborn."

Just then, my cell phone buzzed. It was Vicky. "Uh, Jasper. I'm in a teeny bit of a pickle."

"What's wrong, Vicky?" I asked.

"Here's the thing. Remember how I sent Amber the Skanker home without any digits eight years ago?"

"Yes." I said. Of course I remembered, that was the beginning of the worst two years of my existence.

"Well, before we moved to Connecticut, I was weeding through my old stuff and her last remaining pinky rolled out of one of my purses. I tried to mail it back to her, but the post office just returned it to me as 'undeliverable'. So, I was thinking that you might know how to get in touch with her." Vicky said, sheepishly.

What the fuck? She held onto a pinky for eight years? Gee whiz. "I think the best way is to contact Veronica Miles. She and Amber are pretty tight. She's mated now so she won't be a problem." I said, giving her the name of one of my many conquests. "Jenks has her contact info."

"Okay, I'll take care of it. Thanks, Jasper." Vicky ended the call and Bella fixed me with a horrified expression on her face.

"She held onto the pinky for eight years?" She asked.

"Looks like it. I'm telling you, baby, Vicky is one person who you never want to cross." I paused to show her a scar on my forearm. "That's from her. She bit me after she found out you left eight years ago. It really hurt bad, Bella."

Bella kissed the bite mark from Vicky and pulled me into her arms. "Poor baby." She soothed.

I think I'll just have to take advantage of this position and bury my face in her tits. I love it when she takes care of me. That's not wrong is it? Even the Major needs some TLC sometimes.

**This chapter was a doozy-I know. So, Carlisle is having the mother of all midlife crises. Personally, I think it was a long time coming and he and Esme have huge issues to work out. Poor Emmett! What a hell of a tragedy to have to witness at such a young age. No wonder he's so protective of Rose. At least they seem to be on the mend and I'm sure Jasper and Bella will help our other favorite couple through it. Now, as for the pinky-how many of you think Vicky should just hang onto it just in case? Let me know your thoughts and I promise to reply. XOXO**


	44. Chapter 44

**Hello everyone! Thank you for your wonderful reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. I appreciate all of the support you've shown for this story so much! I wanted to let you know that I received and replied to them all. If your fanfiction account has been acting up like mine is, you may not have received your reply yet. My alerts are taking at least 48 hours to get to me at this point. I hope that they fix this glitch soon because, honestly, it's a bit aggravating.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All character's belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Maria's POV**

"The Love Boat promises something for everyone..." I was completely relaxed and singing out loud for everyone to hear. Manuel, Rodrigo, and I were on a three night cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. It was luxurious. I was being made love to during the daylight hours because it was too sunny to venture out onto the deck and by night we'd dance the night away and even mingle with humans. I haven't forgotten my ultimate goal of finding the Major, the Captain, and James to restart my newborn army again. I've gotten a lot of thinking done these past five years. It was exactly what I needed to get my brain restarted.

I got my break about a month ago in Santiago, Chile when I ran into a nine-fingered whore named Amber. I asked her why she was missing her pinky and she informed that she had a run in with James' pet Victoria. Apparently, the Major and the Captain were all living as vegetarian vampires in New Hampshire together with Victoria and James. She said that she didn't see James there, but he was probably working because this "family" liked to keep up human pretenses. She did, however, have the unfortunate experience of running into the Major's pet Charlotte. She and Victoria were the ones that relieved her of her digits. She was still waiting on her pinky.

This Amber girl was a wealth of information. She informed me that the Major is now married to a gorgeous, but weak woman with no talent whatsoever. She didn't see any sort of bond between the wife and the Major at all. In fact, she told me that the Major was more protective of her than of his wife. This told me that she was no threat at all. I could either dispose of her or just take the Major and let her be—the latter was probably the wiser option. I didn't need any weak vampires in my army so bringing her along was not an option.

Amber told me that the family did have a couple of talented vampires, one being a mindreader and the other being a seer. She said the mind reader was absolutely gorgeous, but the seer was the Major's ex-wife and someone who wass just too annoying to deal with. I'd have to acquire the mind-reader, but the seer I'd have to think about. I don't want to piss the Major off. I planned on assessing the situation for myself after I train and establish my new army beginning next summer. For now, I had a bit more planning, thinking, and vacationing to do. After the cruise, our next stop was Miami to feed and then a flight to Montevideo, Uruguay so we could go back to speaking our native Spanish again. For now, though, more dancing! Oh! This is so much fun!

**Jasper's POV**

I was home alone. Bella was out helping Carlisle set up his new apartment—the one that happened to be only three blocks away from us. God help me and Bella. When the hell we became his babysitter, I had no idea. He was constantly calling me for advice and Bella for help with everything from laundry to furniture placement. The funniest call we got was when Carlisle didn't have any towels after his first shower. I ran over with a few towels for him only to find that he also needed shampoo, soap, well everything. I called Bella and had her run those things over. After she got there, we realized that Carlisle's apartment was empty except for his new clothing purchases. Carlisle, then asked me and Bella for help setting it up. He didn't want to call Esme and ask her for her help.

Carlisle and Esme had talked and mutually decided to separate for a while. Carlisle explained all of his grievances with his marriage, the family, how he felt about being a father, and how he absolutely felt stifled. Esme understood, but at the same time, she was a perpetual mother and couldn't fathom not being a maternal figure to us. I could understand both points, Carlisle was feeling chained down by having to be a father while Esme, on the other hand, couldn't be expected to simply abandon the family she and Carlisle had built up for decades.

The one thing they did agree on was that they needed some time apart. Each one needed to think without the other. It wasn't going to be permanent. They were mates so they were each other's partners for eternity. They just needed some downtime alone. The odd thing about Carlisle's separation from Esme was that neither of them felt any sort of excruciating chest pain like Bella and I did whenever we were apart—just your standard pain from being away from each other. Upon hearing that, Char brought something interesting up to me, Bella, and Peter.

Apparently, around eight years ago, her gift started developing new traits—slowly at first. While she could always see the bond between mates and the strength of the bond, now she could see the gradual strengthening or weakening of the bond. She was pretty sure that the mating bond would never sever, but now we knew that it could weaken or strengthen depending on the circumstance.

Another new development was that she could now see bonds between everyone and identify them—be it familial, mating, friendship, civil, or that of an enemy. In the past, all she could see were mating bonds. This put Char's power on an equal status as Marcus Volturi's. Peter and I were perplexed as to why her power would start developing new features decades after her change. Bella came up with the most plausible explanation stating that eight years ago was when Char and Peter finally decided to work on themselves and their relationship. She deduced that maybe it was possible that vampire powers don't come to full fruition until the vampire in question is mentally and emotionally whole. Bella's explanation was absolutely made sense because I felt, over the last five years, that I've gained more control than ever over my empathic powers. Well, okay, maybe the lust spirals out of control every once in a while, but that's because I'm eternally mated to a divine sex goddess with an insatiable drive for sex. I digress, though, I've tested my gift out and I'm capable of expanding my gift farther and also of not letting the emotions of those around me affect me as much.

Char, using her new capabilities, said that Carlisle's and Esme's bond had been weakening over the last six years. She also saw Rose and Emmett's bond loosening too. After they returned from Rochester, she observed that their mating bond was secure once again. Another observation that Char made was that Carlisle's paternal bond to all of us was extremely weak except with Bella and somewhat with Rose. With Bella, Carlisle's paternal bond was even stronger than the maternal bond that Esme had with her—apparently that bond was extremely weak. Esme's maternal bond with me was apparently strengthening at the same time, whereas, Carlisle's bond with me was that of a respected brother. Interesting.

_Ding dong_. Who the fuck is at the door? I hate being interrupted when I'm thinking. "Who is it?" I called, a little shortly.

"Major Whitlock? It's Felix Goodwin, sir." The voice from behind the front door answered.

"Felix, what brings you to Manhattan?" I opened the door to let him in. He was alone. He was also standing there saluting me.

"Sir, my wife is working at Tanya's store and I had absolutely nothing to do. I wanted to take the opportunity to get to know you, sir. Am I overstepping my boundaries, sir?"

"Felix, the War of Northern Aggression ended over a hundred and fifty years ago. You can drop the sir and the Major and just call me Jasper. Come inside." I urged.

"Thank you, sir, um, I mean Major...Jasper." I led Felix into the living room and motioned to the sofa for him to sit in.

"So, how are you adjusting to animal blood?" I asked.

"It's rank. It's the worst thing I've ever tasted. Gianna doesn't mind, but I've been feeding on humans for over a hundred and fifty years. Animals just aren't satisfying. I had to run to Manhattan last night and take out a rapist, I just couldn't hold out. How do you do it?"

How do I explain to him that animals will never be satisfying? Bella and Riley both have no idea how lucky they are that they have virtually no bloodlust. Bella slipped, but that was after nearly two months of not feeding. She told me that she never wanted to taste human blood again, she'd rather suck on a deer all day. It was weird, Bella and Riley both thought human blood tasted awful. Then there was Peter. Of all people, I thought he'd be the most like me and have problems switching to animal blood. Nope, Pete actually preferred the taste of animals over humans. If that wasn't an indicator that the three of them were related, I didn't know what was. The three of them had fucked up taste buds. When I mentioned this, Peter said that his family were just more evolved. Fucker.

"Felix, I'm not gonna lie to you. It's not an easy switch. It took me decades to adjust, but you have to understand that I'm an empath so I could also feel the bloodlust of others around me. I think you'll have an easier time than I did. What helps me is to think of my mate as she was when she was human. You have that same advantage, you knew Gianna when she was human. Would you have been able to drain her then?" I asked.

"No, never. Gianna was my world then and still is. I couldn't drain her then and, were she still human now, I still wouldn't be able to take her blood. You're very wise Major Jasper. No wonder you attained such a high rank in the army."

We talked for a bit about our experiences during the war, my time with Maria, and his time with the Volturi. I realized that the Volturi were fucking misers. How could they send a guy who had given them a hundred and fifty years of service packing without any financial compensation? At least Maria divided her assets fairly with me. Poor Vicky, though. When I brought up James' assets with her, she informed me that he gambled everything away. By the time he died, he had not one red cent to his name and they were living off of stealing from the humans they fed off of. She feels terrible about it now. I looked at Felix and his clothes were completely threadbare. I decided to hook him up with some clothes and some cash so he could get on his feet.

When I brought it up, he protested. "Major Jasper, I can't take your charity. I've always worked for everything I..."

"I won't take no for an answer Felix. Look at it as a brother helping a brother. We all need a helping hand from time to time. Believe me, I've been in your shoes. If it weren't for Peter and Charlotte, I would still be training Maria's newborn army. They're the ones that showed me a new and better life. Each and every one of us had someone looking out for us and supporting us, be it financially, mentally, or emotionally. You don't ever have to feel obligated to me and you don't have to pay me back either." I stated. "It's just simply me helping you to get on your feet."

He stared at me shocked and dumbfounded, then smiled. "Thank you, Major Jasper. You're a kind man."

"Well, come on. Let's go shopping in Connecticut." I motioned for him to follow me.

We hopped into our new Chevy Tahoe which we purchased last week after our 'Day of Demolition' when we ran through two vehicles in less than twenty-four hours. We were actually thinking of purchasing a Cadillac Escalade when the salesperson at the dealership, an honest southern boy named Justin, pulled us aside and said, "Just between you and me, I would go with the new Chevy Tahoe. It seats nine and is amazingly luxurious. It can also go off-roading so it's the best of both worlds. I just test drove one myself this weekend. Oh, and it's about twenty thousand dollars cheaper." The guy had Bella at twenty thousand dollars cheaper and me at off-roading. I thought about the shit Em and I could get into with that and I was sold. I tipped the guy a thousand bucks in cash and took off with Bella before he could return it to us.

"Major Jasper?" Felix asked. I acknowledged him so he would continue. "This is quite embarrassing. I'm wondering if you could teach me how to drive a car."

Huh? Did he just ask me to teach him how to drive? "Don't they drive in the Volturi?"

"Well, yes, but only the appointed chauffeurs. I do pretty well on horseback and I can drive a horse drawn wagon or carriage." Felix said. "At least, I was able to back in the day."

Okay, those are pretty archaic skills. I remember having to maneuver a horse drawn wagon, those were the prime modes of transportation of our time. I think I'm kind of getting a good understanding at how the Volturi operates. They only taught new skills to those who needed them. Felix was more or less a strong arm for the Volturi so they must not have provided him with any real skills that's why they just let him go. They didn't think that he was a threat to them. I would have to probe into what he can and can't do and help him develop some skills that he can work with.

"I'll teach you how to drive, Felix. In fact, I'm gonna sign you up for a class at a driving school. They can teach a lot better than I can. How about Gianna? Can she drive?"

"Gianna can do everything. She was twenty-four when she was changed, so she can drive, she can do secretarial work on the computers, everything a modern person can do really. She can also cut hair, she was a hairdresser before she became a secretary for the Volturi." Felix explained.

"Gianna was a secretary for the Volturi?" I asked, a bit shocked.

"Yes, they hire humans to work at the main office of the castle to keep up the facade. They pay very well and most don't find out the secret that we're vampires, the ones who do are killed. Gianna was one of the people slated for destruction. She's very insightful and she figured out what we were. It was partly my fault because I had started courting her. I felt an incredible pull to her and she felt an attraction like no other to me. I couldn't stand being away from her. When Aro did his monthly check to see if the humans in the office knew our secret, it was discovered that Gianna knew and that she and I were courting each other. He tried to take her from me, but I moved to protect her. Marcus, then, stepped in and said that he saw a strong mating bond between us and it would be unjust to kill Gianna and leave me alive. They deliberated for days, not allowing me to hunt or Gianna to consume food. The two of us were sequestered in my chambers. Personally, I think Aro was hoping that I'd lose control and drain her, but how could I? Gianna was my eternity. In the end, Marcus won with Caius actually backing him up. I was told to change Gianna immediately, get her over her bloodlust, and never set foot in Italy again. I did as I was told. Gianna gave me her bank ATM card and the password before she was changed. She had the equivalent of about three thousand dollars in there. We've been using those funds to survive these past ten years."

Three thousand dollars over ten years? Fuck me—and I was worried about Bella surviving on twenty thousand dollars when she ran to England. Bella was resourceful too, look how quickly she found a job and a place to live. These two have just been wandering the United States with no shelter.

"How did you survive on so little and how did you two cross the Atlantic Ocean?" I asked.

"Oh, crossing the Atlantic Ocean was easy. We stowed away in the cargo hatch of a commercial airplane from London. It turned out to be a direct flight to Charlotte, North Carolina." He said.

"Geez, Felix. You and Gianna were shafted by the Volturi. I can't believe they threw you out on your ass with nothing." I seethed.

"Well, Gianna and I felt lucky. They let us live, you see. Most people in our situation don't make it out of the castle alive."

We pulled into a mall in Connecticut and Felix went to try on clothes. Unfortunately, everything was too short for the big guy. I called Em and asked him what he does and he told me to hit the big and tall store. In fact, an hour later, Em pulled into the store we were at to help out. Thank God he did, too, because shoes were even tougher than clothes. God, it's amazing how dependent I am on my wife, she would have been able to figure this stuff out in a snap.

After we shopped, I decided to go visit Rex and Garrett since that's where Felix was living. Em tagged along. Rex wasn't home, but Garrett was. Felix kept warning me that Garrett's a Yankee sympathizer. I smirked at the Revolutionary warhorse.

We hit the war room and showed Felix and Em the ropes. They were both really good. Em from his online role playing games and Felix from being a sniper in the War of Northern Aggression. They were actually really helpful in helping us to move along the current battle we had going. Em and Felix decided to sign up for the reenactment in Valley Forge. We have a good sized group going so it should be a blast.

I decided to head home and arrived around seven pm. I missed Bella, she'd been gone helping Carlisle since the morning. When I got home, she still wasn't there. Where the fuck could she be? I decided to give her a buzz. "Babe, where are you?"

"I'm at a drop-in Exotic Dancing class with Rex. I left a note for you on the fridge. Gotta go. It's starting. I'll be home right after it's done." Bella, stated then hung up.

Uh, okay, Exotic Dancing. I can deal with that. She can come home and demonst...WITH REX? What the fuck is she doing at a class with Rex? Calm down, Jasper. Calm down. Rex? Rex? Calm down. Jealousy doesn't help. Keep it together. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

**Bella's POV**

"Rex, why the fuck does it have to be me that takes this class?" I asked over the phone.

"Cause Tanya can't dance, Bells, but she thinks she can when she actually has two left feet. Besides, I don't want to do the class by myself." He replied.

"Fine, I'll be there." I stated. I was actually interested in this Exotic Dancing class. It was a coed class being run by both male and female strippers. Oops, I mean exotic dancers.

I left a note for Jasper on the refrigerator and made my way to the class. Rex was already waiting. He must have already been in the city when he called. I gave him a hug and we made our way inside. We were a few minutes early so we decided to talk.

"How are Felix and Gianna doing?" I asked.

"They fuck a lot. I mean a lot, a whole lot, and they fuck in Italian. I get a boner every time I hear them. It sounds like Italian porn. Tanya tried speaking to me in Italian during sex, but it doesn't have the same effect because I keep trying to decipher what she's saying then my dick goes limp because I'm thinking."

"Well, why don't you learn Italian." I suggested, giggling at the fact that he can't think and fuck at the same time. I wonder if that's the case with Jasper, too.

"That's where you and Jasper come in." He said. "I signed us up for Italian lessons at a community center in Brooklyn."

Huh? Why the fuck do I have to take Italian lessons. "Again, why me?" I asked.

"Don't you want to fuck each other in Italian?"

"We're doing fine in the fucking in English department, thank you."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to go alone so you're both coming with me." He said.

"Fine, you tell Jasper."

"Excuse me, ma'am. You don't have the proper shoes for the class on. We have a wide selection of shoes for sale at the reception area. They're required for class." The instructor said to me. "No sneakers allowed."

"Wait a minute. How come he doesn't have to wear special shoes?" I asked, pointing to Rex.

"The rules are different for male exotic dancers." She stated, snippily. "If you want to take this class, you'll have to purchase the proper shoes. This is a real Exotic Dancing class, not Stripping for Fitness."

Well, that's kind of unjust and what's with the snippy attitude? What the hell did I ever do to this woman? I hate it when people are rude for no good reason at all.

"She'll buy the shoes." Rex stepped in, took my hand, and led me to the reception area.

"How the fuck am I supposed to dance in these? The heels are like six or seven inches high." I turned to Rex who just shrugged his shoulders.

I purchased a pair of red stiletto platform sandals. At five and three quarters inches high, it was the lowest heeled platforms they sold.

Class started and we had our warm-up. There was a male and a female instructor. I thought it would be the same as the Stripping for Fitness classes, but nope, I was sorely mistaken. This was stripping for real. We were bumping and grinding and we even learned how to do erotic poses for the audience. You had a choice on whether or not you wanted to strip down to your underwear. I kept everything on. Actually, I was the only one who kept everything on.

"Rex? Why the fuck are you in this class? You're way better than the instructors." I whispered.

"I like to keep up with my skills." He stated as a matter of fact.

"Okay, everyone, please grab a partner. We'll be covering erotic couples dancing for the audience now." The male instructor announced.

The women instantly flocked to Rex who deftly made his way to me, thank the Lord, because there was no way in hell that I was going to partner up with the guido looking fucker or the oiled up blonde dude—both of whom kept winking at me.

"You fucker! You knew that there was couples dancing, didn't you?" I narrowed my eyes at Rex. "That's why you didn't want to come to this class alone."

"Hey, I've got an image to uphold and like I said earlier, my mate has two left feet. Besides, if there's ever a recession and I get fired from my teaching position, I'll have to go back to my roots. We should see if there's an amateur strip contest for us to enter. I betcha we'd win."

I rolled my eyes at Rex. I was currently balanced on his lap with my legs spread wide right in front of his nose which was the position we were all instructed to get into. The other women were actually having trouble and if I were still human I would have had difficulty too, but for Vampire Bella it was easy.

"Your scent is tantalizing." He noted as he maneuvered my body so I was on my hands and knees with my ass pointing up towards him.

"Thank you. I'm going to kill you." I replied, looking back at him.

The asshole had the nerve to smirk at me. He gave my bottom a resounding smack.

At ten pm, the class ended and Rex walked me back to my house. He left for Connecticut immediately because it was late already. Apparently, he had taken the train in, but was planning on running home.

When I opened the door and walked inside, I tripped over Jasper who was sitting on the floor in front of the door looking like a lost puppy. He grabbed me right away and started sniffing me.

"You can stop sniffing me. I'm gonna smell like Rex. He was my dance partner in the class, you know." I stated. "You got the note, right?"

Jasper nodded that he did then immediately went to kissing me. I kissed him back and before I knew it, our clothes were torn to shreds and I had climbed onto Jasper's cock while he sat with his back against the front door. I ground my hips into him over and over again and when I arched my back and leaned on my elbows, Jasper decided to take control and pushed me down onto my back and started fucking me without abandon. He had my arms pinned over my head and with each thrust he kept asking, "Who do you belong to, Bella?"

I must have replied, "you" to my mate, at least a hundred times. Each time I said it, I was brought closer to ecstasy. He was using his gift on me and was bringing me to the edge, but not giving me my release. Whenever I was close, he'd pull back just slightly so I couldn't bring myself to cum. I was clawing at his back, screaming, begging for him to let me have it. "Please, Jasper!" I cried.

He just pierced me with his pitch black eyes and continued with his relentless pounding. Suddenly, it all came to a crescendo. "Mine!" Jasper roared as he released his seed and bit down into my neck, just as I pulsated to one of the most mind blowing orgasms I'd ever had with him.

"Yours." I confirmed as I reached out for his face so our eyes met. I kissed him with all of the feelings of love that I had for him and my husband made love to me, slowly and passionately this time. He caressed every inch of my skin with his hands and his velvet tongue until I was crying his name out in ecstasy and marking him as my one and only. Jasper picked me up and carried me to our bed. We snuggled under the blankets and he held me close to his heart.

"Do you feel better now?" I asked my mate. He nodded that he did. I knew that he was jealous about the fact that I was at an exotic dancing class with Rex. He knew that there was no real reason for his jealousy. Rex wasn't a threat and it wasn't like we were going to have sex in the class. Rex may be a flirt, but he was committed to his mate just like I was committed to mine. Jasper knew this so he tried his best to stay in control at home. When I got back from class, Jasper needed me to confirm that I was his and his alone—otherwise, he would have wallowed in his insecurities.

I told Jasper about my day with Carlisle, then the phone call from Rex. I also told him about the snippy bitch at the stripper class that made me buy the platform heels. Jasper informed me that I would be performing at the stripper pole, naked, in the heels for him. He, then, told me about his day. Apparently Felix had stopped by and they had talked. Jasper told me just how cruel the Volturi were to Gianna and Felix in the end.

"Felix is educated, though. His family owned a plantation in South Carolina and he was sent to the Virginia Military Institute for his education which was way more than I had when I was human. I was just a farmer's son. The only reason that I could read and write was my mama and daddy sent me to school unlike most of the neighbors kids." Jasper said.

"Tell me more about your childhood."

"Hmm...well, I used to read—a lot. The teacher was from up north somewhere and she had a lot of books. She'd let me borrow them and I'd devour them in a day. I read every single one of her books twice. I had a brother and two sisters. My older brother hated school, but he got through it. He preferred working on the farm. My two big sisters were the ones who liked school. When I was a little boy, they'd hold my hand and walk to school with me. Even when I could walk there on my own, they would always walk me to school and pick me up at the end of the day. I think they just wanted to make sure that I went. I would have gone though, I loved school. My mama and my sisters cried when I joined the army. They had a feeling that I'd never come back. I guess they were right." Jasper got a faraway look in his eyes.

"What was your favorite food when you were growing up?" I asked, curiously.

"My mama's rabbit stew. She'd serve that up with some corn bread and a big jug of sweet tea. Mama was the best cook in our village."

"You're lucky. My mom could barely boil water. Daddy was a better cook than she was and he sucked in the kitchen. I learned how to cook out of necessity. My Grandma Helen taught me how to cook. She hated my mom." I said.

"I wish I could have had some of your cookin'." Jasper kissed the top of my head. "Oh, just to let you know, I bought Felix and Gianna cell phones and put them on our account. I need to sign Felix up for a drivers' education class and set them up with some funds. I offered him a million dollars, but he doesn't want that much from me so I wanted to discuss it with you."

"A million is a lot of money. I think he just wants enough to get on his feet. I'd say a quarter of a million dollars and work with half to build it up for him. He doesn't have to pay rent and Gianna's working. Tanya and Katie have enough in their coffers to make sure that they don't fall on the wayside. Bear in mind that to the average person two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money. Maybe something that you could do for him that's better than financial support is to provide him with the means to support himself. In the vampire world, I'm sure he has skills enough to tear up an entire legion of bad vampires, but in the human world his skills are outdated. What if he attends school with you come fall at the Bronx Community College?" I suggested.

"Hey, baby, that's a good idea. That way, I won't have to go alone." Jasper sounded excited.

"Oh, Rex said that he signed us up for Italian classes at a community center in Brooklyn."

"Why?" Jasper asked, perplexed. So, I explained about Felix and Gianna's Italian lovemaking sessions to him. "Okay, but why the hell do we have to go with Rex for Italian lessons?"

"Cause you know Rex. He hates trying new things out by himself. Just like that class yesterday, he didn't want to go alone so he called me. You'll have to ask him more about the Italian lessons, I told him that he needed to ask you. I'll do whatever you want to do." I snuggled a bit more into my mate and kissed his neck. I don't know why, but I was just super horny today so I started working my way down his body with my kisses.

"Bella, you're insatiable." Jasper sighed, as I wrapped lips around his length.

"I'll stop." I said, popping him out of my mouth.

"Don't you dare. Get back down there, woman. That's an order!"

"Yes, sir." I saluted him as I licked my way back down his chest to my favorite part of his body.

_**The next day...**_

"Jasper, our Indian friends will be here tomorrow. I wanted to get some flowers for the house. There's a florist on West 53rd Street that supposedly has a great selection."

"Aw, baby, I don't want to get out of this bed."

"Jasper, I swear to you, the bed will still be here when we get back." I said, firmly. He was pouting. Major Jasper Whitlock was pouting. He took my hand and placed it on his rock hard cock and I swear he threw some lust at me because I melted as soon as he smiled at me. What the hell is wrong with us? At this rate, we won't accomplish anything in life and thank God we weren't human because we'd probably have about ten kids by now.

Jasper wagged his eyebrows at me as he plunged straight into my depths. "You play dirty, Major." I stated.

"I know and you like it." He stated as he continued on with his mission to bring me to ecstasy.

"Jasper, can you think and fuck at the same time?" I asked, recalling my conversation with Rex yesterday."

"Huh?" He asked, completely ignoring me. Okay, well, I guess I have my answer. It's a resounding no. My husband cannot think and fuck simultaneously. Oh shit. I can't either. I'm so not into this anymore. I'm all fucked out.

_**An hour and a half later...**_

"Oh, stop, pouting." I stated. "You came nine times between last night and today."

"That's not the point, Bella. You cock blocked yourself by thinking. Anyone in their right mind knows that you can't think and fuck at the same time." Jasper yelled, then turned to the appalled florist. "Do you deliver?"

"Y...y...yes, we offer free same day delivery." The florist replied.

"At least I didn't cock block you. You got to have your release." I argued back. "Ma'am, I'd also like two of the pink gerber arrangements with the limes in the vase along with the rose arrangements. What time can you deliver them today?"

By now the florist was flushed and red in the face. "W...w...we can get them to you around six pm." She stated.

"That's fine, thank you. Anything else, honey?" I asked my husband.

"Yeah, I like those stargazer lilies. Can you put together a few arrangements with those as well?" Jasper asked. "We're not done with this discussion yet, wife."

"Of course, how many would you like?" The, now, thoroughly uncomfortable florist asked.

"I don't know, five? What do you think, baby?"

I mentally noted the locations in the house that I wanted to put flowers in and counted the arrangements we already ordered. "Six," I stated, "and one more of the gerber and lime arrangement."

The florist gave us a total and Jasper paid the lady. He ran back inside stating that he forgot something and came back out with a single red rose for me. "Sorry, baby, I hate it when we argue."

"I'm sorry, too." I said, kissing him deeply on the lips.

"Get a room!" Someone yelled at us. Jasper gave him the finger and continued to kiss me right there in the middle of the street.

We walked hand in hand at human speed, stopping in to browse a few shops. We stopped by to visit Char at work. The store she worked at was surprisingly busy. Char gave us a First Timer Bondage Kit that came with a black silk blindfold and a pair of handcuffs in it's own little pouch. Jasper thanked her at least four times. Gee, ya think he's excited?

We left the store and hopped a cab to our house. I started cleaning the house in preparation for our houseguests. Jasper tried to help, but I sent him out after he managed to crush the vacuum cleaner because he was upset that there was a blockage in the pipes.

"Honey, just, go out and buy a new vacuum cleaner." I said. "I can take care of the cleaning."

He left excitedly a few minutes later. I'm sorry to say this, but I married a shopaholic. I don't know of any other guy that gets all excited about a fucking vacuum cleaner. I have no doubt that he'll come home with a top of the line German whatever the fuck vacuum instead of going to Sears like everyone else. He even took the Tahoe meaning he's heading to New Jersey or Long Island.

Rose and Em came over about an hour later. They're staying at our house while our friends from India are here. Rose helped me set the place up and after the flowers were delivered, we placed them in various areas of the house.

"What the hell is taking Jasper so long?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know. He left about five hours ago. Call his cell." I suggested.

Em did that. "Do me a favor, bro. Look online and tell me whether the Oreck, Sebo, or the Miele vacuum has a better rating."

I can't fucking believe he's not done yet. Apparently, neither could Emmett. "Dude, you're not done yet? Bells said you left five hours ago. What gives?"

"Oh, I stopped for a spray tan and to get my hair highlighted. Hey, did you know that men can get manicures and pedicures too?"

Em and I had flabbergasted expressions on our faces while Rose was giggling uncontrollably. Since when does buying a vacuum cleaner involve an afternoon of beauty? I started giggling too.

Em got online and checked. "It looks like the Sebo and the Miele are neck and neck, bro."

"Okay, then, ask Bella." Jasper said.

"I rolled my eyes and looked at the computer. Just get the Sebo. It has a better warranty." I stated. "I want it in red."

"Okay, do you guys need anything? I'm on Long Island." Jasper asked.

"No, man. Just get home." Em ended the call.

"Alice must have rubbed off on him during their decades of marriage." I chuckled.

"Who the fuck spends eight hundred bucks on a vacuum cleaner?" Emmett asked.

"Jasper." Rose and I stated.

My husband finally came home three hours later, the Tahoe loaded to the hilt with shopping. "What the fuck did you buy?" I asked.

"They had a sale at the liquor store so I picked up a few cases of whiskey and tequila."

Good because I was going to need them.

"Um, bro, why are there four vacuum cleaners?" Emmett asked, perplexed.

"One for each floor. That way we don't have to lug them up and down the stairs."

We all looked at Jasper as if he'd lost his mind. When we didn't say anything, he spoke again, " I picked up a Miele, a Sebo, a Dyson, and an Oreck. And look, the Oreck came with a bonus hand held vacuum and, because I paid in cash, a steam iron, too. Do you think I should have picked up four Oreck vacuums instead? I mean, that is a pretty good deal."

I had nothing to say to him. He's completely lost his mind. Who the fuck needs four vacuum cleaners?

After unloading everything, Jasper started ripping open the boxes with the vacuum cleaners in them. He then grabbed a big box of Cheerios, poured it on our Persian rug and stepped on the cereal—pulverizing it. "Let's see which vacuum cleaner picks up better." He said, brightly.

Em, Rose, and I sat down on the sofa and watched my husband, the wannabe vacuum cleaner salesman, go to work. "Um, I couldn't really tell which one works better. Should I run out for another box of Cheerios?" Jasper asked, scratching his head. He was totally serious.

"No, Jasper. I think we should just finish vacuuming. We'll each take a floor since you were so proactive in picking up one for each of us." I said, quickly. I was ready to nip this in the bud. If I didn't, Jasper would be running to the store and picking up Cheerios all night.

"Right!" Rose stood up and motioned to Emmett. "Grab a vacuum cleaner. You take the top floor and I'll take the third."

The two of them took off immediately and we soon heard the whirring sound of vacuum cleaners. "Uh, guess, I'll take the Oreck." Jasper said and ran up to the second floor. I vacuumed the ground floor quickly.

Rose soon ran downstairs, apparently she was done too. "Your man is out of his mind."

"No, shit. He gets like this sometimes. He sees something he likes, can't decide which one to get, and picks up one of each."

"Trust me, I know what that's like. You should have seen Em at the Apple Store last week. He picked up four laptops and a desktop because he couldn't decide which one to get. Do you want a new laptop?" She asked me.

"Do you want a new vacuum cleaner?" I asked her.

We both had a good chuckle at the expense of our crazy husbands.

_**The next day...**_

"Look! There they are!" Emmett pointed. Our friends waved at us as they came down to baggage claim.

Amar had a worried expression on his face. He and Sushmita were clutching onto Amrita who looked absolutely feral.

"Oh shit. Baby, get your physical shield around Amrita and me now!" Jasper ordered. He tossed the keys to Rose. "Pull the Tahoe up front. Em, you and Sahil grab their luggage. We've got to get Amrita to the Tahoe."

"Jasper, wha..."

I was interrupted by my husband. "Not now, Bella! Focus on that shield. I'll explain later." Jasper went straight to Amrita and carried her outside with Sushmita and Amar on his heels.

Okay, something was wrong. Seriously wrong. We huddled into the Tahoe and waited for Em and Sahil to come with the luggage. As soon as they got to the vehicle, Rose took off.

"Rose, she needs to hunt." Jasper stated. Rose nodded her head that she understood. Fortunately, it was already midnight so the traffic was light and we arrived at a woodsy area in no time. Okay, well, if I were driving, it would have taken an hour, but with Rose at the wheel, it took a little over thirty minutes.

"Wow, Rose, I've never been here. Where are we?" I asked.

"Oh, this is Harriman State Park in Stony Point, New York. It's the best place to hunt in this area and the closest. It's about fifteen minutes away from West Point."

"Awesome. How did you find this place?" I was curious because Jasper and I had been driving into rural New Jersey or Connecticut. This was close, doable, and definitely woodsy.

"Google."

As soon as we parked, we were out of the vehicle. Amar tried to urge Amrita to come with him, but she wouldn't let go of Sushmita who steadfastly refused to let go of his wife. Sahil ordered Sush to let go of Amrita, but Rose and I knew what was going on. We shielded the two women.

"Amar, your wife needs her sister now. Why don't we split up. Rose and Bella will take care of the women. They'll be safe." Jasper assured. "We'll meet back at the vehicle in an hour."

Amar agreed reluctantly and we jetted off into the woods. Rose and I came across a bear which we offered to Amrita who latched on immediately together with Sush. They needed their bond secured. After that, we found some coyote and deer and we each took down a couple.

Amrita finally regained her composure after the deer. "Next time, offer us the bear after the coyote and deer. The deer was horrible."

We giggled. "We know, they're bad aren't they? The hunting isn't like in India, we have to drive to get to the good hunting areas. There are a lot of bears here, though and in the adjacent Bear Mountain State Park." Rose explained.

We cleaned up in the lake. We were a little taken aback when Sush and Amrita just hopped in with their clothes on. Rose and I were just washing our hands and faces. I looked at my sister and we decided to hop inside, too. We didn't want our guests to feel uncomfortable. Of course, now we were uncomfortable because we were in jeans. Sush and Amrita were in their beautiful, silk Salwar Kameez.

We hopped out and ran back to the Tahoe where the men were waiting. Jasper and Em looked at our sodden figures and raised their eyebrows. We drove back to our house and showed the couples to their rooms and taught them how to operate the showers and baths. They thanked us and said they would see us in the morning after their mating ritual.

By now, the four of us were used to our Indian vampire friends announcing when they were going to make love. Jasper pulled me up to our room. I dove into the shower because I was still drenched from my impromptu plunge into the lake. The hot water was soothing my tension away, I still had no idea what happened to Amrita.

As I lathered up my hair with shampoo, I felt Jasper behind me. He took over my hair washing. "I'll do that for you, baby."

Jasper made sure that I was completely clean before he ended the shower. He toweled me off and carried me to our bed where we cuddled in the nude.

"What happened to Amrita?" I asked in a whisper.

"She met her singer on the flight. It took all three of them to restrain her." Jasper replied. "The four of them have been so sheltered from the rest of the vampire world that they had no idea what a singer is, even. Em and I had to explain what a singer is to Amar and Sahil. They were shocked that such a thing existed. We told them that Amrita did very well, considering that she was on the flight with her singer all the way from London and managed not to drain him. Em and I both drained our singers the moment we encountered them, most of us do. You and Rose haven't met your singers yet."

"Wow, that must have been the worst flight ever. Amrita must feel awful."

"She'd feel worse if she had drained him. I knew something was up when I felt her bloodlust when she came off of the flight. It was the same as Edward's bloodlust around you when you were human."

"Is the difference between standard bloodlust and the bloodlust of a singer that noticeable?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Put it this way, I felt like draining every human in there. That's why I asked you to put your shield around me and Amrita. Your shield significantly diminishes the effect of the bloodlust." He explained. "Now, why were you four drenched from head to toe after the hunt?"

I started chuckling. "Rose and I told Sush and Amrita to clean up in the lake after the hunt. They jumped inside with their clothes on. We didn't want them to feel uncomfortable so we did the same."

Now Jasper was laughing. "Sometimes, I think you two take hospitality to a new level. Em had to stop both Amar and Sahil from diving into the freshwater pond that we cleaned up in too. We explained that we generally wait to bathe until we get home and just do a small clean up after a hunt."

We spent the evening making love. It's hard not to because our Indian friends have a tendency to emit a lot of lust, which in turn affects Jasper, who ends up projecting it to everyone. On another note, I noticed that no matter where Jasper and I live, there tends to be an increase in the baby population while we're residing in the area. It happened in Cambridge, London, and Dubai. By the time we left, our neighborhood was teeming with baby carriages. Cambridge and Dubai were the most noticeable. On average, couples with no children ended up with at least three. I'm sure the same thing will happen here, too.

The next morning, Rose and I sat in the living room with Amrita and Sushmita and chatted. The men were on the rooftop smoking cigarettes.

"Bella, Rose—I had never been so frightened in my life. I didn't know what was happening to me. All I knew was that I had a sudden urge to feed from a human being. Sushmita had a solid hold on me, fortunately. Then, Amar sat and placed me on his lap almost the entire flight while Sahil took my arm on the other side. The other passengers were perplexed as to why we were behaving the way we were." Amrita explained. "Thank God, Jasper and Emmett were able to explain what happened to our mates otherwise, I would have been confused for my entire existence. I never want to experience anything like that again."

Rose decided to change the subject, then. "So, what do you girls want to do while you're here? We have a couple of trips planned out so you can see more than just New York City."

"We want to go shopping. We want to dress like you and Bella in the American style. We also want to go to a beauty salon. Amar purchased a TV and a satellite dish so we can now watch television. We've been watching American TV. We also want to go to a discotheque and dance." Sush said and started showing us her dance moves with Amrita. "See, we practiced. We like Lady Gaga."

Rose and I stood up switched on some music and started dancing along with them. The four of us were really close and we always let our hair down when we were with them. It was weird because Rose pointed out once that we were actually closer to Sush and Amrita than we were to some of the other women in our family. She was absolutely correct in her ascertation.

The men soon came downstairs and were all staring at us as if we had been hit in the head with ten ton bricks.

"What are you staring at? We're just dancing." I rolled my eyes at them. Jasper chuckled and turned the music off.

"Everyone wants to go shopping." Jasper explained. "We thought you ladies could go together and we men will stick together. We could meet up later at the house then go dancing, what do you think?"

"I like the idea." Amrita agreed. "When do you think we can go to a beauty salon?"

"We can schedule a spa day sometime next week." Rose said.

Sushmita was staring oddly at Jasper. "Is your skin darker?"

"Uh, yeah, I stopped in for a spray tan yesterday." Jasper said. "Speaking of which, you and Rose should go too. You're both as white as ghosts."

"We're fucking vampires!" Rose argued. "Wait a minute! How come you're tan Emmett?"

"I've been going once a week to Laurent's spray tanning booth. Jasper's right, you are pretty white, Rosie. You could use a tan."

The doorbell rang just then and Jasper opened it. It was Carlisle. "I overheard what the boys were saying to you girls, you really could use a tan. You should go where I go. The airbrush tanning looks more realistic plus you can stay out in the sun for short bursts of time without sparkling."

What the fuck is this, rag on Rose and Bella day?

"They're right," Sahil piped in, "you both look inhuman."

"We are inhuman!" I yelled.

"Yes, but you don't have to look like it if you have the choice." Amar pointed out.

"Fine. We'll go get our tans before our confidence takes another hit." Rose said.

"Will you introduce me to your friends?" Carlisle asked.

Jasper made the introductions. After Carlisle referred me and Rose to his airbrush artist, he took off together with the men to go shopping. Apparently, the new, hip Daddy C was in the know about the trendy shops for men to shop at.

"He is what you Americans call eye-candy, no?" Amrita asked.

"I suppose he could be, especially now that he's changed his hair color." Rose said, surprisingly.

Ew! I couldn't think of Carlisle as anything, but Daddy. The new hair color matched his tan for sure, though.

After going for our airbrush tans, Rose and I took the girls to Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City. They went nuts. They have big malls in India, but not in the area that they're from and not the same stores. They, especially, loved the fact that they were shopping without their mates.

"They are so protective of us, but they trust you and Bella so they let us go. I'm sure your mates had a hand in convincing them to let us go alone, too." Amrita stated.

Boy could these women shop! We ended up having to make four trips to the Tahoe to throw shopping bags in. Rose and I had one bag each. We each bought a new dress and shoes for going out tonight. Rose gets a kick out of my closet. Three quarters of it is filled with Jasper's clothes and only a quarter of it has my stuff in it. He has two dresser drawers over my one, too.

The men weren't home yet when we arrived at home. We helped the girls sort through their purchases and put them away. We decided to take a dip in the jacuzzi pool. The men weren't home so we dove in naked.

"Why is there a giant tree in this room?" Amrita asked.

"Do tell, Bella." Rose smirked.

So, I told them about our time at the Surfside Fantasy Suites in Provincetown and how there was a giant tree in the middle of the room that Rose and I would swing from before we dove into the hot spring jacuzzi tub. I also told them about all the naughty stuff Jasper did to me while I was hanging from the tree branch. We all had a good giggle. Sush and Amrita were just as wild in the bedroom as Rose and I were. Rose and Sush didn't like oral sex as much as Amrita and I did, though.

We toweled off and went for showers and started getting ready for the evening. Rose did our hair for us. The men walked in when we were almost ready. They actually had even more shopping bags than we did.

"Carlisle's meeting us here in twenty minutes, he's gonna get us into the Boom Boom Room. Bring your bathing suits. No towels, though, apparently they provide those." Jasper said. "Pete's meeting us there and Char should be here any minute now. Pete called my cell while we were out so I invited them. Rose stop rolling your eyes, Char's not that bad."

Speak of the devil, there she is. The doorbell rang and Jasper went to answer it. Char bounded inside with a shopping bag and three gift bags. We introduced her to everyone. She hugged Sushmita and Amrita and handed them each a gift bag.

"Gifts from America." Char said, respectfully.

Sushmita and Amrita went promptly to opening their gifts. Inside was the same First Timer Bondage Kit with the silk blindfold and the handcuffs that she gave to me and Jasper yesterday as well as a Rabbit and a twenty pack of batteries.

"What is this?" Sushmita asked, holding up the pink mechanical phallus in front of her face. The Indian vampires were all eyeing it curiously.

"It's a vibrator. You insert this side into your vagina and the rabbit ears stimulate your clit." Char opened up the pack of batteries, put them into the Rabbit, and turned it on.

The four vampires from India stared at Charlotte with their mouths hanging open. Rose and I pulled Sush and Amrita aside and explained what they were for and how we each have one of our own. Jasper and Em did the same with Sahil and Amar. They all had big smiles on their faces when they walked back into the living room.

"Thank you, Charlotte. Thank you very much!" Sahil said, brightly.

"You're welcome. Please come to some of my classes while you're in town." She requested.

"You are a teacher?" Sahil asked.

"Yes, in the art of lovemaking." Char stated. Rosalie let out a fake cough. I smacked her arm because that was mean. Char was trying to be nice in the best way she knew how. "Bella, can I get ready in your room?"

"Yes, absolutely, maybe Rose can do your hair." I stated. If there was anyone else that needed help with her hair besides me it was Char. In that sense, we were two peas in a pod, we didn't give a fuck what we looked like.

"Sure, why not." Rose said between gritted teeth.

"Thanks, Rose. I almost forgot, I brought you a gift too." Char handed her the third gift bag.

A surprised Rose opened the gift. Inside was a First Timer's Bondage Kit. "Thank you, Charlotte."

"Oh, hell yeah!" Emmett yelped and twirled Char around. Gee, what the fuck is it with these men and their obsession with bondage?

I glared at my husband who smirked at me and mouthed, "Later."

Rose and Sush helped Char get ready. She looked stunning as she descended the stairs. Carlisle had arrived a few minutes prior looking like a rock star. We climbed into two separate minivan taxis and made our way to the Boom-Boom Room where Peter was waiting. His jaw dropped at the sight of his mate and he instantly made his way to her.

"Geez, doesn't matter what you and I do, we never get that kind of reaction out of our mates. I think they take us for granted." Rose whispered. We looked up to see Jasper and Emmett discussing an all man whitewater rafting trip that they were planning on taking with Amar and Sahil.

"It's better than hunting for sport." I commented. "At least they're doing something that doesn't involve guns which in their case, inevitably, involves skunks."

True to his word, Carlisle got us into the Boom Boom Room. Carlisle was immediately flocked by women who recognized him from his previous visits. As soon as they caught sight of our men and descended upon them like ravenous wolves.

"Hi, remember me from the limo? I'm Holly." Some blonde bitch walked up to Jasper and wrapped her arms around him. He promptly removed her arms from him.

"Beat it!" Rosalie scowled at the same time as me yelling, "Take a hike!"

The women, seeing the expressions on our faces immediately backed away from our men. In fact, they ran out of the club as soon as they collected their belongings—so did a few other women.

"Well, it smells a fuck of a lot less skanky now!" Charlotte commented, after they left. She pulled out a travel size bottle of air freshener and sprayed it around the men. We all had a good chuckle.

"God, I love it when you go all vampire on me, babe. Look how you and Rosie cleared the room." Jasper whispered. True, I don't think the Boom Boom Room has ever been this void of women. Eh, better for us anyway.

The manager greeted Carlisle and showed us to the VIP Seating Area. People came up to greet "Daddy C" or "Doctor Love" depending on the person. I noticed that the women had a tendency to call him Doctor Love and the men called him Daddy C.

We women decided to get up and dance while the men just sat, talked, and sucked on their whiskeys. Boring fuckers. Sushmita and Amrita were really great dancers. They showed us a form of Indian dancing called Bhangra.

"Oh my God! This is how they dance in all those Bollywood movies." Char commented. "That is so awesome!"

"Bhangra actually originated in the Punjabi region, but Bollywood made it popular internationally." Amrita explained. "We can teach you later at home. It's actually easier when you're wearing a Salwar or a Sari."

Sush and Amrita soon attracted a crowd. The men wanted them and the women wanted to be them. They were so beautiful, I wasn't surprised.

A slick voice whispered in my ear a couple of minutes later. "Hey, baby, why don't you bend over and let me spank that ass of yours."

"Rex, I swear! You're such a fucking flirt!" I sucker punched him in the arm.

"Ouch. Are you going to introduce me and Tanya to your friends?" Rex asked. Tanya gave me a bone crushing hug.

"Yeah, come on." I introduced them to our Indian friends and we all sat back down. "How the heck did you two get in?"

"Uh, Bella, Rex is an incubus and Tanya's a succubus. They can just dazzle their way in anywhere." Jasper pointed out. He pulled me onto his lap and held me close to him, undoubtedly because Rex was here.

"We just thought we'd check out all the hype about this place. We had no idea that you'd be here." Tanya said.

"He is more eye candy than Daddy C, no?" Amrita whispered in my ear, pointing to Rex.

"Uh, Rex has a tendency to be a legend in his own mind." I stated.

"Carlisle, I like your hair better in that shade. I dig the earring, too." Rex noted. "You look hip. How did you pierce your ear?"

"I used a titanium needle coated in my venom. If any of you need piercings, I can do it for you."

Rex soon stood up and held his hands out to Amrita and Sushmita. "Come on ladies, let's go dance."

"So, Bella, how was that Exotic Dancing class that my mate forced upon you?" Tanya asked.

"They made me buy platform shoes with six inch heels, the female instructor hated me for some reason, and Rex kept slapping my ass. Otherwise the class was good. I was the only one who kept my yoga pants and t-shirt on. Actually, come to think of it, I was the only one dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt—everyone else was in their underwear. This class was definitely for professional strippers not for amateurs."

"Exotic dancers!" Rex yelled from the dance floor. I flipped him the bird.

Amar turned to Char. "So, what kind of classes do you teach?"

"Next week, I'm scheduled to teach, 'Lick Him Like An Ice Cream Cone' and 'Spank Me Senseless, Sailor'. Although, if you want someone teach your women the art of fellatio, they should just ask Bella. She's way better at it than I am and she can make you cum in three minutes flat if necessary."

I was mortified. If I were human, I'd be blushing like crazy. Every single vampire turned to look at me.

"You can demonstrate on me." Rex called out.

Jasper growled and suddenly stood up. I went flying off of his lap. Amar caught me so I wouldn't fall onto the coffee table.

"Oh shit, hold him down!" Pete ordered. Sahil and Emmett kept him restrained on either side while Carlisle kept a firm hold on his shoulders from behind him.

"Calm down, Major. I'm just egging her on, you know how I like to get a rise out of her." Rex said. "I'd never cheat on Tanya and you know that for a fact."

Everyone sat back down, Jasper pulled me back onto his lap and apologized.

"So, Bella, you will teach our wives the art of fellatio?" Amar asked.

"I'll bring you some dildos tomorrow." Char offered, brightly.

Our whole table started laughing. What a nutty conversation. We danced a little more, soaked in the hot tub, and made our way home.

"Take your clothes off, put those stripper shoes on, and dance for me, Bella." Jasper ordered as soon as we entered our bedroom. He put some music on and I started dancing. I was swaying to the rhythm and Jasper's eyes were pitch black and focused solely on me. God, I wanted him. I reached out for the pole in front of me and slowly eased my hands down the pole until I was bent over at the waist and my ass was pointing straight out towards Jasper. I had no doubt that he had a perfect view of my snatch.

"Stay like that, baby. Don't move." Jasper commanded. I could feel my arousal dripping down my thighs in anticipation of what was about to come.

Jasper was making his way over to me slowly when our bedroom door opened. "Uh, Jasper, I'm sorry for disturbing you. Could you help me put the batteries in this device?" It was Amar and he handed my husband the Rabbit that Char gave Amrita earlier.

"Uh, sure." Jasper said, uncomfortably, taking the Rabbit from him. I was locked in the position that my husband told me to stay in, completely mortified, and unable to move.

"Bella, you might want to move your feet apart about three centimeters wider and arch your back a little more. Your mate will have a better view of your heavenly parts that way. They're lovely, by the way. Well, enjoy your mating ritual, I shall go begin mine. Goodnight." Amar snapped the door shut and left the room.

"Well, that sure was a cockblocker." Jasper started chuckling. He sat me down on his lap and helped me take my stripper platforms off. We decided to soak in our tub and cuddle.

We had tons planned for the next two weeks and I planned on taking advantage of as much relaxation time with Jasper as I could. I leaned my head back onto my mate so that I was nuzzling his neck.

"I love you, Jasper." I whispered. He responded by holding me tighter, kissing the top of my head, and filling me with every morsel of love he had for me. What a wonderful feeling it was.

**So, now that you've heard from Maria-tell me, should Vicky return the pinky? Poor Felix, the Volturi are real creeps, aren't they? What did you think of gorgeous Rex being so insecure that he can't go to an Italian class alone? Hmm...I wouldn't mind going to a stripping class with him, though. So, our vampire friends from India have arrived. Poor Amrita having to meet her singer on the flight. Did you like Char's 'gifts from America'? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. I promise to reply to your reviews. XOXO**


	45. Chapter 45

**Buckets and buckets of thank yous for all for your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. Strippers for all of you! **

**This story is AU/OOC/OTT.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Emmett's POV**

Amar, Sahil, Jasper, and I were sitting on Bella's rooftop oasis, smoking cigarettes, and talking. We had a fun night out at the Boom Boom Room last night. Our Indian friends were great as usual and, wow, could their wives dance. I haven't been that entranced in ages. That bhangra dancing was hot—if they could teach Rose how to dance like that and convince her to put on one of those saris for me and go nuts in the bedroom for me I'd be in their debt forever.

"Jasper, what is that big long stick that your mate was holding onto last night?" Amar asked him.

"It's a stripper pole."

"What is this stripper pole?"

"Are you telling me that you've never seen strippers?" Jasper questioned Amar and Sahil.

They both shook their heads no. "Bro, we've got to change that. They can't exist for four hundred years without seeing strippers. They're a God given right to us males. We're going tonight." I insisted.

"Alright, I think we should go in a big group—that way, we can get a private room so I don't have to feel every single human male's lust."

"Fine, private room it is. We invite all of the guys."

Amar and Sahil were looking at us completely flummoxed. We told them that we were going out without the women tonight. When we went down to inform the women that we were having a men's night out, they were extremely receptive and pretty much told us to have fun and enjoy ourselves. The way they were acting, I almost thought Rose would give me a blow, but alas no—it wasn't to be.

No fair! Jasper gets blows all the time. I have to beg for them, I mean really beg. Rose just doesn't like to give them. She'll ride me, she'll let me do her doggy style, and she'll definitely let me eat her out, but when it comes to blow jobs. Nope, no dice, ever!

You know something? If I can't have regular blow jobs, I want a fucking stripper pole in our bedroom. I mean, an old fucker like me deserves a little something in the bedroom, doesn't he? Oh, and Rose doesn't know this, but that bondage kit is mine. If she thinks she's going to blindfold me, she's out of her mind. I'm dominating her for a change, damn it!

A few hours later, we had met up with all of the guys at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club on 51st Street. We had a private room to ourselves along with our own bartender. There was a stage where women would come up and perform while we chatted away discussing man stuff with each other.

"I see why you have a pole in your room Jasper." Amar commented. "Bella's not a stripper, though, is she?"

"Nah, she's just Jasper's personal stripper, that's all." Rex replied.

"She's very beautiful. I was given the honor of seeing her heavenly parts yesterday evening."

"You got to see Bella's pussy man? How?" Mike asked. "I've been wanting to at least get a visual of that since I was sixteen, you lucky fucker."

Jasper slapped a palm to his forehead.

"Hey, I got to have a little whiff of her heavenly parts at that Exotic Dancing class we took the other night." Rex stated, smugly.

"Fuck you, man! You can take the class with her, but quit sniffing my mate."

"Jasper, it's not like we don't know what her arousal smells like the way you two go at it all of the time." Edward pointed out. "You'd think that after nine years of marriage that you two fuckers would get tired of fucking."

"You want to know what's bad? Try hanging out with Amar and Sahil." I pointed at my two Indian friends. "These two fuckers have been married to their mates for centuries and they still go at it all night. What's your secret guys? I can't even get Rose to give me a blow."

"She still won't go down on you?" Garrett asked.

"No, well, she does for about a minute—then, she pops me out of her mouth and starts riding me."

"Shit, I feel bad for ya." Jasper stated. "That's never happened to me with Bella before."

"Uh, Jasper. Bella's a special case. You're married to Madam Wonder Blow." Garrett stated. "I'm married to a succubus and I don't even get it as much as you do. We all wish we could get as much oral as you do."

"I don't have a problem getting oral sex." Sahil stated. "I have one in the morning and three in the evening. Sometimes I get one in the afternoon."

We all stared at my buddy from India like he was the luckiest fucker in the world. "Correction, he's married to Madam Wonder Blow." Garrett amended his previous statement. "You're just married to Princess Sucks A Lot."

"Well, I have to say. Alice stinks at it. I mean it, too. She tries her hardest and I'm trying to teach her, but damn, she keeps gagging."

"Gagging?" We all shouted out our question at once.

"Mike, vampires don't have gag reflexes." Felix pointed out.

"Well she does." Mike sighed.

"Maybe it would help for you to ask Jasper what he did when he was married to her." Carlisle suggested.

"Jasper was married to Mike's wife?" Amar asked.

"Uh, yeah. Up until fourteen years ago. We're divorced." Jasper explained.

"So, Bella is your second wife?" Amar seemed extremely perplexed.

I took it upon myself to explain to the newcomers about our complex family dynamics. "Interesting. I've never heard of such a thing. So, Edward is Bella's ex-boyfriend, but he is now married to Amanda and Mike is now married to Alice who was married to Jasper. Mike and Bella have always been friends, though." Amar ran through my explanation out loud.

"Exactly." I confirmed.

Sahil was staring at the stripper twirling around the pole. "Jasper, I would like to purchase a pole and bring it home to India."

"I would like to do the same." Amar agreed. "Maybe two, one for the bathing chambers and one for the bedroom."

"Yeah, I want one of those too, man. Where did you get yours?"

"Char's store. They have them in stock. Em, they'll deliver and install it for an additional forty bucks in the tri-state area. Oh, and Amar, I like the idea of the pole in your bathing chambers."

Awesome. I'm picking one of those fuckers up on Monday. We left the strip joint and headed for Jasper's so we could get drunk and go swimming in his jacuzzi pool. Rose and I were staying there for the next couple of weeks anyway. Carlisle left for the Boom Boom Room a few minutes prior. I guess we didn't party hard enough for him.

When we got there, the music was blaring and we could hear the girls giggling and squealing. We walked inside and, lo and behold, our mates were drunk like sailors and dancing—with fucking male strippers. In fact, there were about twenty male strippers all dancing—some of them in nothing, but their thongs. The entire living room was wired with disco lights and some of the women were doing body shots off of the strippers.

"I love a man in uniform." Amanda slurred, doing a bodyshot off of a guy in a fireman's hat.

"Okay, bring out The Admiral!" Vicky ordered.

"The Admiral?" We all questioned.

"Oh! Fuck me! Look at this guy!" Rosie cheered. "Sush! Let's go strip his clothes off of him!"

"No! Don't do that! I want to see him take it off slowly!" Irina was ogling the dude, openly.

Some Bon Jovi song started playing and the guy started working on his jacket buttons.

"Fuck, yeah!" Tanya yelped. Amrita and Gianna were whooping beside her. Bella was just sitting on the sofa watching the scene unfold in front of her while drinking straight from a bottle of Scotch whiskey.

The Admiral noticed Bella, then, suddenly, grabbed her and started dancing with her. The music was pumping and he was grinding his hips into her. All of the strippers were dancing with our mates. Rose was dancing with some asshole wearing a red thong named Gino in a policeman's hat.

Now, you would think that we would get all jealous and upset about these freaks with padding in their thongs dancing with our wives, but, no, we were all standing together twiddling our thumbs like the stunned dumb fuckers that we were.

Alice was attempting to back her non-existent ass up into some oiled up dude in a hard hat. Meanwhile, the Admiral had recruited one of his buds in an Army uniform and they were sandwiching Bella.

"That's it! Hey! Take your fucking paws off of my Stripper Wifey!" Rex yelled grabbing Bella away and throwing her to Jasper. "The only dancer she bumps and grinds with is me, got it? Fucking amateurs!"

"Who the hell are you calling amateurs?" A few of the strippers asked.

I don't know what the fuck made me do it, but I defended Rex. "We are!"

Fortunately, the guys moved alongside me in support.

"And just who the hell are you?" The fucker named Gino asked.

"I'm Santa." I said, jutting my chest out, then, pointed to Pete. "This here is my sidekick, Yoda."

"Dancers don't have sidekicks!" The guy in the army uniform shouted.

"Yeah, well, we do!"

"I'm the Maharaja!" Amar yelled angrily and pointed to Sahil. "This is my sidekick Harem Boy."

"I don't like Harem Boy can I have a different name? Why do you always get to be the Maharaja?"

"I am the Maharaja!"

"That's not the point! The point is to be creative, Amar. How can being the Maharaja be creative if you're already the Maharaja."

Mike flanked my side. "I'm Captain Crunch!"

I was surprised when Felix moved to my other side. "I'm Skippy."

"Skippy? What kind of a stripper names himself Skippy?" Peter asked so only we could hear.

"It was my nickname when I was a sniper in the War of Northern Agression."

"Skippy?" Jasper questioned, completely flummoxed.

"Who the fuck names a sniper Skippy?" Garrett commented. "No wonder the South got their asses handed to them in the Civil War."

Felix and Jasper started growling at Garrett who simply grinned and wagged his eyebrows at them.

At this point the strippers were all howling in laughter. Bella got up and defended us. "Hey! These men might not have cool names like you fuckers, but at least they don't have to tie their shit off to maintain their erection! You probably wear padded thongs too! I bet you guys aren't even real military men."

"I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but we're professional dancers. It's all an act. Why the hell would we want to risk our lives serving in the military anyway? The world would lose all of this." Admiral Asshole chuckled pointing to himself.

"Fucking jackass cowards!" Bella scowled.

Rose found Jasper's fedora and threw it on Rex's head. "I want a strip off! You," She pointed to the Admiral versus him!" She motioned to Rex.

"No problem sweetheart, who is he?" The Admiral asked.

"That's Major Mafioso." Bella smirked at the asshole poser admiral and winked at Rex.

"No fair. How come he gets a cool stripper name?" Mike asked at vampire speed.

"He's the only real stripper here." Bella whispered.

"Exotic dancer!" Rex corrected. "How come I can't be just the Major?"

"Well, excuuuuse me! Do you happen to have a Marine uniform on hand?" Bella had her hands on her hips and was looking as scary as Rosie.

Fifteen minutes later, most of the strippers were dressed in their street clothes and the Admiral was done with his act. He had a satisfied look on his face—that is until our resident stripper Rex came out onto the floor. Every single one of us could smell our mates' arousals as he seductively removed his clothes to Nine Inch Nail's Closer. They were completely entranced by our incubus stripper. Heck! I was getting turned on and I'm a dude.

Rosie was licking her lips as if Rex were something to eat. Most of the women and even the strippers looked like they wanted to rip his clothes off and have their way with him. Gianna started speaking something sexy sounding in Italian. We all looked at her because that shit was hot. Tanya, then, started uttering words to him in Italian. It was no way near the same effect. Rex got a perplexed expression on his face as he danced.

"No! Rex don't think! Tanya stop speaking Italian! Someone shut Tanya up!" Bella yelled.

Katie clasped a hand over Tanya's mouth. He still looked like he was thinking hard. He stopped dead in his tracks, suddenly, put his fingers under his chin and looked pensive.

"Get the fuck out there and dance with him. No poser military dude is gonna disrespect a Whitlock and a real soldier." Jasper shoved Bella towards Rex. "Marine Sergeant Major Whitlock, I'm ordering you to get your shit together now!"

Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting that Rex is a Whitlock and sired by Jasper as well. I wonder if Jasper's venom has a special added ingredient that gives any vampire he creates a turbo boost to their sex drive cause when you think about it Peter, Char, Rex, and Bella are four of the horniest motherfuckers on this planet. Let's not even talk about their insatiable creator. Jasper's got to have a twenty-four hour boner the way he walks around projecting lust.

"What?" Bella looked desperately towards Jasper.

"Dance for me, Bella. That's an order." Bella turned into an automatic puddle of goo at Jasper's command. She turned around, looked seductively into Rex's eyes and started bringing him back to his task. Why Bella had to do it, I had no idea, but hot damn, she can dance.

Fucking hell! Those two really move well together. He's barely touching her, but they look like they were fucking.

"Alright, anyone else feel like climbing on top of Bella and making her scream in ecstasy?" Edward whispered. "My dick's hard and I'm about to cum in my pants."

"Shut the fuck up, Edward, I don't want to get a boner watching my sister. Fuck is that move even legal?" I asked.

"Oh, man, all of my Bella Swan fantasies are coming true right now. It'd be even better if it were Rose dancing with Bella instead of Rex, though." Mike commented.

"Yeah..." I mused...what did the little prick say? "Fucker!" I yelled. "Get your filthy mind off of my mate!"

"Uh-huh...tell me that the idea of those two together doesn't get your dick hard. You and Jasper are lucky, you know, you're mated to the two hottest members of the female species in existence. My mate looks like she had her tits and ass planed off of her."

"I'm hard already." Sahil said. "I have a better one for you, though. Rose, Bella, Amrita, and Sushmita frolicking naked in a lake. The sun is shining down and they're all massaging each other. Suddenly a giant tiger appears and they each rush to feed off of it together, completely in the nude. By the time they're done feeding, they're ready for us, pussies glistening in the sun and dripping with passion."

"Oh, I like that one." Garrett agreed. "Can we add my Katie to the mix too?"

"Sure, why not. Your Katie is beautiful. I like her breasts—not too big, not too small, just the right size to place my hands under so I can still play with her nipples."

"Sahil, you jerk, you aren't helping. I'm trying to keep my dick from getting hard!" I chastised.

"Why would you want to do that. As male vampires, we were blessed with the gift of having constantly erect penises. Look at all of the beautiful women surrounding us." Amar said. "No offense, Garrett, but I prefer a little more bounty in the breasts. I think Charlotte has the right size. Peter, you must enjoy it when she bounces up and down on top of you."

"Yeah, it's even better when you have her reverse cowgirl style in front of a mirror. That's why we have mirrored walls and ceilings in our bedroom."

"I like that idea. Maybe I'll install mirrors into our bedroom. May I see your bedroom someday?" Amar asked.

"Sure, come on over. We're hosting a party for you folks anyway." Pete said.

Fuck, I think we're a really bad influence on our Indian friends. Well, they always were pretty open about sex, though, but stripper poles and mirrored walls and ceilings? Sheesh.

"Stripper Wifey, you have to take your clothes off." Rex whispered to Bella.

"Fuck no! I'm just here trying to get you back into the game. Do you want that poser stripper in a fake Navy uniform one-upping you? Get it together!"

"Alright, let's try that move we learned in class the other night."

Before we knew it, Rex had Bella in some contorted upside-down position that was oddly erotic. Her legs were in a wide V and her pussy was shoved up underneath her nose. He took a deep whiff of her scent, flipped her onto her hands and knees, spanked her ass, and sent her off crawling to Jasper who promptly placed her on his lap and started nuzzling her. Correction, the fucker was scenting her—in public.

Now, everyone in the room was completely entranced with Rex the Sex. Stripper Major was back and in his groove. As the song changed to a faster paced one, all of the male strippers except for Admiral Asshole were dancing alongside him and the women were all screaming and ready to rip their clothes off.

"Now would be a good time for us to dance with our mates." Laurent suggested, as he went up, grabbed Irina, and started dancing with her.

Riley grabbed Vicky who threw herself on top of him. The two of them were making out like animals on the sofa. They were both pretty drunk, though. The male strippers all left about a half an hour later taking a dejected Admiral Asshole with them. The rest of us just kept dancing in the living room.

One by one, we each settled down and started talking. We were all pretty drunk and no one was driving anywhere. We talked about the evening and what we had all been up to. Apparently, it was Rose and Bella's idea to have strippers make a house call for the girls' night in they had planned. They called the rest of the women and invited them over. Esme had declined, stating that she was working on a big project for work.

"Hey, where are Jasper and Bella?" Rex asked.

"They disappeared after your act. They're probably fucking." Amanda noted. She had come so far. She's mature, well-spoken, and loves Edward with her entire heart. It took all of us to bring her to this point—Bella and Peter, especially. They gave her the tools to learn and change. I remember how we all hated her when she was human, then how she was a blank slate after her change. She still had absolutely no memory of her human life and it's probably a good thing, too. A couple of years ago, we became worried that she'd have a sudden jolt of memory when her father was plastered all over the local and national news. He had been indicted on a battery of charges including 13 separate fraud and conspiracy charges and four counts of tax evasion. After a lengthy trial, he was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to three separate forty-five year sentences at a federal prison camp-making him eligible for parole in roughly eighteen months.

It was found, during the trial that Pastor and Mrs. Paine had been engaged in extramarital affairs throughout their thirty year union. Mrs. Paine admitted that she wasn't sure who the father of her, now deceased, daughter Amanda was. Apparently, she had been seeing three different men around the time of her conception. Pastor and Mrs. Paine are now divorced and she has moved to Nevada where she runs a legal brothel outside of Reno. Her business is booming—and we now know who Amanda inherited her keen sense of business from.

"You know, it's a good thing that tomorrow is Sunday and none of us have work. You guys don't mind if we don't have family karate tomorrow, do you? I kind of want to take it easy." Laurent commented.

"We could definitely all use a break." Tanya said. "What a week! The store was nuts,"

From upstairs, we suddenly heard Bella speaking. "Can I taste you, babe? I just want to taste your big cock on my tongue."

Geez! How many blows does the guy get per day? Lucky fucker!

"Sounds like Maharani Sucks A Lot is at it again." Amar commented.

"Fuck! That feels so good. Shit! Work that tip, baby." Japser moaned. "Put your shield down, Bella. I want you to feel what I'm feeling."

We all chuckled when we heard that, then, abruptly stopped and stared at each other. Alice's eyes widened, so did Peter's.

"Oh good God!" Alice shrieked. "He's gonna project."

Just then, we were all overcome by an intense surge of lust.

"Grab your mates and find a room before we have a wild orgy in the living room and start fucking each other. This shit's gonna spiral out of control in ten seconds!" Peter commanded.

"Fuck!" We all yelled! Everyone grabbed their mates and there was a mass exodus going up the stairs from the living room. We could hear Riley ripping Vicky's clothes off as we were leaving. They opted to stay on the sofa.

I threw Rose on the bed and ripped her clothes off. Thank the gods in heaven because Rosie, for once, got down on her knees and let me plunge my aching length straight into her mouth. "Thank you, Jasper," was my final thought as I let the euphoria take over my body.

**Jasper's POV**

"I love you, baby." I purred in my mate's ear as I scented her beautiful body. It was about noon on Sunday and we had just bathed together after a wild night of sex. Bella even gave me a bonus blow job while we were showering just now.

"Mmm...I love you, too." She breathed. "Last night was incredible Mr. Whitlock."

"This morning was even better, Mrs. Whitlock."

I was rubbing her clit as I worked my scent onto her body. She was quickly succumbing to my continued assault on her nub. Just as she was about to cum, I attached my mouth to her folds and let her core vibrate against my tongue. I lapped up her juices and worked my way back up her body and kissed her passionately. I snuggled Bella into my chest and cuddled with her, gently stroking the area on her neck where I unabashedly mark her as mine time and time again.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on our door. I secured Bella to my body, covered us up with our comforter, and called out, "Come in." A horde of our family members clad in towels led by Amanda and Edward came trooping into our room.

"We need clothes." Edward said, simply and the group started raiding our wardrobe.

After a few minutes, they left. Our wardrobe was considerably depleted.

"I'm taking these, Belly Mama." Amanda stated to Bella, pointing to the armload of clothes she held. "You're not getting them back either, I like them."

Bella scratched her head, then shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, okay."

Amanda shut the door soundly and left.

"Maybe we should get dressed." I suggested. "I think you're gonna have to go shopping for more clothes, baby. Amanda cleaned you out again, you have maybe three outfits left. Actually, it looks like she cleaned my wardrobe out, too."

Bella groaned. She still hates shopping. I, for one, encouraged Amanda to clean out Bella's wardrobe at least twice a year. It was our little secret and Amanda was a willing participant.

Bella threw on a pair of white daisy dukes and a black tank top. The top showcased her magnificent breasts perfectly and with her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, my mark was clearly visible for everyone to see. Fuck me, my dick's getting hard again. Will it down Major. Will it down.

"Ooh, Mike, I love what you do to my pussy with your tongue." I heard Alice giggle from another room.

Yep, that worked. My dick shriveled up instantly. Shit! Now I have the heebie-jeebies though. Bella must have sensed that because she turned around and gave me a hug. I spanked her sexy ass as we made our way downstairs. On the way, I threw some lust towards the room where Mike and Alice were to give them a helping hand. Why is there a chunk of our staircase missing?

"Ahem!" Garrett cleared his throat needlessly to get my attention. "I'd like a room assignment next time we come here and you decide to project Jasper. Katie and I spent the entire night fucking on the staircase between the second and third floor—there are only so many positions you can try out. By the way, we destroyed your banister and a couple of the steps have to be replaced—you had a few strong projections there Major. I'll do the repair work, it's best you don't touch any tools."

Laurent, then piped in. "Irina and I have decided that we'd like a tree just like the one in your jacuzzi room for Christmas this year—just so you know."

"Wow, I must have gone crazy with the lust projection. I just can't seem to control that when I'm around Bella. Sorry guys."

"Why the hell are you apologizing, Jasper? I liked it. In fact, I wish I can bottle it up and take it home with me." Victoria said, supportively.

"Yeah, we don't mind lust projection on a Saturday night—especially since none of us have work on Sundays." Pete said. "Hey, where are Sahil and Sushmita and Mike and Alice?"

"Sahil and Sushmita fuck a lot so get used to it. As for Mike and Alice, I heard them going at it on our way downstairs."

"At first, I thought she was a eunuch," Amar commented, "then I realized she was a small boy-like woman. She has no outwardly visible womanly parts. You were really married to her, Jasper?"

I looked around the room and saw everyone trying to be polite and holding in their laughter. Bella was sitting on Laurent's lap and she had her face buried in his chest trying to stop herself from bursting out in laughter. Irina was clutching onto him too. Suddenly, Laurent fell backwards, taking the chair, Irina, and Bella along with him. He did a somersault, got up, picked up the two most important women in his life, and high-tailed it to the kitchen where we could hear the three of them laughing.

"Uh, yes." I answered Amar.

"I never realized that you had such odd fetishes."

"Yes, but he recovered when he met Maharani Sucks A Lot." Edward answered for me.

That did it, everyone started hooting and hollering in laughter. I'm glad I sent Alice and Mike that extra burst of lust because they were upstairs fucking each other seemingly oblivious to our conversation downstairs.

"Who's Maharani Sucks A Lot?" Bella came out of the kitchen and asked curiously.

"That would be you." Edward explained. "Garrett named you Princess Sucks A Lot and Amar gave you an upgrade and made you Maharani Sucks A Lot. Sushmita is Madam Wonder Blow because she does it more than you."

Glad I didn't have to explain that. Just then, Sahil and Sushmita came down the stairs looking fully sated. "Explain the meaning of Madam Wonder Blow, I don't understand the name."

Sahil was standing next to Sushmita shaking his head "no" wildly.

When the women, with the notable exception of Bella, Char, Gianna, Rose, and Tanya, all stood up and gave us evil glares. We all turned our faces towards Emmett who first brought the conversation of blow jobs up.

"Why are you looking at me? Garrett named them!" Emmett accused.

"Ouch! Katie, please don't shock me like that. It hurts!" Garrett was yelping as he tried to extract himself from his wife's grasp.

"That was absolutely crude. How could you give such degrading nicknames to Bella and our new friend Sushmita?" Katie demanded.

Garrett, who by now, was in a considerably weakened state after repeated shocks to his system pointed to Sahil. "He's the one that bragged about the four to five blow jobs he gets a day!"

Sushmita's jaw dropped, then she turned to her mate with a look that rivaled one of an angry tiger on a really bad day. She pierced Sahil with pitch black eyes, dragged him over to Katie by his hair, and ordered, "Make him feel pain!"

"Would you like for me to give him a master's bite?" Vicky asked casually like it was nothing at all. Now, fuck me, that's going a little overboard. I was prepared to run interference if she tried that. My female second in command is a little psycho, I think.

Sahil tried to run, but with Katie, Sush, and Amrita all holding him down—it was to no avail. After the poor dude was sufficiently shocked, he slumped up against the sofa next to Garrett.

"Tell them the truth—you lying bragger. Tell them!" Sushmita commanded.

Sahil sighed. "My mate hates oral sex. I'm lucky to get it once a year."

The women all turned to Bella with their hands on their hips.

"Bella! Don't you feel degraded by your nickname at all?" A furious Irina asked.

"Why? I like sucking on Jasper's cock. They're just joking around anyway."

I wagged my eyebrows at my mate. The women stared dumbfounded at Bella and just shook their heads in disbelief while the men furiously tried to wipe the grins off of their faces. Fuck me if I ain't the luckiest guy in the world.

"I don't see what the rest of you are all getting bent out of shape about. It's not like you girls don't kiss and tell when we all get together." Tanya said, smugly. "What did you think the guys talk about whenever they go out? Baseball scores and fishing tips?"

"Our sex lives should be private and we don't give nicknames to our men!" Amanda argued. "Besides, we don't spread lies like Sahil did."

"They are merely men. Their brains reside in their penises. That's what controls their every action, what more can you expect from them?"

Well, that was mean of Gianna. We can think of other stuff besides sex. God damn, my mate looks hot in that top. I wonder if she'd let me pour some Jack Daniels in her cleavage and let me lick it off of her. Better yet, maybe we could do a little titty fucking tonight.

"Hey! We can think of stuff other than sex!" Edward argued.

"Yeah, like what?"

Edward was pensive. He, then, started ogling Bella's tits. Fucker! "Um...um...I really like your tank top Bella. It looks good on you. Clothes! We think about clothes!" Edward replied, suddenly.

"Uh-huh, and we think about work!" Riley said.

"And when you're at work, dear brother, who do you think about coming home to?" Bella asked.

"You know, this is all Jasper's fault! If he hadn't projected his lust, we wouldn't be having this fucking discussion."

What the fuck is Riley talking about? I need to jump into this conversation now. "Hey! You were the one that was pretty much mauling your mate on the sofa the entire night. I felt everyone's lust, you know. Whose bright idea was it to invite male strippers to the house anyway?"

The women all turned to Rose and Bella and pointed to them. They smiled smugly at us.

"Male strippers are fun." Rose said. "Besides, Bella owed me. We left Las Vegas without seeing strippers."

"Sis, we can go to Vegas and see all the strippers you want, whenever you want. In fact, we'll take Claude along with us next time." Bella smiled excitedly at Rose. "They're a God given right to us women."

Well now my mate sounds just like Emmett. Geez!

"Well, Bella, I'd like to thank you for a wonderful evening." Amrita said. "It's the first time I've ever encountered so much male nudity in one room."

The rest of the women all thanked Bella and she smiled. "No worries."

I guess I paid for those asshole male strippers. At least Bella's spending money now, can't complain about that.

_**Six days later...**_

We were staying in Fayetteville, West Virginia for the weekend at a deluxe 5000 square foot luxury log cabin that sleeps twenty-five. I'd been running around taking photos of the place all day because I planned on building one of these fuckers one day. The house had an indoor jacuzzi, outdoor hot tub, game room with a pool table, fuck...it had everything we needed plus a fuckton of bedrooms. Of course, some people had to double up, but we were vampires and didn't need to sleep. I needed to make love to my mate, however, so I decided to fund the whole weekend myself so Bella and I could have the master suite with our own personal bathroom to ourselves for the weekend. Everyone else could fight over rooms—I didn't give a shit. They could also go fuck in the forest because the cabin was situated on the boundary of New River Gorge National Park. Huh...I think Gianna was right, maybe men do make decisions based on sex.

We had arrived here last night. Alice saw that the weather would be overcast, but not raining the entire weekend in West Virginia so we decided to take advantage of her forecast. Everyone with businesses had shut down for the weekend and Riley was able to get the weekend off from the hospital. Alice called in sick to Walmart which was a rarity because she's never missed a day of work. Even Carlisle and Esme were here—of course, they weren't talking to each other, but they were on the same vacation. That's progress, isn't it? Today, we were whitewater rafting on the Upper Gauley river. Later, the guys and I had an epic paintball match planned.

"Hey, baby, are you ready?" I called to my wife.

"Yep, I just need to throw a tank top on." She walked out of the bathroom looking all sexy in her shorts and a bikini top. Oh fuck, my dick's all hard now. I stalked up to my mate and licked my mark.

Bella took in a sharp breath. "Jasper, I want to, but we have to meet our guides by the river in a few minutes."

"Later then. Just kiss me for now." Bella reached up to kiss me while I fondled her tits over her bikini top a bit.

"Enough, Jasper. You're getting me all horny."

"That's the point." I threw a tight, white tank top on my mate, kissed my mark again, and whispered "mine" in her ear.

"Yours, only yours."

A few minutes later, we were at the meeting site. Our guides were Kristy and Tucker. They went over a few safety rules and then started passing out life vests.

"Now, we need to split up into two groups." Tucker announced with his thick southern drawl.

"Oh, fuck me, that accent is just making me all wet." Vicky whispered.

"No shit." Tanya agreed. "Check out the body on him."

"Is that eye-candy?" Amrita asked.

"Yeah, that eye-candy." Katie whispered back, practically drooling venom from her mouth.

"Uh, no, that's motherfucking sex on legs."

"Hey!" I chastised my wife who simply smirked and blew a kiss at me. "Woman, you just wait until tonight, I'll fucking show you sex on legs!"

"Can't wait." She smiled. "How about the women go with Tucker and the men go with Kristy. I'll sit up front."

"Me too." Gianna volunteered. Felix scowled at her and muttered something in Italian to her. She purred back something to him in Italian. Hmm...I think Rex has a point—that does sound sexy.

Tucker looked like he was in heaven as he scanned the group of the hottest women on the planet. Then, he took a look at Alice. "Excuse me, son, how old are you? The minimum age for rafting is fifteen."

"I am not a boy!" Alice seethed. "I'm a married woman!"

"Uh, sorry 'bout that, ma'am." Tucker tipped his head remorsefully.

"And a good southern boy he is, too." Char acknowledged. "He knows when an apology is due."

So, it ended up that the women went on one raft with Tucker while we went with Kristy. Poor thing. She normally would probably be considered hot, but surrounded by our women, she was just plain looking. Alice ended up coming along with us because she was so insulted by the fact that Tucker thought she was a boy.

A few hours later, we were done with rafting and were back in the cabin getting ready for our epic paint ball war. This time, I was smart and had my mate secure a bandana on my head. Carlisle and Rex went a step further and threw shower caps on their heads.

"You look like fucking cafeteria ladies."

"Isabella, language!"

"Sorry, Esme." Bella apologized with a roll of her eyes.

"Okay, so we'll see you ladies back here in a few hours. Baby, don't forget to pick up the cases of liquor when y'all go out shopping." I kissed Bella on the lips goodbye as I left. I've been purposely keeping my southern drawl thick today because there was no way in fucking hell that I was going to be bested by some whitewater rafting guide. I noticed that those of us from the south had reverted to our roots, accent wise—even Emmett who generally kept his in check.

It was decided that we'd split up into teams. Rex, Garrett, Carlisle, Amar, Edward, and Laurent comprised one team. Riley, Mike, Emmett, Felix, Sahil, Peter, and I made up the other team. We got the extra man because, according to Rex and Garrett, their skills alone were enough to make mincemeat out of us.

The two teams met to discuss plans far enough away so there was no eavesdropping. Mike reached into a bag and handed us each an aerosol can. "Spray this stuff on you. It's called Scent Away. Hunters use this stuff to eliminate their scents. I tried it out the other day and had Alice sniff me, she couldn't detect me for about four hours. I had to use the whole can, though. We've been secretly spraying Amanda's clothes too. Have you noticed that her scent isn't as strong anymore?"

"Come to think of it, yes. Oh, this should throw them off good. They'll be relying on finding us by scent." I stated. "Okay, is everyone good on firing a paintball rifle?"

They all nodded. "We work in pairs. Sahil is with Emmett. Mike is with Riley. Peter, you're with me and Felix will be working solo and taking everyone out from an undisclosed location."

I made sure I paired an experienced marksman with one that wasn't. We actually had a better team. Mike used to hunt with his father and so did Riley with his stepfather as a human. Emmett and Peter both grew up around guns, so, out of everyone, Sahil was the only one with only a little firearm experience. We also had Sniper Skippy, erm Felix I mean, who was a phenomenal shot. I took him and Sahil with me to the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range so I could get Sahil used to the feel of a gun. While I was teaching Sahil, Felix was next to me with a long range assault rifle hitting the bullseye every single time. The guy was a stellar marksman, I could see why they made him a sniper.

"Alright, fan out. You each know who your targets are." I instructed. "If you're still alive, meet at the rendezvous point in an hour."

An hour later, Peter and I were still standing. Riley and Mike walked up to us.

"Emmett was taken out by Garrett and Laurent got Sahil." Riley said. "I got Edward, though and Emmett said he took out Carlisle. Watch out because Laurent's a stealthy fucker."

Suddenly, we saw Felix running towards us at vampire speed, "Disperse! Disperse! Yankee fighters approaching from the northeast."

"Fuck! We're being ambushed!" The five of us started running and firing at the same time. I saw Riley go down, then Pete.

I hopped behind a thick oak tree for coverage. "You can't hide from us forever Major." Rex snickered.

Maybe I shouldn't have changed the little shit. I mean, the fucker can't even think and strip at the same time. Alright, keep your head in the game Major, you're on a mission.

I saw Mike out of the corner of my eye running out into the clearing where Rex was standing and firing his rifle. Rex was too quick for him, Mike was down in a snap. At the same moment, I heard two simultaneous shots ring out. I peered on the side of the tree and I saw that Rex and Laurent were both taken out.

"Fuck!" I heard Rex complain. It wasn't me so I knew it was my stealthy, southern sniper Skippy that had downed them.

Felix hopped down off of the tree I was hiding behind. "Only the Yankee sympathizer left, Major."

Felix and I ran through the woods trying to scent out Garrett. We went in opposite directions when we heard a slight rustling in the bushes. I sprung onto a tree branch just as Garrett traipsed by with his rifle at the ready. I heard a shot rent the air in the distance. It was a divergence shot by Felix. Garrett looked wildly around him looking for the source of the shot. I took advantage of the fucker's momentary lapse of attention, jumped from the branch, and dispatched my target with a single paintball bullet to the chest. "Gotcha."

"Fuck it all to hell!" Garrett yelled as he got to his feet. "I can't even say you cheated because you got me fair and square."

"Come on old man. Let's get back to the cabin and I'll pour you a drink." I said.

"I'm just glad it was you that took me out instead of Rex. At least I know that you served in a real war."

Felix soon joined us and we had a good chuckle discussing the modern military. We met up with the others and strolled back to the cabin to meet up with our mates. We had a night of drinks and relaxation planned after a day of activity.

**Esme's POV**

Ugh. I can't even stand the sight of him anymore. I came on this weekend getaway to spend time with the kids then HE had the nerve to show up. By HE, I mean my bastard, cheating husband Carlisle. I don't know what happened or where we went wrong, but I knew that I just didn't feel a thing for him anymore—nothing.

The kids have been worried about us, I know. Jasper, Riley, Emmett, and Alice are constantly asking how I was holding up. I'm doing fine without him—that's the frightening part. I'm not fine this weekend because the immature, self-centered cheat is here.

Carlisle and I met face to face at his new bachelor pad and had a long discussion. It came out during the discussion that he—according to him, "almost cheated on me, but was stopped before he took the plunge." Carlisle claimed that he only "made out" with a couple of girls. I told him that most husbands don't just "make out" with girls—that I considered that cheating. I then asked him how he would feel if one of our daughters' husbands decided to "make out" with some floosie. He, of course, said he would find a way to kill Jasper or Emmett if that ever happened.

That led to a discussion of children. Carlisle no longer wanted to play the role of a father. He said that he felt as if he was forced into the role by Edward's rebelliousness in his early years, then later with Alice. He no longer felt like a father to any of our children except for his precious Rose and his perfect Bella. Ironically, those were the only two children with whom I felt my maternal bond slipping away. It's not that I don't like them because I do, in fact, I love them very much. It's just that neither of them really needed me because they were always so independent. I do still feel a very strong bond with Emmett and Jasper though. Rose and Bella were more like my daughters-in-law.

Thinking about my relationship with Rose and Bella gave me a little more empathy for where Carlisle was coming from. Some people are not meant to be parents. Carlisle took on the parenting role reluctantly, but forced himself to enjoy it for my sake. When Carlisle and I got married in 1921, it was the second marriage for me. I was ready to start a family and be a mother, having lost my own son. Carlisle came ready made with an unruly Edward for a son. Later, he brought Rose, then Emmett into the fold. Rose didn't really need a mother—what she wanted the most was to be a mother. Emmett, on the other hand, was so mischievous that he needed a mother just to keep him from doing something stupid. Later, Alice and Jasper came on their own. Jasper and I were close from the beginning. He needed the caring arms of a mother because his vampire past was so horrific. Alice, of course, was much like Edward and needed a firm hand to raise her. I failed at Alice and Edward because I spoiled them too much. It was only recently, after we put some hard limits on them, that they finally came into their own.

My new kids, of course, were very different. My Riley was absolutely perfect—he was intelligent, hard-working, and had a truly caring heart. We all went to him for counseling at one time or another. Victoria, like Jasper, needed the caring arms of her mother because of her painful past. Charlotte was loving and childlike and often needed advice to stay on her best behavior—okay, as best as Char could behave. Peter was wise and caring. He was a bit insecure and needed to know that my love for him as a mother was eternal.

Then there were Laurent, Irina, Mike, and Amanda. I never quite felt as if they were my children, per se. Irina and Laurent would always be my niece and nephew and Mike and Amanda would be my son-in-law and daughter-in-law. Ironically, I felt closer to those four than I did to Rose and Bella at this point.

Something had to change, that much was for sure. Either I had to give into Carlisle's demands or he had to give into mine. There was no grey area or happy center where we could meet. Our demands were too different. He wanted to form a more brotherly relationship with my kids except for with Rose and Bella for God's sake—they would always be his little girls. I wanted to keep all of my children as my children, even Rose and Bella.

The infidelity was another issue that we'd have to tackle, but that actually took second place to the fact that he quite simply did not want to be a father to his children. That bothered me more than anything. Okay, I'll admit that with our newer children—from Riley on, it was my idea to bring them into the family as our kids. I actually had to talk Carlisle into it. He wanted Bella and Bella alone, but when it became apparent that she was Jasper's mate and she wasn't making a move without her half-brother, Carlisle reluctantly agreed. Unfortunately, it was around that time that Edward and Alice came home too. Our family suddenly grew by leaps and bounds. To be honest, if it weren't for Riley, we wouldn't have Edward and Alice back and mentally and emotionally stable.

Bella, who Carlisle wanted living with us in the first place, never really fully moved in with us. She was happy living independently with Jasper. So, it didn't surprise me one bit that when Carlisle moved out, he moved within walking distance to his daughter. Another plus for Carlisle—wherever Bella is, Rose is bound to be. Now, I was kind of upset because I wanted Jasper and Emmett living with us, but Rose and Bella insisted on living away from the family. They don't even live together, preferring privacy and independence over family togetherness, I just couldn't understand that. Why wouldn't anyone not want to live with their mommies?

As I sat in the living room with everyone, I noticed that both Charlotte and Sushmita kept looking between me and Carlisle. It was odd. Sushmita had a poker face while she scanned us while Charlotte had a distressed and worried expression on her face. The ever observant Bella noticed Charlotte's distress and put her arm around her. Charlotte cuddled into Bella and allowed herself to be held. I saw Peter observing Bella and his mate with a look of pride on his face. Ever since he found out that Bella and Riley are his great-grandchildren, he's put extra attention into making sure his family members got along well.

A couple of minutes later, Bella and Char took off on a hunt with Sushmita and Rose on their heels. I wonder what's going on? I wonder if Charlotte saw something with her gift. Oh well, I'll find out soon enough, I'm sure. I walked out to the back deck to take in the view and be alone for a bit.

"Mom, how are you doing?" Jasper joined me on the deck.

"I'm fine, Jasper. This is the fourth time you've asked me.

"I'm sorry, I keep getting a myriad of emotions off of you. Everything from anger to jealousy to distress to contentment. The last one was curiosity, but I'm curious myself as to why Char, Bella, Rose, and Sushmita would take off. We'll find out eventually, I'm sure."

"Jasper, you're such a good son. I was just thinking about my situation with Carlisle. I know that we have to work on it, but I just don't feel like it at this point. He's happy living his own life anyway. What's it like having him live so close to you?"

"Ha ha, that's a loaded question, mom. I'm not answering it. He calls or sees Bella almost everyday for one thing or another so you'll have to ask her. Those two have always gotten along, you know that. He, Rex, and Bella are signed up for a one week class called Bartending For Fun next week."

"You know, I have another question for you. Don't you get upset at the amount of time Rex and Bella spend together? They're always taking a class or hanging out in the Village or something." I asked. I, personally, thought there was something fishy going on between them.

"Not at all. The only emotions I get off of them is a very close sibling relationship. They have a lot of common interests and they both like taking off-the-wall classes to keep themselves from getting bored. You have to remember that they're both still young in both human and vampire years. It's funny, I was really jealous at first, but now I see that they really are just having fun together. Don't forget that Rex and I do a lot of things together, too."

"Does Tanya get upset?"

"No, she doesn't. T actually encourages it because if Rex becomes bored then he starts to brood around her."

"Jasper, you have such an interesting way of looking at things. By the way, I really like your friends from India—they're very nice."

"Yeah, we like them too. I'm glad that Rose and Bella ran into Amar. We would have never met them otherwise. Heck, for all Em and I know, those two might still be nomads if it weren't for Amar taking them back to his palace. They were enjoying the taste of tiger so much that they were feeding everyday just for enjoyment."

"Can I ask you a question, dear?"

"Yes, of course." Jasper responded.

"Is it true that Bella and Rose share a meal from time to time?"

"They do. They have a sisterly bond that's as strong as a mating bond. Amrita and Sushmita have a bond like that, too. When Rose ran from Emmett this summer, Bella felt the pain in her chest. Speaking of which, how are you holding up? You must feel pain from having Carlisle so far from you."

"Oh, Jasper! That's the thing, I feel nothing—absolutely nothing."

Jasper turned to look at me, slack jawed and in complete bewilderment. "What do you mean when you say that you feel nothing?"

"That's exactly it, nothing. No pain, no sadness, maybe a little anger, no love—nothing. The thing is, I could care less. Tell me, you were once in love with Alice, what was it like when you realized that your relationship was falling apart?"

"Exactly how you're feeling. One moment I was in love and the next moment, I didn't care what happened. It got to the point where I couldn't stand the sight of her or the sound of her voice. I had nothing left in my heart for her anymore." Jasper sighed. "The thing is, mom, you and Carlisle are mates. Alice and I never were."

"I know, but still—I don't feel a thing for him anymore. A couple of weeks ago, the mating pull was dull, but still there—now, I don't feel anything. I don't feel tied to him. Isn't that strange?"

Jasper pulled me into his strong arms. "Whatever happens, mom, I'm here for you. We'll get through this together. I promise."

I felt secure with the knowledge that Jasper would be there for me. I mustered up all of the gratitude that I could muster up for him. He, in return, filled me with feelings of peace and contentment. I allowed myself to bask in them, secure in the knowledge that, even if I couldn't get through the chaos of my marriage, I would always have the unconditional love of my children.

**So, now we know a bit more about Rex and Bella's relationship and why Jasper doesn't really become jealous. Our friends from India seem to be having a great time. I hope that our favorite vampire family isn't too bad of an influence. Esme, Esme, Esme-hmm...what did you think about her point of view? I can't wait to hear from you all and I promise to reply. XOXO**


	46. Chapter 46

**Thank you for all of your fabulous reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. You're all giving me a case of the warm fuzzies and I'm liking it. Vicky will buy each of you a round of Tequila.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Vicky's POV**

What in God's name is going on? First, Bella and Charlotte take off with Char looking like she was thrown into the embers of hell, then Rose and Sushmita bolt after them. After that, I unintentionally overhear a private conversation between Jasper and Mom. I didn't mean to overhear them, I just happened to have been sneaking a cigarette on the corner of the deck behind two tall potted plants while Riley wasn't looking. I had sprayed Mike's can of Scent Away on myself, just in case, so no one could detect my scent. As soon as Mom came outside, I stubbed my cigarette out. I really didn't need anyone to find out about my secret habit—especially her, she'd be worse than Riley.

Anyway, I was going to sneak down the deck and go back in through the front door, but, then, Jasper came outside. By then, I was literally hanging from the bottom portion of the deck. I couldn't jump down or Jasper would have heard with those oddly magnified senses of his so I remained clinging on to the outside portion of the deck. Geez! The trouble I go through to sneak a cigarette!

Esme and Jasper started talking about her situation with Carlisle. Apparently, he no longer wanted to be a father figure to us. I couldn't blame him, though. He's younger than I am for God's sake. I always felt as if Carlisle was just going through the motions of life without actually living it. He loved medicine, for example, but he didn't have that passion and spark for it like Riley did. When dealing with us kids, he always acted the way a father was expected to act, but again, I could tell that he really didn't give a fuck. There was a notable exception, though. Carlisle loved Bella and Rose unconditionally. I think it's because when Carlisle found Rose dying in the street after having been gang raped, his protective instincts came out. When he changed Esme, it was a little different—I think he changed her more out of obligation than anything. He remembered her from when he broke her leg when she was sixteen and couldn't picture her not being alive. On top of that, by all means, Carlisle had every right to rip me apart when I, accidentally, inflicted the master's bite upon Esme, but he was delighted. In hindsight, it actually worked out well to tone done Esme's mothering instincts and balance her out, but, still, Carlisle should have been furious with me.

With Bella, I think Carlisle has loved her from the get go. He's known her since she was human and they had always gotten along well. He shared Bella's passion for literature and her joy for life. When I first encountered the Cullens on the baseball field when I was still with James, I saw how protective of Bella and Rose Carlisle was way back then even. In fact, I thought that Carlisle was actually their father and they were his girls, but he looked too young to be their father. Then a thought occurred to me that he was actually their older brother. When Bella was dying after being beaten and almost raped, Carlisle looked just as heartbroken and feral as Jasper did. We all felt that way. He kept his head together and kept her stable enough to be changed, though. Thank God! I don't know what I'd do without Bella.

Bella was my sister and daughter all rolled into one. It was funny, Riley, Laurent, Irina and I were once talking and it dawned upon us that she was the catalyst for change in all of our lives. For the first time, we felt the need to care for someone more than we did for ourselves—Bella brought out our parental instincts. She was literally alone in the world, especially after Charlie was killed.

I felt the need to protect her then. I think that's why I had so much trouble letting her go. Now, I'm comfortable with where our relationship has settled. She still comes to me for advice and hugs, but I'm happy knowing that I had a hand in making her the mature, independent young lady she has become. Bella told me that she still feels as if Irina and I are more like her mother than Renee ever was. I was so happy to hear that because if anyone was my daughter, it was Bella. When I relayed the message to Irina, she had venom tears in her eyes, then, she composed herself and said that we really had to get Bella a hairbrush and some conditioner because half of the time her hair looks more like a rat's nest. That was so Irina, she hated showing any emotions, but she had a huge heart filled with love.

Esme started telling Jasper about her concerns with Rex and Bella's relationship. Personally, I didn't see anything wrong with it and, apparently, neither did Jasper. Those two have always gotten along great. They were bored one day this summer so they came to a knitting class with me. The two of them argued as if they were a couple of ten year old siblings stuck on a long road trip the entire time. This all happened because Rex told me that I should really consider wearing boy shorts or a thong because the panty line of my granny panties was showing through my trousers and it was grossing him out. Bella argued that I could wear whatever I wanted considering it was my body. Then, Rex started commenting on how my ass cheeks would stand out better in a thong since in his words, "they're spankable." Bella told him to knit one for me. The argument about my underwear continued, loudly, I might add—throughout the whole class until the knitting instructor finally told them to sit down, shut up, and knit. I had to roll my eyes when they both banned together and stuck their tongues out at her as soon as she turned her back on them. Of course, they were never welcomed back to a knitting class with me again. The next class they tried was a two hour workshop on changing a flat tire. Apparently, they did better at that one. I'm still waiting on that knitted thong.

Listening to Esme and Jasper talk, I became increasingly concerned when she said that she felt absolutely nothing for Carlisle anymore. She didn't even feel a slight pull—she simply didn't care. Jasper sounded concerned, too. Can a mating bond disappear? That thought, in itself, was scary as hell. We all felt the pull from being away from our mates. I could almost pinpoint the distance between Riley and myself just by the intensity of the pull. It was always stronger when he was in, say Manhattan, rather than at work in the hospital in Connecticut. I also knew when he was feeling distressed and that always kicked my instincts into high gear. Esme feeling nothing and not caring about Carlisle's well being was seriously distressing.

Esme went back into the house through the sliding glass door. I was scared out of my wits when Jasper peered over the railing and said, "Got one of those smokes for me, Lieutenant." He extended a hand and helped me back up.

"How did you know?"

"Come on, Vic, I may not have been able to detect your scent, but I could smell the cigarette and I could feel your presence. You know that I can track almost as well as Mike can. Now, what did you make of that conversation you just overheard?"

I offered him a cigarette before speaking, "I don't know. It's distressing. Can a mating pull disappear?"

Jasper was about to say something when Alice came out through the sliding glass door looking completely stressed out. She grabbed my cigarette, took a puff, then started coughing. Jasper and I stared at her with looks of both bewilderment and amusement.

"I'm sorry." _ Cough...cough...choke. _"I just had a scary vision about Esme. She was at her wedding and it wasn't with Carlisle." _Choke...cough...cough._

"What?" we both yelled out, simultaneously. I lit up another cigarette. Jasper took another one, too.

"Alice, tell me what you saw."

"All I saw was Esme saying her vows in a beautiful, floor length white gown with a train. We were bridesmaids, you were part of the groom's wedding party, too, Jasper. I'd never seen him before though and..."

"What the fuck was that vision, Alice?" Edward demanded as he walked out onto the deck. Now, he surprised the hell out of me when he took out his own pack of cigarettes and lit one up. "Don't tell Amanda or Esme."

"Fine, don't tell Riley or Esme."

"Deal!"

"Um, don't tell anyone I tried smoking," Alice said.

"You can tell whoever the fuck you want about me. I don't give a shit." That's Jasper for you.

"Even Esme?" we all snickered.

"Alright, except for Esme."

Alice went into a sudden vision, she was desperately rubbing at her temples with a wild expression in her eyes. "Bella dropped her shield, let's go!"

We ran after her through the West Virginia forest until we came upon Bella holding a sobbing Char with Rose and Sushmita quietly sitting by their sides. All four of them had glum expressions on their faces. We approached them quietly and sat down. Char looked up at all of us desperately.

"It's gone," she whispered. "The mating bond is gone."

"Whose?" I asked.

"Carlisle and Esme's"

"I didn't even know they were mates. I thought they were acquaintances. When Rose told me that Carlisle and Esme were mates, I searched their souls. I didn't see anything connecting them. Usually when souls are mated, I see a connection between the two people, but with them—nothing," Sushmita said.

"That would explain my vision," Alice confirmed. "I saw Esme getting married, but not to Carlisle."

The four women gasped. "I'm not surprised," Bella said. "Daddy told me that just the sight of Esme rankles his nerves. He realized that he had been convincing himself that her vision of a fulfilling family life is what he had been living. I guess about thirty years ago, when he wanted to quit practicing medicine for awhile and explore other options, Esme told him that he shouldn't quit because being a doctor is a respectable position and one that was fitting to a father of five children. She never even gave him a chance to explain that he wasn't quitting permanently, he just wanted to see what else was out there."

"It pisses me off!" Rose seethed. "It's always about her god damned fucking self. It's great that Esme is all about the family and being a mother, but she doesn't understand that part of living a fulfilling life includes achieving your own goals and doing something that you actually enjoy doing. Daddy, at least, gave us this. He allowed us to go to school and try out different things while putting his own dreams on the backburner. Look at how he let me become a certified mechanic or how he allowed Esme to become a stellar interior designer. And you, Alice, how many majors did you go through until you finally decided that the one in retail management was your favorite one? Edward, you're the king of degrees and in the end, you ended up using all of them and running a successful store. Now, tell me, in all of the years that you've known Carlisle, how many times has he taken a class or gone to college?"

"Never," Jasper sighed. "I just hate to see them on the outs. Char, explain what you saw with your bond."

"Nothing, just a black void."

"That's what I see," Sushmita agreed.

Bella was running her fingers through a seething Rose's hair so she would calm down. At times when Rose's temper would get the best of her, Bella was the only one that could keep her calm. Not even Emmett had that calming effect on Rose. Bella, herself, looked like she was on edge so I calmly moved behind her and let her lean in to me. Jasper was keeping Char at bay.

"Excuse me, Sushmita, I'm sorry for asking, but I'm trying to figure out how your gift works. It seems to be working in conjunction with Charlotte's," Edward observed, wisely.

"I can read people's souls and see a little into their future. I don't get visions like Alice does, though. I need assistance though, Jasper." Sushmita turned pointedly to him.

"How can I help you?"

"As you know, I've never been around so many people before. I'm rattled by how my gift is working and my soul has become like a jungle."

"Come over here, darlin'." Jasper prompted Sush to walk over to him. He placed her on his other knee and held her. I suspected he was doing something to both Sush and Char to keep their gifts from going haywire. "Alright, let's try to figure out how Char's and your gifts seem to be intertwining. Lieutenant? Any ideas?"

"Well, I guess the first question would be to ask you if you've noticed any changes in your gift since you've been with our family?" I asked Sushmita.

"Well, I never knew that I could do this, but now I can envision people's souls together and apart. They don't have to be mated. For example, I know that Jasper and your soul, Victoria, are intertwined."

"I've always seen a bond that's as close as a mating bond, but still a sibling bond, between you, Jasper, and Peter." Charlotte confirmed. "It's like the bond I see between Bella and Rose and Sushmita and Amrita. Another thing, I see a very close sibling bond between Bella, Rose, Sushmita, Amrita, and, well, me. Then, there's the bond between Bella and Rex, it's becoming as close as the one between Bella and Rose."

"I saw that bond the moment I met you, Charlotte." Sushmita hugged Char close to her.

"Char, what do you see between everyone else and Esme and Carlisle?" I asked.

"Well, I see a maternal bond with Esme and everyone, but the Denalis, Mike, Amanda, Rose, and Bella. With everyone and Carlisle, I see a brotherly bond except for with Rose and Bella. The paternal link between him and them has strengthened, especially with Bella."

"I wonder why that is?" Alice asked.

"It's because Bella and Rose love Carlisle unconditionally whereas with Esme, they both felt smothered," Edward replied. "I know you felt smothered for a fact, Rose, I could hear you cursing her out in your mind and with Bella, well, she told me how she felt about Esme during one of our talks."

"I saw that Carlisle, Bella, and Rose's souls are unusually linked together. I saw an even stronger link between Bella, Riley, and Peter."

"That's because they're connected by blood. Riley and Bella are siblings and Peter is their great-grandfather."

"Ahh, so that would explain Peter's protectiveness. I was observing him and he is unusually protective of Bella and Riley. More so than Carlisle is with Rose and Bella. In fact, Peter would protect Bella and Riley—even if it meant sacrificing himself."

I thought I heard Charlotte gasp and I think Jasper noticed, too, but by the time I looked up at her, she had a straight face. Maybe I was mistaken.

"What do we do now?" Alice asked. "Do I search for visions to get them back together? I don't feel right about doing that. You know what happened the last time I tried to manipulate a relationship."

Sushmita spoke, then, "You must not manipulate their relationship, ever. Let their souls progress the way they were meant to. I will do soul readings on everyone later, if I don't unburden myself, I feel as if I might explode."

"You do that, Sush. It's good to free your soul," Jasper stated. "Come on, I'm taking you and Charlotte hunting. I can feel both your bloodlusts and I have a feeling it has to do with both of your powers running on overdrive. You, too, Alice."

Edward went along with them, which left just me, Rose, and Bella. Rose reached into my pocket and grabbed my pack of cigarettes and lit one up. Bella, of course, didn't take one. Unlike Riley or Esme, though, Bella didn't look at us with a look of disgust. Rose and I both grew up during decades when cigarette smoking for women was en vogue. Neither of us were ever quite able to shake the habit. We both did it in secret from our mates, which didn't make sense in Rose's case because I've lit a couple up on the roof of Esme's house with Emmett, too.

"Did my ears deceive me or did Char gasp when Sush said that Peter would protect me and Riley even if it meant sacrificing himself?" Bella asked.

"I'm more than positive I heard her too," I confirmed. "What about you, Rose?"

"Okay, here's the thing, I work with Peter everyday and he's been acting weirder everyday. Just last week, I overheard him discussing his last will and testament over the phone with Jenks. He's also planning some sort of family vacation with you two, Jasper, Riley, and Char. He even asked me to hold down the fort at the shop so he could do this. He said he wanted to make it a yearly tradition while he was still able to."

"Now, I'm scared shitless. What the hell is going on?" Bella asked.

"I don't know, but you two need to keep this inside of you. I'll bring it out of the Captain one way or another—he's definitely hiding something and it's huge." I hugged both Rose and Bella. The three of us decided to go for a quick hunt.

Along the way, we nearly tripped over Rex and Tanya completely naked and fucking. "Guys! Can't you find a more secluded spot to fuck in rather than this open field?" Rose asked.

"Hey, you guys are the one's that ran into us. We're doing it here so we can watch the stars while we make love!" Tanya didn't even bat an eyelash as she continued bouncing up and down on Rex reverse cowgirl style while talking.

"Um, carry on," Bella chuckled as the three of us ran deeper into the woods.

"Well, that was fucked up. Shh!" I pulled Rose and Bella back and the three of us crouched behind a bush. Amar and Amrita were making love at the edge of the lake. I had never seen anything so beautiful before in my life. He was whispering something to her and they were locked in some kind of twisted yoga position. We watched as he brought her to a few silent orgasms using his fingers, then as they came together, once again, in a frenzied orgasm. Afterwards, the two silently held each other and swam in the lake looking as blissful as ever.

Rose, Bella, and I quietly backed away from our hiding spot so as not to disturb them. We didn't want to run back through the field so we ran perpendicular. Unfortunately, we came across Gianna giving Felix a blow. He was caressing her hair and purring something sexy in Italian. We slithered away and went around them.

We ran for at least a half an hour not wanting to run into anymore couples being intimate in the great outdoors with each other. We stopped abruptly when we saw two bears. "Go ahead, you guys take them," Bella urged. "You know that the taste doesn't matter to me. Ooh. I smell coyote. I'll meet you back here."

Bella took off after her kill while Rose and I went for the bears. Fifteen minutes later, we had buried our kills and were waiting for Bella. She came striding up to us with a big smile on her face.

"How much cash do you have on you?" she asked. Rose and I both reached into our pockets.

"I only have ninety-bucks," I said.

"I have forty," Rose stated, then narrowed her eyes at Bella. "How much do you have, sis?"

She reached into the pocket of her denim shorts and counted her change. "Eighty-three cents."

"Oh, good, at least you have something with you for once," I said, sarcastically. "Eighty-three cents should get you far."

"Honestly, Bella, you really should carry at least a twenty with you," Rose suggested.

"Yeah, yeah. I should at least carry cab fare. I got it. You guys are buying."

"Buying what?" I asked.

"Look down, beyond that ridge over there. Do you see the lights?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, let's go for a drink," Bella suggested. "Between the three of us, we have...um...zero...um ten...eleven...twel..."

"Jeez! Bella! We have a hundred and thirty dollars and eighty-three cents!" She had to be the worst math student that I'd ever encountered in my entire life. Now that I'm a math teacher, I would definitely place her in a paced math class. She still counts with her fingers, for crying out loud.

"Well, sorry! I really hate math. It hurts my head to have to think about numbers."

"Alright, let's go hit that bar down there."

We got inside and the bartender sold us a bottle of cheap tequila. We got three shot glasses, sat and started chatting. Before I knew it, we were on our fourth bottle. I dazzled the bartender into selling us more bottles. I don't know about Rose and Bella, but I was as drunk as a skunk.

"Hey, Vic, isn't that our river guide?"

"Ooh! That is him, Rose! Do you think I can change him into a vampire just so I can look at him all day?"

"Eh, maybe not. I think Riley might have a problem if you did that."

"Please, Rose, pretty please. I just want to change him. Just a wee, little bit. Please?" I begged. "I promise it won't hurt, well, maybe it'll hurt him, but honest to goodness it won't hurt you. Look how tanned he is. He'll probably stay tanned after he's changed."

"Uh, Vicky, maybe you should slow down on the tequila," Bella suggested.

"No, no, no! I will not! This stuff tastes better than Patron. Oh! They're playing Led Zeppelin. I looove Led Zeppelin!" I squealed.

"Uh, Vicky!"

"Vicky!"

**Riley's POV**

"Hey, Jasper, have you seen Vicky?" I asked.

"Yeah, I saw her a couple of hours ago. She was with Rose and Bella. They were heading back here, I think."

"They're missing, too," Emmett piped in.

"What?"

"Normally, I wouldn't be worried, but we're in a completely different state. I think we should go look for them." I suggested.

"Okay, let's start where I left them." Jasper led us to where he last saw them. We scented them out until we got to a field that was pungent with the scent of Tanya, Rex, and sex. We, then, followed our mates scents to thick bushes by a lake. We could smell Amar, Amrita, and sex by the lake.

"You don't think they've become voyeurs, do you?" Emmett asked.

"Nah. They were probably avoiding them. We backtracked a little and ran into the scents of Gianna, Felix, and sex, then, our mates scents made a straight beeline to the east. We ran and ran until Bella's scent separated from Rose and Vicky's. We became a bit concerned, then. We noticed that their scents merged together again and it led straight to a bar called 'Bud's.'

The three of us sighed in relief and walked inside. The place was rockin' and everyone was hooting and hollering.

"Vicky! Vicky! Get the fuck off of the table. Rose, I think she's completely plastered."

"Play some Lynard Skynard!" Vicky ordered! "Please, Rose, let me change him into a vampire."

"Get your fucking ass off of the table!" Rose yelled.

"Hey, cutie, I'll play vampire with you. How about if we give each other hickies and pretend their vampire bites?" some drunk sicko suggested.

"We've got to get her out of here fast before she outs us," Emmett whispered.

The three of us approached the table. "Major, I found a bar full of potential newborns!" Vicky chirped happily.

"What the hell did you two do to her?" I questioned my baby sister and Rose.

"Um, we just had a couple of drinks." Bella said, innocently.

"Babe, there are five empty bottles of tequila here," Jasper told her.

"Yeah, I know. Rose and I had a couple of shots each and Vicky had the rest. This shit's awful."

"It is not! It's better than Patron and it's only twelve bucks a bottle," Vicky pouted.

"What brand is it?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know, it says, 'Mexican Tequila, Made in Altoona, Pennsylvania' on the label," Bella read.

"I thought Tequila had to be made in Mexico," I said, scratching my head.

"Here! Taste!" Vicky shoved the half drunk bottle of tequila to Jasper. He took a swig, gagged, and passed the bottle to me. Ew! I passed it to Emmett who made a disgusted looking face, then, the idiot passed it back to my already drunk wife who chugged the whole thing down.

"Vicky, honey, why don't you get off of the table and we can go home and make love," I suggested.

"No, I don't want to! I want to turn that table of hot, tanned guys into newborns first—especially our river guide. Then, we can make love while they change."

"What the fuck are we going to do with a bunch of newborns, Lieutenant?" Jasper asked.

"Turn them all into male strippers!" Vicky grinned.

We all slapped our foreheads. Vicky took the opportunity to announce that she was hot and ripped her shirt off. Oh, sweet Jesus, she isn't wearing a bra. The applause inside was thunderous. Jasper whispered something to Bella. Suddenly, Vicky collapsed straight into Jasper's arms. He must have knocked her out. We carried her outside, got back into the forest and started runnig. Jasper handed my wife off to me after a few minutes.

"What in hell were you two thinking?" I yelled at both Rose and Bella.

"Hey, we didn't know she was gonna be this out of control!" Bella argued.

I took my t-shirt off and threw it on my wife.

"Nice abs," Rose commented as Emmett growled.

"Gross! That's my brother, you know." Bella scrunched her nose.

"Yeah, well, he still has nice abs."

"Thanks, it's the football."

"Yeah, that and the two hours a day that you spend at the gym, you monkey," Bella teased, playfully. "So, what are we going to do about Vicky?"

"Easy," I stated as we approached the lake where we smelled Amar and Amrita last. "Jasper, you can wake her up now."

I tossed my wife inside the lake and I think she sunk to the bottom. A couple of minutes later, she swam back up. "_Puh, puh, puh!"_ She spit up all of the water along with some of the tequila she ingested. "Why the fuck did you throw me inside?"

"I thought you might need to wake up," I stated.

"Bastard!" She got a feral look in her eyes and threw me into the water along with Rose and Bella.

"Hey! Why the fuck are we in here, too?"

"It was your fucking idea to go to the bar, Bella!" she screamed, then turned to Rose, "And you! You didn't stop her! How the hell did I get here, anyway?"

"Oh, I sort of knocked you out." Jasper smiled sheepishly.

"Fucker!" _Splash! _Straight into the water went the dynamic Major of the Southern Vampire Wars. We heard another huge splash as Emmett did a cannonball right into the lake.

"I just thought I'd save you the trouble," Emmett stated.

"Geez! Talk about a fucking temper!" Bella scowled.

Victoria chuckled, then jumped back into the water and the six of us splashed around a bit before making our way back to the log cabin.

"What happened to you kids? Bella! Rose! You're tracking water all over the cabin!" Esme chastised. I noticed she honed in on Bella and Rose only.

"Lay the hell off of them. The other four are just as soaked as those two—or, did you fail to notice that?" Carlisle yelled.

"You're always siding with them! What the hell is your problem, Carlisle?"

"I'm just pointing out facts, Esme! Don't you dare fucking single out Rose and Bella. You know something else? If you have a problem with me, then speak to me about it. Don't take it out on innocent bystanders!"

"Um, I'm going upstairs to shower," my sister said, glumly.

"Yeah, me too," Rose stated. The two of them ran upstairs and we heard two showers turn on almost immediately.

Frankly, I thought Esme was out of line for yelling at Rose and Bella. I was about to say something when a feral looking Irina got in her face. Not good, not good at all. Irina doesn't get pissed off without a good reason.

"Esme, if you ever raise your voice to Bella again, I'll make sure that you no longer have a voice to raise let alone whisper with. Bear in mind that Jasper and Bella are funding this vacation and, therefore, you are their guests. Oh, and just so you're aware—contrary to what you believe, Rose and Bella are not responsible for your current marital strife. Those issues were created by you and Uncle Carlisle not dealing with your shit decades ago! Don't you dare, take it out on Bella and Rose!"

Esme was stunned. Irina told her what we'd all been wanting to tell her these past few weeks. Ever since Carlisle moved into his own apartment, she's been bitching about Carlisle, Rose, and Bella. I suspect it's because the three of them didn't take her shit anymore. Even though Peter and Char lived away from the family—they visited frequently. Char still liked being mothered by Esme. Peter, on the other hand, liked to see me. Bella, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett rarely visited and when they were in Connecticut—they would go to the Denali home instead. Jasper and Emmett, on occasion, stopped in to see us, but Bella chose to meet us in Manhattan or she'd pop into visit us at work. Rose didn't visit us at all.

What Esme didn't understand was that Rose and Bella didn't need parents. Neither of them liked being smothered. Hell, I didn't like being smothered. The other thing about Bella that Esme didn't appreciate it was that she never really looked up to Esme as a mother figure. She tried her best, but her mother figures were, for the most part, Irina and Vicky. They were the ones that were there for her during her most formative years just like Laurent and I were. I think with Carlisle, she's had a bond with him from the beginning. Generally, he kept a level head and he didn't smother Bella, he let her grow on her own and Rose, too.

I remember when Rose and Bella ran off to Japan and India, Carlisle was a wreck. He tried his best to keep it together and guide them by leaving supportive messages for them on their cell phones. When Bella ran away from Jasper and we had no idea where the fuck she was—which, I might add was the worst time in my existence, he did the same only be email. Bella and Carlisle had a mutual respect for each other and Esme couldn't stand the fact that someone preferred him over her. It was immature, really.

"I didn't realize that you felt that way, Irina," Esme said.

"It's not just me, Aunt Esme. I respect you, I really do, and I agree with you that Uncle Carlisle cheated on you, but Rose and Bella didn't make him cheat. In fact, neither of them condone his infidelity either. Your issue with Rose and Bella is completely separate from your issue with your husband. Oh, and just to let you know—Rose and Bella have no issues with you, it's just you that has one with them. They've been honest with you from the get go, you just don't agree with how they feel. A good mother, Esme, lets her grown children make decisions on their own, regardless of whether or not she feels it's right or wrong."

"When have you ever been a mother, Irina?"

"She's my mother, Esme. She has been all this time, more than you've ever been and more than you ever will be." A freshly showered Bella came down the stairs and stood firmly by Irina's side. I noticed Laurent and Victoria beaming with pride. "You see, there's a difference between you and Irina. She listens and guides and allows me my fuck ups because they're my fuck ups—so do Vicky, Riley, Laurent, and Carlisle. You, on the other hand, dictate and try to instill your views upon me—especially when you don't like what I'm doing. You're not that way with everyone, just with me and Rose. I suspect that you don't appreciate the fact that we need our privacy and independence. Oh, and if you ever chew out Rose, Irina, or any other member of my immediate family again, I have no qualms about fucking you up—I don't give a shit if Jasper and Emmett think of you as their mother. I have no real ties with you and I'm just warning you that you'll have me to deal with next time.

Esme didn't say a word. Bella just handed her ass to her and it was long overdue as far as I was concerned. She turned and walked out of the door followed by Rose who had just come downstairs after her shower. Amanda went barreling out after them, but not before giving Esme a vicious scowl. She always freaks out when Bella leaves, but I knew that she was just going to go clear her mind and so was Rose.

I noticed Charlotte standing in the corner wide-eyed and in complete shock. Sushmita saw this and pulled her outside with her. I wonder what that was all about. Peter looked frantic with concern about his wife.

Those of us who were still wet went upstairs to take showers. When we came back downstairs, Esme was sobbing with Edward, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett comforting her. I approached her quietly, too.

Carlisle, it looked like, had disappeared somewhere with Amar, Sahil, and Laurent.

"I made a mess of things, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You're confused, yes, but it's because you have a lot of instability in your life right now," I soothed. "I've been in relationships that were falling apart in the past and, believe me, it places a lot of stress on you. You really need to talk to Carlisle."

"I'm not ready to talk to him yet."

"I can understand that. You're not even ready to come to terms with yourself yet and neither is he. Once you deal with your own issues and he deals with his, you'll both be ready to tackle your relationship."

"I don't understand what's happening. I don't feel anything for him anymore. Another scary thing is how I've pushed Rose and Bella away. I didn't mean to say those things. They just came out."

"Esme, while I don't know too much about Rose, I do know about Bella. She's always been independent and mature. She grew up taking care of her human mother—not the other way around. From the time she was in elementary school, she handled the bills, cleaned the house, took care of the cooking, and even worked a part time job just to try to make up for what her mother went out and spent frivolously. She learned quickly how to take care of herself. Someone like that is going to get frustrated by coddling and that's what you tried to do—coddle her. In many ways, she's much more mature than most of us are because it's been grounded into her nature that the only way to accomplish anything is by keeping an open mind and doing it yourself. That's probably why she and Rex get along so well, too. He's a lot like that, too."

It was true. Rex had a similar upbringing to Bella. He had loving parents, but they were very poor and had eight children. He didn't have the financial stability growing up as the rest of us did. That's why he joined the Marines. He knew that the only way out of poverty was through education and if he joined the military, they would provide that for him. Bella knew this and respected him all the more for it. Both of them were intelligent, diligent, and open minded. They both needed an open mind because the only way out of their situations would be through creativity. Bella was a little different from Rex. Although Charlie sent child support, Renee would spend it. Bella didn't have to be poor, her irresponsible mother made her poor. Once Renee met Phil and had financial stability, she shipped my sister off to Charlie's so she could be free of her and live her life—leaving Bella on her own again.

People started trickling back into the house. Rose, Bella, and Amanda were the last ones to return. The three of them made their way to Charlotte and sat down next to her. Carlisle sat with them as did the Denalis and Vicky. There was a clear line dividing our family and I was stuck in the middle as were Jasper and Emmett. Rose and Bella won't easily forgive Esme this time, she had crossed the line. Bella was very protective of her family and Esme insulting Rose and Irina was something she didn't take too kindly to.

**Sushmita's POV**

Our American friends had troubled souls. Well, not so much everyone in the family—it was mainly caused by the family matriarch and patriarch. If they don't deal with their issues, it could mean ultimate destruction for the family when the second demon comes. I was extremely concerned by the new rift within the family. Esme had singlehandedly managed to make her marital problems everyone's problem. Other than the Denalis who, largely, were uninvolved in this; Bella and Rose were the only two that would stay away from this problem. Both of them were well aware that Esme had to get through her personal troubles on her own. Neither of them were willing to get involved and, most, importantly, both Bella and Rose have washed their hands of Esme. They no longer looked upon her as any sort of maternal figure. In fact, they only considered her a distant family member at this point.

This fact was just confirmed by Charlotte. I had noticed her distress and taken her outside where the two of us were able to finally talk alone and get to know each other. Charlotte said that after Bella finally spoke her mind to Esme—the final strings linking her and Rose with Esme changed to one of a distant family member or a more accurate description might be, the mother-in-law from hell. Jasper and Emmett's bonds were still very tight with both Esme and Carlisle. Rose and Bella's bond with Carlisle were the strongest. In fact, it was very possible that out of all of the Cullen family children—Rose and Bella were the only two supporting Carlisle and that was because they were the only two able to look beyond his infidelity and mid-life crisis and see the root cause of their marital destruction.

I was going to do a soul reading tonight, but decided against it. Just getting to know Charlotte was enough to release my soul temporarily. She seemed to work in sync with me and I liked her very much. I told her not to worry about her relationship with Rose because they would become very close shortly. I also saw Charlotte and Peter visiting us along with Bella, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett next summer.

Charlotte asked about her mate, Peter, next. I asked her how she saw her bond with him. "I see it strengthening on a daily basis. It's almost as strong as Bella and Jasper's, but not quite."

"Ah, but Charlotte—the level of nirvana that Bella and Jasper have reached is not easily achieved. Their individual souls are quite secure and they are at peace with themselves and their relationship. They have no secrets from each other. Can you say the same for yourself and Peter? I know for a fact that I can't say that about myself and Sahil."

"He's keeping something big from me and won't tell me what it is. A woman from our past is coming to wreak havoc on our lives. She wants Jasper and Peter, I susp..."

"You mean the second demon?"

"What second demon?"

"There were two demons in Jasper's path that would try to rip apart Bella and Jasper's bond. One already happened and actually succeeded in breaking them apart for a very long period of time, but that length of time apart was what Jasper and Bella needed to learn enough about themselves so that they could finally work on their relationship. The second demon will come in five to six years. She will not only come for Jasper, but for your Peter and Victoria, as well. This one will test all of your bonds. I know that Jasper and Bella will pull through—it is the souls of Peter and Victoria that I am most concerned with. You must trust your husband and love him unconditionally, but most of all you must have faith in yourself. You're more intelligent than you believe yourself to be. Another thing, Bella will stand by you through thick and thin, as will I."

"I know who the second demon is. She is the one that gave me, Victoria, Peter, and Jasper our scars. The woman is cruel and vicious and she'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. Her name is Maria."

"I will be there for you, Charlotte. You will be my sister for eternity."

Charlotte was a very affectionate girl and she hugged me tightly. I found out that she was seventeen, just like me. It was nice knowing someone so young. Amrita was a little older at twenty-one. She and I had always gotten along. When we found out that she had been betrothed to the, then, Prince Amar Desai, son of the great Maharaja Desai, she refused to marry him unless I could come along even though we were of a different caste. Amar's parents reluctantly agreed. Upon arrival, they tried to put me in the palace laundry room. Amrita refused to consummate her marriage unless I was made her chamber maid and companion like I had always been. Amar's parents actually sent us both packing back to Amrita's home. We were terrified to go home knowing that the punishment would be severe. Sahil was actually one of our escorts home.

When we got home and the guards, under Amrita's parents orders, violently tried to pull us apart, with whips in their hands, for punishment—Sahil actually defended us. He threw us back in the palki and ordered the other guards to take us back to the palace and only to the prince. Amar, who was a progressive thinker, refused to bow to his parent's wishes and, in the end, I was made Amrita's chamber maid. Sahil asked Amar for permission to court me. It turns out that he fell in love with me when he first escorted us to the palace. We were married within the month and we were excited to start a family. That's when the disappearances started happening in the village surrounding the village. Eventually, there were no villagers left and the servants started disappearing two at a time. Amrita was so terrified that she had me sleep with her in her chambers at night. The two of us were sleeping when we woke up to see the vampire. Amar and Sahil rushed into our room when we screamed. The yellow haired vampire grinned maliciously and sunk his teeth into our husbands, then dropped them. They started screaming immediately. Amrita and I were frozen in fright by then. He bit Amrita first, then me, then disappeared into the night. I clutched onto Amrita for safety and she unto me and we both succumbed to the burn. We woke up to our new lives still holding each other—our husbands sitting by our sides with their new crimson eyes.

When we ventured downstairs, we realized that the remaining palace servants and his parents and siblings had all been murdered. Amar took over as the Maharaja and we've lived quietly in our secluded palace since then. It took us over a hundred years, until 1720, to actually learn that we were vampires.

Charlotte and I started making our way back to the log cabin. "Hey, on Monday, do you want to take my class?"

"I would be honored, what is it called?"

"Well, last week I taught 'Lick Him Like An Ice Cream Cone' and 'Spank Me Senseless, Sailor.' On Monday, I'm teaching, 'Tie Him Up and Teach Him A Lesson.'"

"Why would I need to tie him up to teach him a lesson. He usually listens when I talk to him."

"It's not that kind of lesson. It's a fun lesson. Just come to class on Monday without him and I'll teach you. Bring Amrita, too."

"Charlotte, I'm so excited. Amrita and I have never been to school before. They didn't have school for women when we were growing up in the late 1500s. We learned how to read and write after our change. Is there a uniform that is required for your school?"

"No, you can wear whatever you feel is appropriate for school."

"Amrita and I will be there. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Anytime." Charlotte smiled and we walked hand in hand back to the log cabin.

_**Monday Afternoon...**_

"Are we dressed appropriately for school?" I asked.

"Yes, I saw a documentary on American private schools and most girls were dressed in plaid skirts, white blouses, and knee socks," Amar replied. "Now, make us proud girls."

"We will pick you up at seven pm when the class ends," my husband said. "Bella, Rose, Jasper, and Emmett will be with us."

"Hold your heads up high and remember to participate," Amar suggested. "Today, you bring honor to the Desai family."

Our husbands watched us walk down the block and turn into Char's school. Amar was filming us walk away while Sahil snapped photos. They both had looks of extreme pride on their faces.

_**7:00 P.M.**_

Wow! What a class! I didn't realize that school would be so much fun. Charlotte is an excellent teacher. I thought she would be distributing books in the class, but it turned out that she was such a good teacher that we didn't need any. She gave us ropes instead and she taught us how to tie various knots. She called it a life lesson. We got to practice on Char's teaching assistant Patrick. We got to tie him to a bed and also to a large wooden X shaped contraption on the wall. I think Char called it a St. Andrew's Cross. She taught us how to speak firmly to our husbands so we had their complete attention and punish them using floggers, riding crops, and our bare hands. She said that only after they brought us to our release should we allow them to have theirs. She also said that it was okay to leave them without their release if they've been extra bad.

We left the doors of the classroom and walked into the store where everyone was waiting. Amar and Sahil were transfixed on the products they were selling.

"How was your class?" Bella asked.

"Oh! It was wonderful, Bella. I learned how to be dominant in the bedroom and I learned various knots for tying up Amar with." Amrita was just as excited as I was. "We never knew that you learned this type of thing in school."

Bella scratched her head. "Yeah, you can learn all sorts of things in school, I guess. I tried being dominant with Jasper once, but it didn't really work for me. I just couldn't get into it and I kept wanting to laugh."

"Sahil, we must purchase a St. Andrew's Cross. They sell them here and I need a leather flogger and a riding crop, as well. Char said they were required for home study."

"This is where you buy the stripper poles, you might as well grab them now and we'll figure out how to ship them to India," Jasper suggested.

"What is this St. Andrew's Cross, Jasper? Do you have one in your home?"

"Uh, no, Bella would kick the living shit out of me if I got one of those. She only likes a little mild bondage, you know the occasional spanking and stuff."

"What about you, Emmett?"

"Nope, but Katie and Garrett have one. Aw, heck, they have everything. Their entire bedroom is a playroom. You should check out their sex swing."

"Sahil, if their teacher is saying that the items are required for further home study, I think we should purchase them because we don't want to stunt their education," Amar said, wisely.

For some reason, our American friends were staring at us with odd expressions on their faces. Amar purchased two of everything plus three stripper poles, Emmett bought one stripper pole, and Charlotte gave Sahil, Amar, and Emmett each a gift bag.

"What is this?" Sahil asked.

"It's called a 'Luscious Lips Stroker'. It's a masturbation sleeve for your penis that supposedly simulates fellatio. Mike says they work great," Char explained.

"How come I don't get one?" Jasper complained.

"Your bride is Maharani Sucks A Lot, mine is Mistress Sucks Not. I need all the help I can get," my husband answered.

"That was mean. I should punish you," I said.

"That's the spirit—you're such a good student. You get an 'A' for today. On Wednesday, I'm teaching 'Lick Him Like An Ice Cream Cone' again. It's my most popular class."

"She will be there," Sahil replied immediately. I noticed he was beaming in pride when Charlotte mentioned that I would receive an 'A'.

"Rose will too," Emmett stated.

Rose looked angry. "I will not g..."

"Oh, I'm so excited that you're coming with us," Amrita said, hugging Rose. "School is so much fun. Bella was correct when she said that education was important, especially for women."

"Well, um, sure—why not."

"Perfect! Let me sign you three up now. Bella doesn't need the class, I think if she had a choice she'd just suck on Jasper's cock all day long. Oh, by the way, I dig the school girl outfits, you should tie your blouse under your tits like this, though, and maybe put your hair in pigtails. The knee socks are a nice touch, they'd look better if you paired them with platforms." Charlotte tied my shirt and Amrita's so that our navels were showing. "That's better."

Charlotte is turning out to be such a terrific friend. She is so open and she teaches us so many things about the American lifestyle. She even invited us to a party on Friday at her house. I'm so excited to go and I really, really enjoy American schools. I wonder what Amar and Sahil would think about me and Amrita studying abroad?

_**Saturday Night...**_

**Peter's POV**

We were hosting a party at my house for our new friends from India. Char got along fabulously with the women which, in turn, brought her closer to Rose. It was important to me that Charlotte be able to develop lifelong friendships so she wouldn't be lonely in the future. I knew that Jasper and Bella would always be with her and now, Rose and Emmett, too. Vicky and Riley, of course, were a given.

"Bella, Riley—I hired a photographer to take a family photo of the three of us. I thought it would be nice to have a portrait of just the Piper family bloodline."

"Pete, we have tons of photos of just the three of us," Bella protested. She hated having her picture taken. I can't understand why, my great-grandbaby is absolutely gorgeous, it's in the genes.

"Please, do it for me."

"I think it'll be cool, too. Let's do it. Can I have a copy too?" Riley said.

"Yeah, of course you can. I'm having one made for each of us." Actually I was having one made for each one of my homes. Big, huge poster sized ones.

My Bella was beautiful—she was the spitting image of my daughter Helen. She and Riley both had the same doe eyes. I have photos of my grandson Charlie and he had those same eyes. I asked Riley if he had brown eyes as a human and he confirmed that he did. We were able to obtain many photos of him from his university since he was a big football star there. He also had some photo albums containing pictures of him as a kid.

I couldn't seem to settle down at all today, tonight was big, but I didn't know why. I asked Alice if she saw anything and she said just bits and pieces, but nothing really concrete. "Do you have a weird feeling, Peter?"

"Yeah, I do," I confirmed.

The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. It was Eleazar and Carmen here for a short visit from Argentina. We all ran to give them hugs. When Bella hugged them, I noticed the scowl on Esme's face. That woman is going to have to get over her shit with Bella really quick because I'm getting tired of her bullshit—she has nothing to do with her troubles. She needs to get it through her fucking skull that Bella and Riley are my family and she can't do shit to change that—ever. Bella always got along well with Carmen and Eleazar, she respected both of them highly. She introduced her friends to them and we all settled into partying by the pool.

I'll tell you one thing, those Indian women sure are hot! God damn—they look beautiful in bikinis. They had waist long straight black hair and because they were naturally darker skinned, they looked like they were sporting tans. I took a picture of the two of them with Char in their bikinis and told them I wanted it for my mantel over the fireplace. They didn't suspect a thing. Garrett and Mike figured out what I was doing and soon most of the guys were snapping shots of the two of them with their mates. I asked Jasper why he wasn't taking pictures of the two women worthy of gracing the cover of Playboy or, better yet, a lesbo shot on the cover of Hustler. Jasper whispered that he had a picture of the two of them plus Bella and Rose swimming naked in Amar's bathing chambers and he gave a copy to Em, Amar, and Sahil. It was their little secret.

"Do me a favor. Photoshop Bella out and uh, send me a copy to my YodaLovesTatas email." I didn't feel like seeing my great granddaughter naked, but the other three—hell, yeah!

"Alright, but don't tell their mates I gave you a copy, okay?" Jasper whispered.

"My lips are sealed."

"Jasper, Peter. I need to talk to you both in private," Eleazar approached us.

"Uh, sure, we can go into Jasper and Bella's bedroom. It's completely soundproofed in there," I suggested.

"How come our bedroom is soundproofed?"

"Because I don't need to hear you getting off with Bella, that's why."

Jasper shrugged his shoulders. "Ironically, that makes total sense."

We gathered into the room and closed the door. Eleazar started talking. "What the fuck is going on between Carlisle and Esme? I heard from Irina that they were separated, but they aren't even talking now. Carlisle has changed both his looks and his attitude and Esme has suddenly become completely uptight—not to mention the fact that she seems to be blaming Rose and Bella for everything. I nearly took her head off a few minutes ago."

"I'm glad you asked Uncle Eli," Jasper said. "Char revealed a frightening truth about them. She said that Carlisle and Esme's bond has disappeared. She sees nothing between them, only a black void. Sushmita, who you just met, reads souls and can see a little into the future; she saw absolutely no connection between them."

"I'll look into their gifts. I've already noticed several gifts have intensified in strength and gained new characteristics. You've gained more control over yours, Jasper, and I suspect that you can project further and for longer periods of time. Bella has complete control over her shield now."

"I know you're in there, can I come in?" It was Alice. We opened the door for her. She came inside and we shut the door. "It's about Bella and Esme. Bella's no longer shielding her. Edward can hear her clearly and I can get clear visions of her as long as it doesn't directly involve any of you. I think Esme has completely driven Bella away if she doesn't care enough to shield her."

"Okay, someone needs to give me an update on Bella, Rose, and Esme's situation because clearly something big has happened there." Eleazar looked to us for answers.

Alice spoke. "It's Esme's fault. She's not handling her and Carlisle's separation well and she can't stand the fact that Bella and Rose don't need her so she keeps snapping at them and taking things out on them. She also hates the fact that they prefer Carlisle over her, it's immature when you think about it. It's driving all of us nuts in Westport—all she does is bitch and complain about Bella and Rose. Bella and Rose took her sons away, Jasper and Emmett would still be living in her house if it weren't for Bella and Rose, Carlisle wouldn't have had a midlife crisis if Bella and Rose were more obedient, the list goes on and on—each reason being more farfetched than the other. On top of that, Bella and Irina both handed Esme her ass last weekend. In fact, Irina and Laurent have moved out of her house and into their own apartment above Laurent's fitness studio. I'm not kidding—this is all spiraling out of control. I'm not too worried about Bella or Rose, it's Riley I'm worried about. Each time Esme bitches about Bella, you can see his face contort in anger, I think he's going to blow up soon."

"What does Carlisle say about all of this?"

"He's pretty much removed from the situation. The last time Carlisle talked to her was during the middle of the week and they got into a shouting match over the phone about his infidelity. It ended with Esme screaming that he's probably fucking both Bella and Rose and he might as well admit it now. That actually pissed every single one of us off because we all know that there's not even a remote possibility of that ever, ever happening."

"Are you fucking with me, Alice?" Jasper asked with gritted teeth. "How the hell could she say that about Bella and Rose and even about Carlisle?"

Frankly, I was about to rip Esme's head off. This shit had to stop. I had never been so enraged in my life. I felt like...

"Jasper, stop projecting!" Eleazar, Alice, and I yelled out simultaneously. We looked out of the window and Carlisle and Esme were at odds with each other again and everyone else looked absolutely feral.

While Alice and I worked on calming Jasper down, Eleazar opened the window and yelled, "Isabella, shield!" Bella nodded and threw her shield up immediately. "Charlotte and Sushmita, may I see you upstairs?"

My wife and her friend nodded to Eleazar and were knocking on the door in a snap. I wonder what Eleazar needed to see them about. He closed the window and sat down on the floor where we all joined him.

Eleazar looked intently at Charlotte then closed his eyes in intense concentration. "Your power has intensified, little one. You can now see the types of bonds between people and their intensity as well. You can see who people are loyal to and to what degree. Let me ask you this, in the case of Riley, if push came to shove and he could only protect either Bella or Esme—who would he save?"

"Bella, unequivocally. She may be his sister by blood, but he is protective of her like a father."

"Okay, now—I want you to think about Esme. Go in order of her children—don't count any of mine, which ones would she sacrifice first?"

Charlotte was pensive. She nodded, then started listing off Esme's sacrificial lambs, " Amanda, Mike, Peter, Me, Alice, Edward, Emmett, Vicky, Jasper, then Riley."

"I noticed you didn't mention Bella or Rose."

"She no longer sees them as her children. Her bond to them has disappeared."

"What about Carlisle? What are his ties with everyone?"

"He is our brother. His bond to us is the same as his bond to you. To Bella and Rose, however, the familial ties are as strong as Peter's to Bella. He is, for all intents and purposes, their father. They look at him the same way."

"Now, it was mentioned that you see ties breaking. Explain."

"Well, it started after Peter and I got back together after separating. I noticed Bella and Jasper's bond loosening, they're mating bond never disappeared, though. When Amber showed up to wreak havoc, Bella's bond with Jasper was held together with a thin thread while Jasper's remained strong. I think if Jasper's bond weakened—the mating bond might have disappeared altogether. In Carlisle and Esme's case, they're bond was never very strong. It weakened gradually. Before moving to this area, when you suggested that they follow Carmen and your lead and live separately from the kids for a few years and Esme refused to listen, that's when Carlisle's bond started weakening considerably. After we moved to this area, Esme's bond started loosening with him when he quit his job and stood his ground that we were all grown adults and no longer needed parental guidance. When Esme and Carlisle separated, their threads started weakening at a faster pace until it ultimately disappeared."

"Interesting, Charlotte. I must say that I'm impressed. I hope you're aware that you are now more powerful than Marcus Volturi."

Char gasped. So did Alice, Jasper, and I. "H...h...how?"

"You, sweetheart, can see bonds strengthening and weakening while Marcus cannot. If your gift were combined with someone like Chelsea who can make and break bonds, you would be a power to be reckoned with. You have the added benefit of knowing that it's possible for a mating bond to break. This is something that even I had no knowledge of. You must take care and always stay under the radar of the Volturi—your gift will be one that is coveted and you will be under lifelong servitude to them were they ever to find out about your abilities."

"Excuse me. Who are the Volturi?" Sushmita asked.

"I'm sorry, darlin', I didn't realize that you had no idea who they were. You've been so secluded from our world that you've probably never been taught." Jasper turned to Eleazar then. "Sushmita, Sahil, Amar, and Amrita were turned in 1608 by a rogue vampire who just left them to change after killing off all of the villagers, staff, and family in Amar's maharajadom. They ran into a nomadic couple in 1720 who finally explained that they were vampires to them and they remained in seclusion, for the most part, until Amar spotted Bella and Rose hunting on his grounds eight years ago."

"Fascinating. My dear, I think it best if we explain who the Volturi are to the four of you together. We'll do so later this evening. For now, though, I'd like to analyze your gift, if I may."

"Please do, I'm very curious about it myself. I can read people's souls—past and present, and read a little into their futures."

Eleazar focused his concentration on Sushmita. "Use your gift on me, young one. What do you see in my soul."

"You are very wise. In your past, you have witnessed everything from violence to treachery to deceit to ultimate happiness. You spent years in servitude, yet when you were released you found tranquility in your life. Your mate is your life—she gives you internal peace just as you do for her. You are respected by many and a father figure to those who know you. In five to six years, a demon from Jasper, Peter, and Victoria's past will try to tear your soul apart, however, like Jasper—your soul is secure and you will not waver. The salvation of this family rests on Bella conquering the demon—her soul must be kept free and clear. I have confidence that it'll stay clean, though."

We all stared at her stock still. I wanted to keep this shit from Jasper, but he didn't seem surprised at all. It's almost as if he knew about it. Jasper grabbed Sushmita and placed her on his lap to comfort her. He ran his fingers through her hair and allowed her to lean into him. I knew he looked upon the vampires from India as family, I just never realized how close they all were. A thought popped into my brain and it told me that Char and I would become a part of their family as well. Well, that's kind of nice.

"My dear, you are more powerful than you realize. Yes, you can read people's souls, but you can also read clearly into the futures of those you know as it relates to their souls. I think that you weren't able to recognize that part of your gift because you lived in seclusion for so long—it was dormant, so to speak. Your gift works very well in conjunction with the powers of those in this room with you—especially with Charlotte's bond reading." Eleazar paused. "Now tell me, how do you feel about me training you to use your gift. Being around this many people, I believe you are quite overwhelmed by it at this point because you are carrying everyone's souls within yourself. If I trained you, you would feel a lot less anxiety than you're feeling now. You'll need everyone's assistance, including Jasper's empathy for calm and peace, as well as Bella's shield to help you separate souls. You'll also need Charlotte, Alice, and Peter for confirmation of what you read and see."

"I would like that, but I would have to consult with my mate."

"I'll speak to him. I believe this is critical to your well being. I'm going to assume that the four of you haven't been trained to fight in the vampire way, have you?"

"I didn't know there was a way and, in any case, Amrita and I were changed four hundred years ago when women were trained for one thing and one thing alone—marriage. We'd never met women as strong and as independent as Bella and Rose."

"I understand, I lived through that time myself. It was the same way everywhere for women, my dear. You were raised to be docile, obedient, and subservient—not to fight. I'll speak to your mate about how vital it is for your well-being that you be trained."

I could see Eleazar's point. Sushmita needed to be trained and fast. Her soul was already overburdened and her gift was working at full tilt. My gift, which was also going into high gear decided to work again. I decided to share my new knowledge with everyone. "Charlotte, Jasper, and I can train them to physically fight next summer when we visit them in India. We still have time. Sush needs to learn to control her gift immediately, though. If not, she'll return home with her gift still in overdrive."

"I agree, Peter, and you will train alongside her. You must learn to get a handle on your gift, as well. It's time you learned because between you and Sushmita—my body has been vibrating with the knowledge that your gifts are in operation. It can become quite uncomfortable, you know."

Well, heck, I didn't know he knew when our gifts were working. Damn. Now I feel bad. "Does your body vibrate whenever someone uses their power?"

"Yes it does, I get a tingling feeling, but when multiple powers are at work at once or when a power is working at full capacity, it actually starts to feel like needles pricking at my body. Speaking of needles, I saw that Carlisle pierced his ear. How did he do it and why?"

"Titanium needle and as for why, you'll have to ask him," Jasper stated.

We walked downstairs to join the party. Things were in full swing again. We all approached Amar and Sahil immediately regarding allowing Sushmita to stay and train. Surprisingly, they agreed without reservation. "I will allow Sushmita to stay because it is for her well being. If Amar agrees, I would prefer it if Amrita is permitted to stay with her."

"I would ask the same of you, my brother, if the situation were reversed. Of course, Amrita can stay. If we were able to, Sahil and I would stay, but we are approaching harvest time so we must return next week."

Esme, who was eavesdropping decided to pipe in, then. "They can stay at my house. I would love to welcome two new daughters into my family."

"I'm sorry, I would feel much safer if they were in Jasper's care."

"Why? We have more men and women in my home that would be able to look after your mates. On top of that a daughter needs a mother's love."

"Madam, I believe you're overstepping your boundaries. I do not, nor will I ever, look upon you as my mother. Sushmita and I will be staying with Jasper and Bella. We are comfortable with them, they are our brother and sister, our mates trust them both implicitly. Now, I would appreciate if you would mind your own business and let us organize the details of our stay in private." Amrita was angry and decided to make her opinion known—she sounded like the Maharani that she truly was at that moment.

"Bella is incapable of taking care of anyone, she's but a child herself."

"Esme, she may be young in vampire years, but she's certainly not a child. She's proven herself to be much more mature than you are." Esme was shocked at Eleazar's not so subtle jab at her.

"Eli, you too. You're just like Carlisle! Always siding with Bella! She's taking every one of my children away from me! First Jasper, then Rose and Emmett, and now Carlisle is gone!"

Oh shit! This was it, this is the big thing that was coming. My feral great-grandson started screaming at Esme. "Where the fuck do you get off blaming Bella for everything? You're the one that's causing this family to split apart by not taking responsibility for your part in the destruction of your marriage. Get it through your thick skull woman—my sister is not responsible for you and Carlisle's lack of communication! You know something! You're all flipping nuts! All of you! I have a bigger fucking caseload working with my family than I did when I was working as a psychologist. You're all god damned tapped! My own family has more mental disorders than any I know. What the fuck? Is it a requirement to change only fucked up people or is it only our family because I noticed that the Desai's and the Denali's are fine. The Piper's are fine, too. You Cullens are all fucked in the head. I need to invent some kind of vampire grade anti-depressant slash anti-psychosis drug because this family is way too fucked up!" Riley lost his shit. Alice was right, he was a ticking time bomb. He downed two bottles of Jack Daniels straight from the bottle. "I'm leaving! Don't fucking follow me. Vicky, handle Esme—make sure she doesn't say one more thing about Bella or I swear to God I'll come back and rip her head off. I'll be back in time for work on Monday. Bells! You're coming with me! I don't want you near that woman at all!" Bella threw some shorts and a tank top on over her bikini and rushed to her brother's side. Rose threw her purse to her while Jasper mouthed for her to call him. She nodded and took after Riley with a wink.

"Riley! Riley! I'm sorry!" Esme called after him, but he and Bella were already gone. "Why? Why does Bella always take my children away from me!"

"Esme! Get it through your motherfucking head, Riley and Bella are my family. My blood ran through their veins when they were human, not yours! They're my family and there ain't jack shit you can do to change that. My DNA is a part of their DNA. I protect what's mine and if you say or do one more thing to hurt either one of my grandkids, I have no problem turning you into ash!" I'd had it with this crazy woman.

"Let's have a chat Esme—in private," Victoria said, in a sickly sweet voice. She was going to use the master's bite to control Esme so that she no longer said anything about Bella again.

"Um, you may as well include Rose in the mix while you're at it, Lieutenant," I whispered. Vicky winked that she understood.

"Well, now that the psychotic woman is gone, I trust you understand that I prefer that Sushmita and Amrita are never in her presence," Sahil said to Jasper.

"Trust me, I understand. I'll be keeping Bella away from her as well. We'll talk about the girls' extended stay later at home. You have my word that I'll guard them with my life and I'll see them home safely to you."

Amar and Sahil acknowledged Jasper with a nod before going back to enjoy the party. I settled into a lounge chair with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Charlotte cuddled into my lap with her head on my chest.

"They'll be okay, Peter. If anyone can keep Riley from going nuts, it'll be Bella."

I put my arms around Charlotte and kissed the top of her head-thankful that I had at least her to keep me from going insane with worry these next two days.

**I'm thinking Vicky needs to stay away from the tequila or can it even be called that if it's made in Altoona? Amrita and Sushmita got to experience school with Charlotte as their teacher, fun! Riley finally flipped his lid-who could blame him with his full caseload just living with his nutty family. Lots and lots of revelations this chapter, let me know what you think. I promise to reply.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Oh my! You folks are out for vengeance against Esme. There's more to come with her, but not yet. First we have to deal with Riley's meltdown and Sushmita's soul reading. Thank you all for your passionate reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. A ride in a Lotus with Riley driving for everyone!**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Bella's POV**

"Uh, Riley, I'm not so sure this is a good idea."

"Yes it is, Bella. We're in Vegas—what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That's what the fucking commercial says, at least."

"Yeah, but Ry—you're going a hundred and twenty miles per hour on the highway in a fire engine red Lotus—the cops will be after you in no time." When I asked Riley where he wanted to go to blow off steam, he said Vegas. Why is it that whenever someone want to blow off steam they want to go to Vegas? Sheesh. This was my second time here this summer.

"We've got company, Bells!" I looked in the side mirror and saw the reflection of an undercover car with his blue lights flashing. I knew this was going to happen. Great. Just great. Jasper's gonna fli...

"Ry! Why aren't you pulling over?"

"I'm a fucking vampire, Bella. I can outrun this fucker." Oh, holy hell! We're gonna die!

"Pull over! Pull the fuck over now!" If I were human, my heart would be pounding. I looked behind me and more cops had joined in the chase. Pure terror was what I was feeling when my cell phone rang.

"Bella! Bella! Baby, is everything okay?"

"No, Jasper! Riley decided to not get pulled over for a speeding ticket and he's now going about a hundred and...oh fuck...he's going a hundred and seventy miles per hour on some deserted Nevada—nope California highway now."

"Tell the little shit to pull off at the fifth exit—he has to floor it until then." I heard Peter instruct Jasper.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I did. Ry did you hear that?"

"Yep, just passing the first exit." When we got to the fifth exit, Riley pulled off the highway. By then he had pretty much outrun all of the cops.

"Okay, we did it, now what?"

Jasper handed the phone off to Peter. "You two are going to take the keys, get out and run back to Las Vegas at top speed, then report the car stolen. The California Highway Patrol will find it in about seven minutes and impound it. It'll take you twenty minutes to run back. Now, get going."

"What the fuck, Riley? Why didn't you pull over?"

"Are you fucking with me? Do you know what a speeding ticket will do to my car insurance rate? It's bad enough that Connecticut has one of the highest insurance rates in the country."

"Why the fuck did you have to go so fast, then?"

"I was driving a fucking Lotus—I had to at least try it out to see how fast it went. Geez! You have no sense of adventure when it comes to cars, Bells."

"Hey, just cause I like to be a safe driver doesn't mean I have no sense of adventure. Daddy's probably turning over in his grave watching you!"

"He's probably proud that I had the dexterity to go that fast in a Lotus. I guarantee that if Daddy were alive he would have been cheering for me."

"No way, Daddy was all about abiding by the speed limit."

"That was only with you because you're such a bad driver."

"I am not! I'm just careful!"

"Are too!"

"The next time I visit Daddy at his grave, I'm telling on you!"

We were back at our hotel in no time. Riley called the police and reported our rental car stolen. The police came to the hotel, took a report and put out an APB immediately.

"I'm gonna go soak in the jacuzzi, then we can go walking around on the strip."

"Uh, that's fine, but you're still in your swim trunks and t-shirt, Ry." We had flown here with just the clothes on our back, flip flops on our feet, and my purse, thank God, because Riley's wallet was in Vicky's purse.

"Oh, yeah. Can you go pick something up for me to change into while I soak. I just need to think for a bit."

I gave Riley a hug. "I'll see if I can pick something up in the hotel. We're not going anywhere fancy are we?"

"Fuck no! I hate fancy just as much as you do. Besides, we're leaving tomorrow night. Just get enough to last us until then. Oh, and I need gel for my hair, some hairspray, a hairbrush, good shampoo and conditioner, and some deodorant. Make sure you get the hair stuff from the salon instead of that cheap shit and I like either Degree or Axe for my deodorant. No Old Spice or Right Guard—they stink."

"Ry! We're vampires, why the hell would we need deodorant?"

"Force of habit, just get one for me."

Geez! My brother is such a metrosexual. He says he's casual and all, but he has to work to achieve that look. He's also a fucking snob when it comes to hair products. Vicky and I used to always bitch about how much his hair products cost. He can't use stuff from the drugstore like the rest of us. Oddly, Rose was the same way.

I left our hotel suite and ran down to see what stores they had. I didn't feel like going to the Forum Shops. We were staying in the Hardwood Suite at the Palms Hotel, the one that comes with a basketball court. I swear to God, next time I come to Vegas, I'm picking the hotel. First I have to stay in some sort of kinky Playboy Suite, then I have to stay in some whacked out Barbie Suite, and now I'm staying in some fucked up room that looks like it's made for professional basketball players rather than for real people. I do like the pool table in the room though.

I stopped at the hotel beauty salon first and grabbed Riley's hair products—over a hundred bucks for shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, hair spray, and a brush. Ridiculous. Why can't he just use the stuff that comes complimentary in the bathroom like the rest of us?

Next, I asked the concierge where there was to shop in the hotel and it looked like I didn't have much of a choice. He told me that the biggest selection was at the Playboy Store so I ended up picking everything up there. Unbelievably, they had a full line of clothing from underwear to casual wear to dressier outfits. Of course, we'd be sporting the Playboy Bunny logo on everything for the next couple of days, but at least it met our needs. They even had his and hers Bunny logo duffle bags to throw everything into. I picked up a Playboy Bunny outfit and his and hers pajamas for me and Jasper plus a couple of t-shirts for when I got home because they were so cute.

Just as I cashed out, my cell phone rang. Jasper was on the line. "Hey, baby. How are you holding up?"

"Good, we're back at the hotel."

"Where are you staying at anyway?"

"Where else? The Palms."

"Baby, can you send me another video of you stripping for me?"

"Jasper, I'm with my brother and we're in some sort of fucked up suite with a basketball court. I am not sending you a nudie video."

"Babe, I'm horny."

"I'll be back tomorrow night. I have a sexy surprise for you," I said, thinking about the Bunny outfit.

"I can't wait. Hurry back."

"I will, I love you."

"I love you, too, Bella."

I ran back up to the hotel suite and handed Riley his bag full of clothes and his hair products. He took a quick shower and came out dressed in the outfit I got him.

"Bella! Really? A track suit? Why does everything have the Playboy logo on it?"

"Because I didn't have much of a choice. The only thing here was the Playboy Store."

"Oh well, I guess I'll have to walk around looking like I work in a sub shop in Brooklyn."

We left the hotel and walked around the Strip for a bit. After picking up a couple of Elvis t-shirts and fiddling around with a couple of slot machines—neither of us won anything; Riley and I made our way back to the hotel and decided to hang out by the pool.

"Okay, sis, shoot. Tell me how you think I fucked up?"

"Fine, do you really want to hear the truth? You were fine living in Boston in the apartment with just us, but you insisted upon moving in with the Cullens because you thought that Vicky and I needed parents to guide us. The thing is, Ry, we didn't need parents. For the most part, we could guide ourselves and if we needed advice we could turn to each other. Okay, so I still needed to be raised up a bit, but I had you, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent. I, for one, didn't need Esme or Carlisle really."

I paused a bit before speaking again. "Another thing, I know that you wanted Vicky to have a mother's love because she had years of adversity at the hands of Maria and James, but she had a great mom when she was human. That's something that she carried with her after her change and you could tell that she had a loving mother by the way she cares for you, for me, for everyone really. Esme is a good mother too. What she can't do is let go because her infant son was taken so tragically from her. She's afraid that if she let's anyone grow up, she'll be left alone. Historically, too, Esme was brought up during an era called 'La Belle Epoque'—it was a time of great social upheaval around the world: factories became modernized, World War I was fought, and women gained the right to vote. Still, in the case of women, they were still expected to subscribe to a certain social mode of conduct, if you will. The status of a woman was judged by the occupational and social standing of her husband and how well her kids turned out. I think that sort of thing has been ingrained in Esme's character and that's why she tries to hold on so hard to her family. A divorced woman would be considered the worst sort of woman in her time."

"How the fuck did you become so smart?"

"It's in the DNA."

"Oh, so we need to thank Peter?"

"Meh, it probably skipped a couple of generations. Maybe it came from his first wife—our great grandmother."

"Bella, you're right. You were the only one that didn't want to move in with the Cullens and now I see why. I don't know what to do. I wish we could go back to the way things were in Boston with just you, me, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent."

"Things were so much simpler then, I know, but I'm happy with Jasper, Riley."

"I know you are. You're all grown up now. I just need to unwind with my baby sister for a bit, then we can go back and face the storm."

"I feel bad for you, you live in storm central with Esme."

"Well, yeah, but you've got Carlisle three blocks away from you."

"He's no bother though. He's actually a lot of fun now that he and Esme are separated. He has a new attitude and a new lease on life. Last week, we took a Bartending For Fun class and next week we're taking a class on tie dying t-shirts. Emmett's coming along to that one. He claims he used to be a Dead Head."

"You know, Bella, I hate to admit it, but Carlisle and Esme are better off without each other. It's just that I don't know how they're going to stay apart with the mating bond keeping them together."

Oh, that's right, Riley doesn't know. I decided to tell him about their mating bond being severed. Riley was in shock, but unsurprised. "I'm glad it happened. I usually suggest to couples to work out their issues together, but in Esme and Carlisle's case, each one is unwilling to bend for the other. They're both too set in their ways. On top of that, I don't think Esme can get over Carlisle's infidelity. I think they should get a divorce.

"I do, too. Are you going to suggest it?"

"Nope, I'm staying out of this one. That sort of realization, they need to come to on their own—if they ever talk to each other again, that is. Let's keep this between us, Bells. We don't need the family going crazy and running interference."

We hung out by the pool then went back up to our hotel room. We played some basketball and some pool, then unwound by taking a dip in the jacuzzi. Before we knew it, it was time for us to go to the airport. As we were leaving, we received a call stating that the Lotus we abandoned was found in California and that it would be returned to the rental company after a criminal investigation. The rental car company wasn't charging us for the rental since we didn't really get to drive it and they felt terrible. Of course, I felt horribly guilty for deceiving them, but Riley told me to not take it too seriously because the alternative would have been worse. We probably would have landed in jail.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for listening to me this weekend. I really needed it. I love you, kiddo."

I love you, too, big brother."

Our plane landed at JFK and we went our separate ways with our mates.

"I'm horny."

"What kind of greeting is that?" I asked my mate.

"The direct kind." He pulled me into his arms and started kissing me.

"Get a fucking room!" Vicky yelled as she and Riley passed us on the way out to the garage.

We headed back to Manhattan where I was looking forward to jumping on my husband. Instead of pulling into our driveway, Jasper pulled up in front of the Plaza Hotel, grabbed my duffel bag, and handed the valet his keys. He checked us into a room and as soon as we set foot over the threshold, we were taking our clothes off at vampire speed.

My mate's eyes were a smoldering black as he ran his smooth tongue over my body. I was standing against the wall while Jasper was currently licking my folds at a rapid pace. I was moaning in complete ecstasy while his tongue hit every crevice of my pussy. Suddenly, he stopped and replaced his tongue with his fingers. His mouth and free hand hit my nipples while the fingers on his other hand brought me to ecstasy. By the time Jasper entered me I was begging him to fuck me. My mate obliged by thrusting straight into my pleading pussy. It didn't take long for me to reach my peak. I was screaming his name as Jasper released his seed deep inside of me.

After a while, Jasper smirked at me and said, "I'm still horny, Bella."

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for?"

We made love all night. Around seven am, we finally got our sated asses out of bed and headed for the shower. "Baby, I need a shirt. I sort of ripped my t-shirt off because I was in such a rush to make love to you. My jeans are okay, though."

"Today's your lucky day." I reached into my bag and pulled out two t-shirts. "You have a choice between 'Playboy Talent Scout' or the 'Elvis Presley I'm a Hunka, Hunka Burning Love' t-shirt. Oh, and this third one is from the manager of the Palms Hotel, it just says, 'Palm's Hotel'."

"Give me Elvis." I tossed Jasper the shirt. "What's that silky black thing in your bag?"

"Oh this?" I pulled out my Bunny costume. "This is the sexy surprise I told you about it."

"Put it on, Bella."

"Now?"

"Now." He ordered as his eyes darkened to the darkest shade of black yet. I threw my outfit on and modeled it for my mate. "Dance for me, Bella."

"Sit in that chair." Jasper obliged immediately. I swayed my hips and started dancing. Damn it! That evil instructor from the exotic dancing class was right, it is easier to dance in those super high stripper platforms. Oh well, I'll have to make-do with my bare feet. I slowly and sinuously made my way to my husband. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled to Jasper making sure I kept my eyes planted on his. He purred as I planted kisses from his ankle up to his chest, then straddled him so that I was facing him.

Jasper kissed me from my lips down to my navel as I arched my back. He slowly unzipped the back of the outfit so that it slid off of me, then brought me back up so that I was face to face with him. He kissed me on my lips again while I plunged down onto his rock hard cock. We kept our eyes open and focused on each other as we kept the rhythm going. I was soon nearing my peak and just as I was about to erupt, my mate exploded straight into my core. When he sunk his teeth into my neck to mark me, I finally came in one of the most powerful orgasms I'd ever had. As soon as he released his teeth, I couldn't help, but bite him. My entire body was still trembling when I finally detached myself and bathed the mark I gave him with my tongue.

"Shh...Bella...I've got you." Jasper carried me to the bed and we held each other as we snuggled underneath the covers. For some reason, each time I marked him, I would start shivering in some sort of an erotic frenzy. "I love you, baby. I love you so much."

"I love you, Jasper."

From a room on another floor, we heard a man speaking. "Holy shit. It's already 8am, we're going to be late for that business meeting."

"Oh my God! What's my fiance going to say! What the hell happened? One moment we were discussing the contract and the next thing you know we're fucking all night."

"You're fucking engaged?"

"Uh, yeah, didn't you notice the ring on my finger?" the woman screeched.

"Shit, I don't notice stuff like that. I just noticed your tits."

"This stays between us! I don't want anyone in the office finding out about us. It was a one night deal! Got it?"

"Hey, it's no skin off of my back. I don't have any problems with no strings attached. Now let's get to that meeting before we both get canned."

"Uh, Jasper, I think you were projecting."

"Trust me, she sounded uptight. It was the best lay of her life."

I rolled my eyes at my mate. We noticed that other couples around the hotel were still...um...otherwise engaged. We, suddenly, heard two familiar voices and stared at each other in shock.

"Oh, Kenny! I just love going to your cousin Brian's weddings with you. We always have the best sex afterwards. I think this was even better than that night nine years ago after we went to Brian's first wedding at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. What was the name of that girl he was married to?"

"You mean, Megan? She was nice, but I don't think they were meant to be together. She ended up marrying his friend Tommy."

"Tommy? Your ex?" Jasper mouthed.

"Wow! I can't picture him settled down at all." I had to break my ties with my human friends from college because I wasn't aging at all. I still kept in touch with them through Facebook, but at this point they thought we lived somewhere in the middle east where Jasper was an investment banker. It killed me to do so, but it was getting more difficult to keep up with the facade. They all had kids and led busy lives and we had less and less in common.

"Oh, Randy, I'm just happy that you and I are soulmates. We'll be together forever. I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Kenny."

"Aww...that was kind of sweet, babe. I'm gonna send them some lust and love so that they can make love again."

"Yeah, that was kind of romantic. You might as well spread the joy around the hotel. Why not let everyone have a great day."

"Okay, I'll do that while we bathe. Come on, baby."

It's time like these when I love the fact that my husband's an empath. He had the ability to make the whole world happy. We lazed around talking after our bath and we finally checked out of our hotel room around ten am.

"Oh my God! Could it be? Look, it's Major Junior!" Kenny and Randy came bounding up to us.

"Hi guys," Jasper greeted them.

"You never age, do you? You still look as young as ever," Randy said.

"It's in the genes."

"Did you get married?" Kenny asked, spotting our wedding rings. "Wait a minute? I remember you from Climax. You were a lesbian the last time I saw you."

"Uh, well, we both decided to go straight," I stated.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Um, I enjoy having Major Junior inside of me."

"I can see your point, a dildo is okay, but nothing can take the place of a good, solid cock," Randy noted.

"Here, here!" I did a fist pump in agreement.

"Hey, did your friend Edward finally come out? I remember him, he was hot."

"Yep, still as gay as ever and loving it. I saw him two nights ago with his boyfriend Mike at the Eagle in Chelsea. You should go check it out—it's a great place to meet guys. Are you in Manhattan for a few more days?" Jasper asked, with a friendly smile.

"Yes, we're leaving on Wednesday. We'll go check out the Eagle tonight. Will you two be there?"

"Uh, no, we're leaving town today."

"Well, that's too bad. Oh! It was so good to see you." Kenny and Randy engulfed us both in hugs.

"I'll be sure to call Edward and Mike and tell them to stop by at the Eagle tonight," Jasper assured them.

The valet brought our Tahoe up and we climbed in for the short ride home. "What the fuck are you doing, Jasper? Why did you offer to set them up with Edward and Mike?"

"Hey, with the amount of eye-fucking they do to you, Bella, I owe those fuckers one. Besides, how often have we worked for free in their shop since we've gotten back?"

"Okay, you have a point. I just want to know how you plan on getting them in there."

"Easy. I'll tell them there's a hot stripper with big tits named Roxanne there. That should work." Jasper grinned. "Hey, how come you bought so many things with the Playboy Bunny logo on it?"

"Oh, that? I didn't feel like running to the Forum Shops so I went to the only store in the hotel that sold clothes—the Playboy Store."

"Is that why Riley was wearing a track suit with a giant bunny on the back of the jacket?"

"Yep, he owns two now—one in black and one in white. He'll blend when he goes mall shopping in New Jersey. That's what he gets for sending me out shopping."

_**Later that evening...**_

"Who the hell is knocking at your door at this time of night?" Emmett asked. "You girls stay here, we'll go answer it."

Jasper, Emmett, Amar, and Sahil went to answer the door. Edward and Mike were standing on the doorstep with angry frowns on their faces.

"You sent us to a gay bar!" Edward scowled angrily. The guys started howling in laughter. "When we tried to leave, that guy Kenny from Boston said that you, Major Junior, said we'd meet them there. We were obligated to hang out with them after that."

"Well, did you have fun?"

"They saw both of our wedding bands and wanted to know how long we'd been married. By the way, Jasper, they said they forgive you for going straight because Bella is pretty for a girl. Oh, and they said to thank you for sending a hottie like Mike their way."

"You were once a homosexual?" Amar asked Jasper, shocked.

Rose explained the whole Kenny and Randy situation to them. They started laughing.

"I can see why they thought you were a homosexual couple." Sahil told Edward and Mike.

"What? Where the hell do you get off saying that?" Mike asked, livid. The rest of us were rolling. Rosie was hanging on to me trying to get a hold of herself, but it wasn't happening.

"There's something decidedly feminine about the two of you."

"Feminine?" Mike and Edward asked simultaneously with aghast expressions on their faces.

"There's nothing feminine about us. We're men, solidly built, straight males!" Mike jutted his chest out as if that would make a difference.

"Yes, but I believe my mate is talking about your demeanor. There's something very girly about you both," Sushmita piped in.

"Damn it! I'm a guy, I have a dick! I..."

"We're not saying you're transvestites, you know. We're just saying that for men, you have a very feminine flavor," I said, supporting Sush's assessment.

"Bella, you used to think I was hot!" Edward cried.

"I was young and my mind was clouded then. Besides, my tastes have become more refined since then. You're still hot, just girly. You always were."

"That's it! We're proving to all of you that we're real men, damn it!" With that, Edward and Mike stormed out of the house. I wonder how they planned on proving their manliness to us.

_**8 am, Tuesday morning...**_

My cell phone was buzzing for the fifth time in a row. Who the fuck is disturbing my moment of ecstasy? I might as well answer it. "Hello?"

"Tell Jasper to get his face out from your pussy! We have a fucking emergency!"

"Alice?"

"Yes, it's Alice and...oh my God...why didn't you answer the fourth time I called...I'll hold the line while you cum."

"Huh? Oh...oh...oh...Jasperrrr!"

"Ugh, better?"

"Yeah, what's up, Alice?"

"First of all, please try to keep your shield up when you're fucking Jasper. I really don't need to see that shit. Now I have to go bleach my brain. Second of all, we need all hands on deck in Connecticut. Edward and Mike went to prove they were manly and got skunked. Idiots! Amanda has to go open her store in a couple of hours and I'm already at work. Vicky just ran to the store to get the de-skunking stuff, but someone has to run Newtons."

"Alright, we're heading there now. Rose took the day off from work and we were going to tour Mystic, Connecticut with our friends anyway."

"Thanks. It might be best if you and Rose ran to Newton's instead of coming to our house with the way Esme is acting. Amanda will have the keys. Maybe Sushmita and Amrita would want to take classes with Laurent while they wait for you. I saw the guys actually helping with the de-skunking. Oh, and stop in at Walmart so I can say goodbye to the guys. I know they're leaving for India tomorrow."

"Okay. I'm gonna get ready now."

"Great! Oh and Bella? Have Jasper teach Mike whatever he was doing to you." Alice hung up the phone with that final request.

"My dear, your ex-wife is asking you to teach her new husband the art of cunnilingus."

"That's so fucked up, Bella. You can't teach that. Tell them to go to some of Char's classes."

An hour later, the eight of us were in Connecticut. I made sure that our men were covered from head to toe in rain gear for the deskunking before driving to Newton's. Rose and I made sure that Sush and Amrita were dressed in exercise gear and ready to go at Laurent's gym then walked the few steps to the store.

"I've never done retail before, this is my first time ever," Rose said.

"I'll work the cash register. You just have to make the products sound like something they can't live without and sell them. It's almost September so there'll be a lot of last minute campers and we'll be selling a lot of cargo carriers for back to school. You'll have to install those because I don't know how."

"Easy, peasy. I can do those in a snap."

The first customers started trickling in and I noticed the men headed straight for a smiling Rose. By noon, she had made over twenty thousand dollars in sales just by smiling and saying the phrase, "I, personally, can't live without it."

See now, I could never be that fake even if it was to make a sale. My problem was, I'd always say something like, "Personally, I'd splurge on the backpack, but I'd go grab the mess kit at Walmart."

"Hey, cutie. Do you think you can help me out with these tents here?" Okay, I'm going to try channeling my inner Rose to make a big sale.

"I'll be right with you." Asshole. I hate creepy, rich men who think they're all that.

"I'm going camping with the guys and I need a tent. There are four of us, but we're all pretty big." Rose was listening and she rolled her eyes when she saw the guy motioning to himself with the word 'big'.

I threw a big, fake smile on my face. "Sir..."

"Call me Rich." It figures, the name fits.

"Rich, you've come to the right place. I'd recommend either the Mountain Hardwear Stronghold Tent or this North Face Two Meter Dome Tent. Both tents have an occupancy of eight to ten people so it should be more than ample space for a big man such as yourself."

"Well what's the price difference?"

"Well, the Mountain Hardwear tent is 3500 dollars whereas the North Face one is 5000 dollars. My sister over there," Rose smiled and waved demurely to the guy whose jaw dropped at the sight of her, "and I swear by the North Face Two Meter Dome Tent. It's slightly more expensive, but it's just that much better. We, personally, can't live without it. We even camped in the wilds of India's Darjeeling area in one of those."

"Well, since you girls seem so knowledgeable, I'll take one of those then. What else will I need?"

"Do you have a cargo carrier for your Escalade? I'm assuming that's yours."

"It is mine, do you like it? I can give you a ride if you like."

I looked over at Rose and she was pretending to gag on her two fingers. "You'll need a cargo carrier to store all of your gear, Rich. Trust me, you don't want to be cramped with four guys and their luggage in your SUV. A big guy like you needs his space. Rose can install a Thule Boxter for you. They're only a thousand dollars and they carry eighteen cubic feet of cargo." Jasper tried to buy one of those, but I told him where he can shove his thousand bucks. We rarely traveled with a lot of luggage so I saw no need for one.

"I'll take one of those, too."

"Rose, Rich here would like a Thule Boxter installed on his vehicle. Would you work on that while I help him figure out what else he needs?"

A few minutes and ten thousand dollars, later. I had Rich squared away with his high tech equipment including a GPS, a high tech sleeping bag, high tech cooking equipment, and even a hunting rifle just in case a bear comes rushing into the campground and he has to take it out. Rosalie helped him load everything up in his newly installed cargo carrier. The guy slipped us both his phone number plus tipped us a hundred bucks each.

Edward and Mike came trudging into the store, thoroughly scrubbed a few minutes later. "Thanks girls, did we sell anything? The guys are at Laurent's gym waiting for you."

"It's all there, I kept inventory for you," I stated.

Rose and I walked to Laurent's gym where we met up with everyone else. Sush and Amrita declared that Zumba is their new favorite class. We toured Mystic, Connecticut then stopped in to see Alice at Walmart on the way back. Our Indian friends went nuts in Walmart. They thought it was the coolest store they'd ever been in. How in heck they were going to get everything home was beyond me. It was bad enough that they had stripper poles and St. Andrew's Crosses to lug home.

Jasper and Emmett asked me and Rose if they could pick up St. Andrew's Crosses for our homes. We told them yes, but they could count on us leaving them strapped to them and not letting them down—ever. They gave up on that idea really quick.

_**The next evening...**_

We were at JFK Airport, seeing Sahil and Amar off. They had their mates in tight embraces. It was the first time they would be apart in four hundred years.

Amar approached Jasper with Sahil by his side. "We are trusting you with our mates. They are our lives. Please do everything to ensure their safety. They should have enough cash to last them along with their credit cards."

"Don't worry, my friend, I'll guard them both like I do Bella," my husband assured.

"I know you will."

"Make sure that psychotic woman isn't allowed access to them," Sahil added.

"Like I said, I don't want her near Bella or Rose anymore either. You don't have to worry about that at all."

Sahil and Amar had only seen Esme at her worst and they simply didn't like her. I didn't mind her, I knew she was going through a difficult time in her life and she wasn't in her right mind at all. Rose insists that I'm being too easy on her.

I hugged Amar and Sahil one last time. Amar kissed the top of my head and whispered that he loved me and to be good. He did the same with Rose. Amar and Sahil had grown to be like brothers to me and Rose. I knew that Jasper and Emmett felt the same way about them. They kissed and hugged their mates one last time and we watched them leave for the gates.

Amrita and Sushmita both clutched their chests. We assured them that it would get better. They wouldn't be seeing their mates until, at least, December. When we got home, Rose and I held them all night because we knew what it was like to miss our mates.

**Jasper's POV**

I felt horrible for them, I knew what it was like to be so far away from my mate, but in my heart I knew that Sush had to be trained. If not, any vampire with an agenda would use her gift for his or her own nefarious purposes. Bella understood this, too. She was trained from the time she was human because of her shield and Vicky, Riley, Irina, and Laurent were hellbent on keeping her as safe as possible because of it.

Eleazar, when he first encountered Bella, was angry that she hadn't been changed yet. Having spent years with the Volturi, he knew how valuable Bella's gift would be to a vampire with less than worthy purposes. He lectured Vicky, Irina, and Laurent for hours. Riley got a reprieve because he had no prior knowledge of our world. Then when I found out Bella was my mate, Eleazar told me to change her immediately. Of course, life took a tragic turn and Bella had to be changed, but still, I knew he was correct in saying that she had to be changed quickly.

Amrita was spending the day with Charlotte. She had the day off so she was looking forward to hanging out with them. It was already the beginning of December, Sush was working with Eleazar at our house while Bella and I were in school. Felix was in school with me, but he was doing way better than I was. I sucked at this course. I kept breaking shit. Now, whenever, I'd volunteer to do something, the professors would actually pretend they didn't see me or call on me whenever they needed someone to pass them tools.

Carlisle enrolled at Columbia with Bella. He went in as a freshman just like she was, only he was majoring in Pre-med. He decided that he enjoyed being a doctor, but wanted to take his time and start from the beginning so he could decide on a specialty this time. At least he seemed to be getting his head together. I knew he had called Esme, but she wasn't speaking to him because of his infidelity. Actually, Esme wasn't speaking to Rose, Bella, Irina, Laurent, Pete, or Eleazar either. As far as she was concerned, they were the enemy. Unfortunately for Esme, none of the six gave a shit whether she spoke to them or not. She could be as immature as she wanted to be, it didn't bother them one bit.

I walked into the house to see Sushmita, Gianna, and Rose working on Eleazar. Sushmita was teaching Gianna the art of threading. Poor Eleazar was acting as a guinea pig.

"Oh, good, Jasper you're home," Eleazar said, in relief. "Look ladies, he brought Felix with him. He hasn't had a turn yet with your fine art. Well, I must be going now. Felix sit with the girls. Jasper a word, please."

"I'll be right back," I said. Felix nodded to me that he'll keep an eye on things. I know it was ridiculous, but I did give Sahil and Amar my word that I'd guard their mates with my life and I meant it.

Eleazar and I went for a walk. "Sushmita has come very far. She is able to stay in control of her soul readings and distinctly filter out one's past and present so it leads to a distinct future. She can also see the path of a group of souls together. For example, if you and I were sitting in front of her, she woul be able to tell us where our souls would lead to in the future. I've taught her to tap into a person's essence, like I did with Demetri of the Volturi and Mike, so that she can envision a more accurate purpose for their soul. She can also see a person's future if it directly relates to their soul. In other words, she's not like Alice. Where Alice can tell you exactly what you're going to be wearing next Tuesday down to your underwear if you've decided on it, Sushmita cannot. What she can see, though, is not decision based so it is accurate. Also, Bella's shield has absolutely no effect on her because, like Peter and Char's gifts, it is inherent and cannot be physically or mentally shielded."

"What the heck is Peter's gift anyway? He keeps saying that he doesn't have one and that he just knows shit."

"Peter is a clairvoyant. He just has to admit it. Clairvoyants have a highly refined third eye or a sixth sense if you will. He can peg things to a 'T'—that's why we never bet against him. By the way, people say Bella is stubborn, but Peter is actually worse. How many years has he refused to admit that he has a gift?"

"You've got a point there. It probably runs in the family. Vicky's told me that Riley can be downright pigheaded when it comes to certain things."

"What we need to do before you return Sushmita to her mate is to have a soul reading session at your house where she tunes into everyone's souls. If she can keep it all together, then she can go home."

"Alright, we'll do it this weekend."

"Sounds good. Anything new on the Carlisle and Esme front?"

"Nope, Carlisle has tried talking to her, but she refuses to see or speak with him."

Eleazar sighed, "Maybe there's someone better out there for the two of them. I don't think Charlotte's aware that by seeing their bond break, it was a groundbreaking discovery for us vampires. We now know that a bond can be broken without manipulation from someone like Chelsea. I'm going home now. I don't know how much more hair can be threaded off of me. My chest is now completely bare and I'm in actual physical pain."

I walked for a bit before going home. When I finally got inside, Felix was being restrained by Charlotte, Rose, Sushmita, and Amrita while Gianna threaded his inner thigh hairs. "Major Whitlock! Help me! These women are viscious."

"Tell me about it, I went through the same thing yesterday."

"Why the hell do I have to get manscaped anyway, Gianna? You're the only one that sees it."

"Um, I hate to tell you this, bub, but we're all staring at your man parts right now and it's looking pretty hairy," Rose informed him. Felix rolled his eyes at her and yelped in pain again.

"Let's call Rex and Riley for tomorrow. They don't mind submitting to us so we can practice." Amrita suggested.

"Where's Bella?" I asked.

"It's Wednesday, she's at her Exotic Dancing class with Rex."

Oh, good, that means she can demonstrate her new moves to me later, in the bedroom. Maybe she'll throw her bunny suit on for me.

I decided to place some calls about the group soul reading. I didn't call Esme because Sushmita and Amrita simply didn't like her. Besides, I had promised their mates that the girls wouldn't have to see her again.

_**Saturday evening...**_

Sushmita was testing out her powers on us, everyone was gathered in our large living room in a circle around her as she read our souls. She had just finished reading most of our past souls and we were still in a daze from what Sush had revealed about our pasts. She was dead on target. She still hadn't read Carlisle, Felix, Gianna, Emmett, and Bella. She had her eyes closed and was deep in concentration. I wanted to send her some confidence, but we had all been forewarned by Eleazar to not use any of our gifts. Edward and Alice were having an especially hard time because Bella had dropped her shield for the evening.

"Carlisle you are a good man, your past was spent working for the greater good of mankind," Sushmita said. "The time has come for you to free your soul. The guilt you feel from giving this life to Esme, Edward, Rose, and Emmett is unfounded. They are at peace with who they are. You never felt guilt from giving Bella this life because you knew in your heart that she was meant to have it. The others are all content with who they are now. You must also free your soul from Esme. Your souls were meant to take separate paths. You must speak to her, ask for forgiveness, and if she does not give it to you—forgive yourself; the guilt you feel from changing her, from taking on children that you were unprepared to take responsibility for, for your infidelity is eating away at your soul. When you forgive yourself, you will finally set your soul free from the prison that you have incarcerated it in. It is critical that you do this for the greater good of all of us in this room."

Carlisle sat stunned.

Sushmita finally opened her eyes before she spoke, "Gianna, you had a happy childhood and were surrounded by loving parents and siblings. As a teenager and young adult, you had several boyfriends—each of whom you didn't feel a true connection with. That changed when you met Felix. He is your soulmate and you finally found true happiness with him."

"Esattamente."

"Felix, as we heard earlier, the rapes, the murders, the tortures you committed while you were in servitude to the Volturi had taken hold of your soul. Gianna helped you to release that by giving you the unconditional love that you enjoyed during your childhood. You were your parents pride and joy and they showered you with love and adulation, and gave you the tools to survive in the world. You were wealthy and well-educated and, most of all, happy until you were changed by an evil creature while you were fighting for your beliefs."

"Exactly."

"I believe that you, Amrita, Amar, Sahil, and I were all changed by the same venomous creature. This evil yellow haired vampire also desired Alice for his own personal gain and Victoria for his sexual gratification."

We all gasped. "Vicky, how old was James?" Carlisle asked.

"He was old, very old—I think he was first changed around 1603 during a famine in Ireland."

"That would be the Ulster Famine of 1602 and 1603. It was as a result of the Nine Years War between several clans in Ireland who fought against English rule," Bella explained.

"History freak," I whispered. I noticed both Carlisle and Eleazar beaming proudly at Bella for her factual knowledge of history.

Sushmita spoke after we all fell silent again. "We were all changed by the man you call James. His soul is no longer on this earth, though. The last person he tried to change was Bella, but her soul was meant for another."

"Wait a minute! James was trying to change Bella?" I asked.

"Yes, I can see the souls of those who are linked with us even though they are now deceased. James wanted Bella for himself. He lusted after her beauty and he was well aware of her great power as a shield. He knew that she could be easily manipulated at the time. What he didn't see was the soul link between you, Emmett, and Bella. Your souls recognized Bella's importance to your lives that's why you both destroyed him. To Jasper, of course, Bella is your eternal soulmate." Sushmita turned to Emmett. "To you, Emmett, Bella is your deceased sister's soul reborn. You witnessed her death as a young boy, did you not?"

Everyone stared at a sobbing Emmett in shock. Bella, Rose, and I were the only ones who knew the story of his sister. "Yes. She was beautiful, I was babysitting her for my mama and I couldn't protect her from that madman."

"Out of everyone in your family, did you not feel an instant connection with Bella from the moment you met her?"

"Yes and we got along from the moment we met. Bella and I used to meet in the woods behind the school just to hang out and talk when we were in high school. We didn't tell anyone in the family because...well...they were all pains in the asses. When we left her behind, my heart was crushed and I spent years looking for her. I never stopped looking for her. If I hadn't found her, I would still be searching for her."

"Of course you didn't. Your soul was already connected to hers and it was unable to rest until you found her."

"It's true, Emmett," Alice said. "If Riley and Victoria hadn't found her first, you would have brought Bella home with you and changed her yourself. It was one of the visions I had when I was...well, when I wasn't myself."

Emmett, who was sitting next to Bella on the other side, pulled her into his arms and simply held her. I don't think he was ever going to let go of her now. Well, he had to because I'm her mate and I really needed to fuck her tonight. I was extra horny. Hmm...she can twirl around her stripper pole naked then I'll fuck her as she's bent over and holding onto the pole. Edward heard my thoughts and started cracking up. "Horn toad," he mouthed.

"Edward, Jasper! Enough!" Eleazar chastised. "Emmett, let Bella go now, you can hold her later. Sushmita concentrate on Bella's essence. I sense you see something there."

Oh yeah, Bella's essence. I'll be enjoying that tonight. I think I'll use those handcuffs that Char gave me, blindfold her, and tongue her pussy for about an hour. I think I'll finger fuck her at the same time. Then, I can lick her juices off of my fingers. Yep, I decided that's exactly what I'm going to do to enjoy her essence.

Alice walked across from her seat and slapped me across the face. "Pervert!"

"Hahaha!" Edward was clutching his stomach and literally rolling on the floor.

"What in God's name is going on?" Eleazar asked.

"Jasper made a decision to...to...to...ugh...oh...God...to...um..."

"He decided to get really kinky with Bella tonight, something about licking her essence off of his fingers," Edward interjected with a smirk.

"What's wrong with that?" Tanya questioned. "If Rex's Stripper Wifey's essence tastes as good as it smells, then I don't see anything wrong with licking it off of his fingers. I'd like to taste her essence."

Bella now had her head buried in her hands. She was clearly mortified that her essence was at the center of attention.

"Well, he doesn't have to do those...those...things to her to get to her essence!" Alice pouted.

"What things?"

"He wants to blindfold her and restrain her with handcuffs."

"Hey, I thought you wanted her to twirl around her stripper pole, then bend her over and fuck her?" Edward asked.

"You two should really build a playroom," Kate recommended.

I grinned, "That's a great idea, Katie."

Bella stood up and looked at me. "No, no, no! We aren't building a playroom! Get that fucking thought right out of your head mister!"

"Well, gee. Can't a guy dream?"

"What is a playroom?" Amrita asked.

"It's a room filled with devices big and small to be used for fulfilling your sexual desires," Charlotte explained.

"Oh, so it's like my bedroom at home with Amar. I wonder if he's installed the St. Andrew's Cross and the mirrors. Will the sex swing I purchased go in there, too?"

"Yes, you should designate a special place for your vibrators, whips, floggers, and plugs too."

Bella and Rose were staring with their mouths agape at Amrita. She had become so open after spending nearly every morning and afternoon with Char at her school...er...shop...while we were in school and Sushmita was training. Amrita was receiving a completely different type of education with Char. Char had even printed out a report card complete with comments for Amar's perusal. Geez. Amar is either gonna kill me or kiss me when I bring his maharani back to him.

Eleazar started belting out instructions. "Okay, we're completely off topic now. Jasper, keep your amorous thoughts of Bella at bay for now. Sushmita, concentrate on Bella's essence. Not that essence, Rex! Bella go and sit directly in front of Sush. Michael, stop ogling Bella and Sushmita's bosoms! Edward, stop snapping shots of the girls' breasts with your iPhone!"

Sushmita held onto Bella's hands and started to concentrate. "Bella, your essence is very pure for the most part. It always has been from the time you were born. You toiled and labored so that your mother wouldn't suffer even though her soul was less than pure. You knew from a young age that although your mother loved you, she didn't desire you. Her soul was too selfish to allow you to live with your father who also had a very pure soul. Your soul endured much pain along the way including the departure of the Cullens, the deaths of your parents, Jasper's betrayal with the first demon, and, of course, the pain that you inflicted upon yourself when you drained the man that tried to hurt you when you were alone."

Everyone's eyes widened upon hearing that last line. This was Bella's darkest secret and it was just exposed and put out there for everyone to hear. Only a very select handful of us knew of what happened—mainly Peter, Rose, and Em.

"Bella, you must purge your soul and release the pain. The man you killed had the darkest of souls. If you had not rid the earth of him, he would have unleashed his violence on another. What if it were Rose or Amrita or me?"

Bella nodded her head with tears in her eyes. "It was when I ran to England. I was looking for a museum and became lost. The sun came out suddenly so I had to dive into a pub so I wouldn't sparkle—that's when it hit me that I hadn't fed in about two months. The thirst was overwhelming. I wanted blood, any kind of blood. I sat in the pub until it was twilight and I left immediately to find a place to hunt. A man followed me out of the pub, he had been watching me the whole time I was in the pub. He grabbed me by my hair and my shirt and tried to pull me into an alley to rape me, but of course he couldn't. He did manage to rip my shirt, though. I had already been fighting a losing battle with my bloodlust and between that and the anger I felt for this asshole, I lost it and I drained him. The guilt was overwhelming. I was so ashamed—so, so ashamed. That's the real reason why I didn't come home for two years." Bella ran straight for me and broke down in my arms.

I know I shouldn't have, but I tuned into everyone's emotions. Not one person, in the room was judging Bella. All I felt was love—love and a lot of concern for Bella's well-being. I held my mate and let her cry it out. She needed to do this.

"I'm sorry, Jasper, but this was necessary for her soul to move on," Sushmita said. I sent her a dose of reassurance so she knew that I understood.

A few minutes later, Bella finally regained her composure and sat firmly between Emmett and me with Rose right behind her with her arms firmly around her sister. Rose had her own cathartic moment about an hour before Bella when she finally told everyone what happened when she was raped and about the gruesome murders she committed afterwards. Again, no one judged her either. She was still a little horrified because Sush had told her that she would have a personal hurdle to climb soon, but if she relied on those she held closest to her heart—she would get through it.

Tonight, every single one of us purged our souls. Bella's was actually minor compared to mine or Felix's. Man! The atrocities he committed were ten times worse than mine, but still I couldn't judge him. I could never judge a man for doing what he had to do in order to survive.

Sushmita took a few deep breaths and continued at Eleazar's urging. "Your soul is the purest of souls, Bella, because you love all those around you and you have the ability to forgive. You understand that holding grudges and resentment chains you to a person's soul and that the only way for you to move on is to forgive that person. You've forgiven all those who've hurt you, but you must learn to forgive yourself as well. Your crime against humanity was committed because someone tried to hurt you. What you fail to understand is that if any of us witnessed the man attempt to rape you, we would have killed him in your place. By destroying him yourself, you've saved the soul of another. You've forgiven him for what he tried to do, now, the time has come for you to forgive yourself."

Bella nodded in acknowledgment and mouthed "thank you" to Sushmita.

"Bella, there is a demon with the blackest of souls from Jasper, Victoria, Peter, and Charlotte's past. She is coming. She is coming in the distant future—five or six years, I think. She is planning. She desires what once was hers and she will attempt to tear apart the bond that each and every one of us has. If you run from her, she will find you. You must not run, you must face her—otherwise, the alternative is death. This demon can and must be overcome for the greater good of humanity. Bella, you must keep your soul free and clear for, ultimately, you will be the one that saves us all."

"Me? Why me?"

"Your soul is the strongest and you are the only one with the will to pull us through. When the demon returns, she will be stronger than she ever was before; but she will not be expecting you. If you can eradicate this soul from our earth, all of our souls will dance into eternity forevermore."

Fuck me. Why Bella? Why does it have to be my mate? Why?

"Alice, do you see anything?" I asked.

"No, not yet. I don't see a thing. She hasn't made any decisions yet."

"Five years—you, me, and Vicky have five years before she comes for us. Sush is right, Bella is our only way out," Peter confirmed.

"Why isn't she coming for me?" Charlotte asked.

"She doesn't like you," Peter stated.

"Oh, well, that's good, I think."

"Every single person in this room has to be trained to fight. We need to train Amar and Sahil by taking turns to visit them in India, too. This is of utmost importance. Felix, Jasper, Vicky, Char, and I will be taking the lead in this. Our powers have to be working at high capacity. Maria's coming back and she'll be stronger than ever."

Sushmita added to Peter's statement, "We must completely be at peace with ourselves, our mates, and with our personal relationships with each other. I think most of you were able to purge your souls tonight, but now we must accept who we are and the paths are souls are meant to take. I've shared with you the personal hurdles you will face. I urge you to take my advice, be open, and rely on each other for support."

Eleazar, then spoke, "Charlotte, I believe it's time you shared what you have learned with your gift."

"My gift has evolved. I can now see who has what type of bond with whom and how strong it is. I can also see bonds tightening and loosening now. I witnessed, firsthand, the strongest of all bonds—the mating bond, weaken, then disappear."

"How can that be? Isn't the mating bond permanent?" Irina asked, worriedly.

"I thought so, too, but then I saw one bond in our family become weaker and weaker, then eventually erase until there was only a black void between the pair. I saw Emmett and Rose's bond becoming almost non-existent until they eventually made amends. When Amanda was first changed, there was only a small thread holding her and Edward together, but eventually it became stronger and stronger. The same was true with Mike and Alice. All of us have very solid bonds with our mates that I doubt will ever disappear."

"Whose bond was it that you saw break, then?" Carlisle questioned. I suspected he knew the answer already.

"Yours and Esme's." Carlisle had a look of relief on his face that I had never seen before. He seemed at peace with the revelation.

"I see. Thank you, Charlotte for informing me of this new development. Does Esme know?"

"No."

"What do I do now?" Carlisle asked Sushmita.

"You free your soul and Esme's and go your separate ways. You will eventually find a path that brings contentment to your soul."

After that, Sush ran into Eleazar's arms. He cuddled her together with Carmen. Char said that there was a strong parental-child bond there. Much like the one Carlisle had for Bella and Rose. Bella joked that she was destined to be the child of divorced parents.

Eleazar nodded to me and sent waves of peace and contentment throughout the room. It was like the end of an era. We each learned something about ourselves and poor Sushmita had it all bottled up inside of herself this entire time. Each one of us released whatever guilt and pain we had locked away within ourselves. Some big, some small, but each one had a significant hold on our souls. Who knew that our souls played such a significant role in our lives?

The session broke up and everyone went home. Sushmita and Amrita were spending the evening with Carmen and Eleazar. After everyone left, Bella and I went upstairs to our bedroom and talked about what was to come.

"I'm scared, Jasper."

"I am too, but we'll get through it, Bella. I promise."

I pulled her into my arms wishing she didn't have to face Maria, but knowing, at the same time, that if she didn't—it would mean doom for all of us. I wasn't stupid enough to bet against Sushmita and Peter and I was sure that, once Maria made a decision, Alice would be able to get a clearer picture of things to come. I was confident that, at least Bella and I would pull through. I had faith in her and faith in each other. The love we had for each other would carry us through whatever adversity we faced. I was sure of it.

**I think Riley was able to clear his head in Las Vegas, don't you? Geez, he sure is high maintenance. So, what did you think of Sush's soul reading? It was pretty heavy and there were a couple of big revelations. It also revealed how dirty Jasper's mind really is, but I digress. Let me know what you thought of the chapter. You have my word that I'll respond. XOXO**


	48. Chapter 48

**What can I say? I'm so overwhelmed by all of your wonderful reviews, faves, and alerts. Thank you! Melons for all of you!**

**On another note, a part of this chapter was inspired by my recent visit to a local nail salon to have my nails done.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Bella's POV**

We had returned from a short trip to India during which we dropped off Amrita and Sushmita to their mates a month ago. Eleazar and Carmen came with us and, while Jasper and I left because we had school, they stayed on to begin our friends' training for when they face Maria. I was sad to see my Indian sisters go, but they missed Amar and Sahil so much. Now that I've been back, though, I had to admit that it was nice having the house to ourselves again.

It was odd. After Sushmita's epic soul reading, I felt so much more at peace with myself. My relationship with Esme still wasn't repaired, but it wasn't for lack of trying on my part. I decided to just let it go because I couldn't worry about things that I had no control over. In time, I was sure that things would get better.

It was Thursday night and Jasper and I had just gotten home from school. I was doing some reading while Jasper worked on plans for a trip to North Carolina with Felix, Rex, Garrett, Emmett, Carlisle, and Peter this weekend. This time they were going to go through a mock army boot camp during which they would live and train as if they were going through basic training over the long weekend. They were doing this because Rex wanted to prove, once and for all, that the modern military was superior to the ones in the past. Carlisle was going along because he wanted to hang with the dudes. Whatever. They were all nuts as far as I was concerned.

I went back to work with my highlighter in hand and started attacking the pages of my textbook. I felt a hand worm it's way into my shirt and unhook my bra. Jasper.

"I really hate when you wear these things," my mate said as he deftly removed my bra and cupped my breasts.

"I'm trying to get some reading done. I have a quiz tomorrow."

"You'll pass." Jasper put my book and highlighter down and started kissing me. I was aroused in an instant and pulled him as close as I could to me, wrapping my legs around him so I could feel his hard cock against my core. I knew I was dripping wet and I was about to rip our clothes off when the doorbell rang.

"Aaarrrgh! Fucking cockblockers!" Jasper growled as he got up to answer the door. Behind it stood, Rex and Garrett with huge smiles on their faces. They were carrying a wooden crate as they made their way into our house.

Rex inhaled a deep breath through his nose. "Ahh...the scent of Stripper Wifey's essence, so mouthwatering."

"Fucker!" Jasper replied.

"How did you like that move she learned in last night's class?"

"It was okay."

"Okay? That's not what you said last night when you tried it out with me, Jasper."

"Alright, alright...I liked it—a lot."

"I did, too," Rex said. "The only thing is, when I had Tanya try it she fell flat on her face with her ass sticking up in some strange angle. It kind of lost it's appeal after that."

"Hey guys." Emmett and Rose walked into our house. They must be done with work.

"Alright, what the hell is everyone doing here and what the fuck is in that crate?" Jasper asked, clearly annoyed that our session was interrupted.

"Check this out." Rex opened up his box and whipped out some strange, round metal pine cone looking thing.

I picked one up and examined it. There was a small ring dangling from the side, but as soon as I touched it, the guys all yelled, "Don't pull the pin!"

Holy shit. It's a grenade. "Aaaagggghhhh! Aaaagggghhhh! Aaaagggghhhh!" I screamed, completely terrified that it was going to explode.

Rosalie was freaking out too. "Aaaagggghhhh! Get that shit out of this house! Aaaagggghhhh!"

"Well, where the fuck are we supposed to store it? Katie, Tanya, and Gianna don't want it in our house either either," Garrett informed us.

"You are not storing grenades in my house! No way! No how!" I yelled. My hand was shaking with the grenade still in it. Jasper took it from me and placed it back in the crate.

"Mine is off limits too, so don't even think about it!" Rosalie screeched.

"What the hell were you two thinking bringing grenades into this house?" Jasper asked. "This shit can blow us up and actually char us to ashes."

"That's the point, fucker," Garrett stated. "Rex and I were talking and when Maria comes, we can just hurl a couple of these and take out a whole mess of newborns at once. Felix said that the Volturi use grenades all the time."

"It's not a bad idea, but I'm sure there's more to it. Besides, Maria ain't coming to this house. It's too populated around here. It won't be at Rose and Em's either. The houses are too close together. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think it'll be at any of our homes. We all live in pretty densely populated areas."

"Where the hell did you get this stuff anyway?"

"I have my ways," Rex smirked.

"Tell him, fucker." Garrett put his arms across his chest angrily.

"Okay, well, I have a friend who has a little side business going out of Camp Lejeune. He owed me a little favor considering that I saved his life twice in Iraq. Anyway, I called him up using my old name and he hooked me up with these and a few more select items. In exchange, I told him I won't report him to the MP's. The rest are all in the bed of Garrett's truck."

"Fucker! Do you know how many fucking federal laws you're breaking here? We have to figure out a way to stash that shit away quick! You're both fucking school teachers, you should know better! Fuck! No wonder kids nowadays are coming out all fucked in the head. Come on! We're going to Pete's."

The bed of Garrett's truck was loaded to the hilt with weapons and ammunition. They had to transfer some of the stuff into the Tahoe for safety. Emmett decided to ride with Jasper in the Tahoe while I rode with Rose in her BMW.

"Oh my God! Are they out of their flipping minds?" I asked my sister.

"Uh, yeah...why they think military weapons are going to work on Maria and her newborns is beyond me. Bella, how come you aren't wearing a bra?"

"That would be because Jasper and I were in the middle of something when we were interrupted by moron one and moron two."

"Ah...well, let's stop and get you a bra. Maybe we'll get manicures too. The guys can handle this shit on their own. Personally, I'm too terrified to be near those things."

"Good idea."

"Nooo! Don't cover Bella's boobies up!" We heard Garrett call out from his truck.

"Take your mind off of my wife's tits, fucker!" Jasper yelled from the Tahoe.

"I was joking, besides, my woman has better tits than yours."

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Hey, assholes, no one has better knockers than my Rosie does!" Emmett joined into the fucked up fray going on between the two vehicles carrying weapons and buffoons.

"Hell, no! You don't know what perfection is until you've seen Tanya's 34 C's."

"C? C? That's tiny. My Rosie wears a D-cup!"

"Yeah! So does Bella!"

"Oh, yeah, well Katie sports a 34 DD. What do you peons say to that?"

"Only that Char's tits are bigger," Rex stated.

"Oh, man, those are mammoth. How does she walk with those melons?" Emmett asked.

"Are you kidding, the little sprite can fight with those jugs in front of her, too. I wonder how she manages," Jasper added.

"How do women fight with tits anyway?" Garrett asked.

We heard several murmurs of "yeah."

"Oh my God! I'm getting the hell out of here." Rosalie sped up, passed the truck and the Tahoe, and left the men in the dust. "Is it possible, in their minute pea-sized little brains, for them to think about something without sex becoming involved for even a short amount of time."

"No, it's like Gianna says, their brains reside in their dicks."

About fifteen minutes later, Rose and I were sitting in a traffic jam in the middle of the Holland Tunnel. There appeared to be some sort of accident up ahead a few miles.

_Tap, tap, tap! _What the fuck? Rose and I both turned to look out of the window on my side to find Alice smiling and holding a Walmart bag.

"Holy shit! Get the hell inside before someone calls the cops on you!" I chastised while opening the door. Alice hopped in.

"What in hell are you doing here?" Rose asked.

"Actually, I had a vision of you running out bra-less on the night when your shield was down so Sushmita could do the soul readings. So, here, I brought you one."

"Thanks, Alice," I said while I slipped my t-shirt off and threw my new bra on. My new comfortable bra. I jiggled around a bit to test it out and it was great. "Oh my God, this is comfy Alice! This is way better than the shit they have at Victoria's Secret. What brand is it and how much do I owe you?"

"It's Fruit of the Loom and you don't owe me anything. It was on clearance for three bucks and with my employee discount it was only two dollars and seventy cents. Aren't they great? I have one on myself."

That's when I noticed Alice's breasts. Alice's breasts? Huh?

"Um, Alice, how did you get boobies?"

"Oh! I'm glad you asked." She reached into her shirt and grabbed something out of her bra. She handed me a clear, teardrop shaped pad filled with water. "They're water push up pads, they're meant to enhance the appearance of your breasts."

"Yeah, but Alice, those look too small to do anything to your breasts," Rose noted.

"Uh-huh, I know. That's why I'm wearing ten on each side."

"You're fucking with me?"

"Why would I do that? I think they look great. I can now fit an A-cup instead of a training bra. If I throw twenty of these pads in on each side, then I'm a B-cup."

"I think it's a great idea Alice. So, did they have anymore of these bras left on clearance?"

"I'll look for you and Rose tomorrow."

"Alright, let's go get our nails done," I suggested. "My treat."

Rose pulled into a strip mall where there was a nail salon lodged in between a Wegmans and a Kohl's. Charlotte was standing in front with her arms crossed over her abundant breasts and tapping her feet. "I can't fucking believe you were going to leave me to fend for myself against those asshats. They kept asking me how it was possible to fight with melons protruding from my chest. By the time I left, Jasper and Rex were running out to the grocery store to purchase melons and Emmett had the nerve to ask if he could borrow one of my bras."

"Sorry Char, we didn't realize they were going to take it this far."

"That's okay. Pete told me where you'd be. Alice! You have titties!" Char smiled a huge smile, reached out, then squeezed Alice's boobs. A fountain of water shot out from Alice's now deflated bosom and we were all sprayed with water. "Or not."

Rose licked her lips. "There's something other than water filling those pads. I can taste it. Blech. Let's go get new shirts at Kohl's."

"Yeah, but I don't get my employee discount there," Alice complained.

"Live a little Alice, my treat since I'm the one that got you all soaked. Why the hell would you want to throw water balloons in your bra anyway? You should be proud of whatever assets God gave you."

"You're right, Char. Thanks."

The four of us went shopping at Kohl's. We were all blown away by how budget conscious Alice had become. I actually got chastised by her for buying a shirt at full price. She kept telling me that stores generally markup their merchandise at an average of fifty to eighty percent so, by paying full price, I would be making the store that much more money; and that I was being extremely irresponsible with Jasper's money. Great, now I'm suffering from buyer's remorse. Wait a minute!

A thought came to my mind, then. "How come you got to spend his cash when you were married to him, but I can't?"

"I wasn't in my right mind at the time, Bella. I won't let you go down the same path."

"Oh, damn it, I'll be right back!" I walked back into Kohl's and returned my 34 dollar shirt and came out with a four dollar tank top that I found on clearance.

"That's better, Bella. It shows your cleavage off nicely," Alice said, confidently. That's it, I'm going on a mother fucking shopping spree if it kills me. It should at least make Jasper happy.

We put on our new shirts and went into the nail salon to get our nails done. "Gee, can the lady doing my nails stop yapping on her fucking cell phone for ten seconds?" I said at vampire speed to my sisters. The lady was chatting to her friend in her native language and I had no idea what she was saying. I think she was talking about me because she kept looking up at me.

The woman paused her conversation for a second and asked in a thick accent, "Where you from?"

"Um, Manhattan."

"No what country you from? You talk different language!"

"Uh...I'm American," I replied.

"We all US Citizen. I American, too. Where you from?"

"Originally from Turkmenistan," Alice answered quickly.

"So, what language you talk?"

"That would be Turkmen," Alice stated.

The lady went back to talking to her friend. I think she just called all of us turkeys because I could swear I heard her gobble.

"That was fast thinking Alice," I said, again using Vampire speed.

The lady put down her phone and yelled, "You rude. I no understand what you say. You talk American!"

Now, where the fuck does she get off saying I'm rude? She's the one gabbing away on the phone in a foreign language instead of giving me, her customer, her undivided attention.

"You like rounoskway?"

"Excuse me?"

"Rounoskway?"

"Pardon me?"

She drew a picture on paper. "ROUN OH SKWAY NAY?"

Oh, round or square shaped nails. "I'll take square."

"Okay skway. You nee take American lessow. I know goo place. Cheap. My fren teach American talk."

"Huh?"

"American lessow. You nee American lessow—you no talk goo American. You take lessow over there, you talk American goo like me."

"Just say, thank you, Bella," Rose urged at vampire speed.

"Uh...thank you."

"You nee American lessow too! It rude speak turkey language when I no understand!" The lady said to a stunned Rose, then turned to me. "You goo girl. All feeneesh. You way nay dhwhy."

"Pardon?"

The woman shoved my hand in front of a small fan, "Nay dhwhy!"

"Oh, you want me to wait for my nails to dry. Got it."

"Goo girl! You lurn American fast. NEXT!"

We left the nail salon a few minutes later. I had a card in my pocket that read, "Lurn Speak American Skool".

"How the hell does a school like that stay in business? They can't even use proper grammar or spelling on the card," I noted. "I mean, come on, American isn't even a language."

We went back to Char's house and headed inside. The guys had come to a conclusion. "We decided that you chicks can't fight as well as us guys cause of your tits," Garrett stated with conviction.

"Come again?" Charlotte asked looking pissed off.

"You can't fight cause your titties get in the way," he repeated.

Rex spoke then, "You see, our theory is that you can't fight because your tits get in the way and you can't think during battle because you keep thinking about your tits."

"That's it!" Alice raged. "We're coming along on your fucking boot camp. We all are!"

"Well, now, that's not really fair. You don't really have titties, Ali," Jasper commented.

I slapped my insensitive mate on the back of his head. "Ouch, babe!"

"That was mean, Bella, he was only telling the truth. Alice has no titties to get in the way!"

It was Emmett's turn to get a slap on the back of his head by Rose this time.

"Fuck, Rosie!"

"Listen, we scientifically tested out your theory with Char's bras and cantaloupes and you just can't fight with tits in the way!" Rex insisted.

"Did you try it too?" Char asked Peter. He grinned sheepishly at Char instead of answering her question.

Char looked on the coffee table where her bras were lying—stretched out and shredded. "You ruined my bras! I can only buy them at Lady Grace because they don't have my size elsewhere and they usually have to be special ordered!"

"Jasper Whitlock! You're buying twenty new bras for Char!" I demanded. "Sign us up for the boot camp! All of us! Prepare to meet your maker!"

**Jasper's POV**

We were all suffering—each and everyone of us. All of the women were indignant at the results of our scientific analysis. When Katie heard about it, she drove over to mine, Emmett, and Pete's houses and shocked the shit out of each of us. Our wives didn't even offer us comfort afterwards—instead, they all went to stay with Katie; and Garrett, Rex, and Felix came to stay with me.

"Garrett, your wife is evil," Felix stated. "I wasn't even involved in this and now I'm suffering too. Gianna called me a bastard in Italian."

"Oh is that what she called you? It sounded really hot. It made my dick hard. I like it when your woman gets angry. She starts swearing at you in Italian." _Ding dong. _"Who's at your door man?"

"Dunno. I'll go see." I opened the door to find Edward, Mike, Riley, and Laurent carrying luggage.

"Hold the fucking door!" Peter yelled from the bottom of the front steps. Emmett was with him. They also had bags with them.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"What the fuck do you think? Our women booted us all out," Riley stated. "All I said was that there were physiological differences between men and women and Vicky went all bullshit on me and told me to get the fuck out until after the boot camp. I don't even want to go to this thing. Because of you fuckers, I'm not getting any sex until Monday at the earliest—that's five days!"

We all groaned at hearing that. Five days, no sex? I don't know if I can make it that long.

"Why are you two here? Your wives are staying with Katie, aren't they?"

"Apparently, we're not welcome in our own homes," Pete stated.

"Yeah, Rose told me to go live in a cave since I'm acting like a caveman," Em piped in.

"Oh, yeah? Alice had both mine and Edward's bags packed when we got home and she told us she'd see us in North Carolina. I asked her for what and she said army training. We didn't understand until Riley told us what happened."

"Why are you here, Laurent?"

"Oh, they tried to stay at my place first, then Irina came home from work fuming mad after receiving a phone call from Kate and declared our apartment a no male zone. Whose fucking idea was it to throw melons into Char's bras anyway?"

"That would be Emmett's idea. He mentioned that Char's tits were roughly the same size as cantaloupes so he suggested we pick a few up, throw them in her bras, and we try to fight with them on. It was really hard," I explained. "The melons really kept getting in the way."

Laurent ran his hand down his face. "You fucking idiots! Of course they're gonna be angry! Don't you realize that you insulted all of them?"

"How the hell could the result of our scientific test be considered an insult?" Garrett asked.

"Fucker! If the women walked around with strap-ons on and concluded that we couldn't fight because we had dicks, what would you think?"

"Strap ons? Hell, that shit would turn me on. Do you think they'd wear them for us?"

"He's hopeless, forget it," Riley told Laurent. "Now tell me about this boot camp we're being forced to report to."

"Oh, it's a three night, four day intensive boot camp that simulates what they do in real army boot camps. We get real fatigues that we get to keep, weapons training, combat training, and, of course, the physical conditioning that goes along with it. On the final day, they simulate a combat situation during which they pit two teams against each other. I believe we use paint ball guns instead of real weapons. Also, they have smoke grenades instead of real ones," Rex explained since he was the one that found the camp.

Emmett started laughing. "You know something guys? The women think that they can beat us in the combat simulation, I doubt they can win. You should have seen Bella and Rose scream at the sight of the grenades. Bella was actually shaking."

"Yeah, so were Tanya, Kate, and Gianna." Rex grinned maliciously. "There's no way those women can win, on top of that they can't use any of their powers and they have to keep everything at human strength and speed because there will be humans there."

"You know what else? They have to learn to fire guns, we have one up on them already," I said.

We all grinned and started chuckling at the predicament our women had gotten themselves into. By the time this boot camp ends, they'll be begging for our forgiveness for throwing us out.

"Guys, I'd worry about Bella. She's from Forks and her dad was the Chief of Police. She can probably fire a gun or a rifle with the best of them."

"Bella?" Riley and I both started howling.

"Don't worry, I know for a fact that she hates hunting. She used to say, 'Ew! No way am I killing a cute deer!' to Dad whenever he wanted to take us hunting. Vicky was the same way. I always went with Dad alone. Don't worry about Bella, she definitely can't fire a gun."

_**5 a.m., Sunday Morning**_

_**Rambo's Boot Camp, Somewhere in North Carolina**_

"Rise and shine recruits! Last day! Come on! Everyone up and at 'em!" The humans all groaned and we vampires fake groaned at being awakened at such an early hour. I could hear the women in the other building doing the same thing. We were being trained separately from them so I had no idea what was going on with them. We were all breezing straight through this, but I had to admit that I did learn some new combat strategies. Today, after breakfast—ick, and calisthenics we would be putting everything we learned all together and facing the women. Usually they combine the men and women and split them up into two even groups since not too many women sign up for the camp, but this time they had an even number of men and women so they decided to do things differently. They said it was actually their biggest group ever. Yep, it was definitely their biggest group, we vampires outnumbered the humans three to one and that included the drill instructors.

Three hours later, we were all standing at attention, listening to the instructors. It was the first time since our arrival on Friday that we actually saw our mates and I could feel the lust being emitted by everyone. The drill sergeant for our team kept winking at Tanya. Rex looked like he was about to rip him apart. "Stay calm, Sergeant Major," I whispered at vampire speed and sent him some calm. He nodded at me in acknowledgment.

We were given our instructions and sent on our way. Our mission was to take control of the territory we were on. The women would be attempting to do the same. During the process, we could take hostages, wound, or shoot to kill. We could use any of the strategies we learned to achieve our goal. We were each issued a paint ball rifle and a sidearm, both of which shot blue paint pellets. The women would be using pink. The key was to work as a team. Pete and I high-fived each other because it would be a piece of cake, this is exactly the kind of shit we did while we were with Maria and we were high ranking, unlike Char and Vicky, who were the best bet for the women. The team with the most members standing would be declared the winners.

We were driven to our starting points on opposite ends of the camp and given five minutes to strategize before we could start. There were four human women on the other team along with our wives. We agreed to take them as hostages first, then work strategically to take out our women. We were pretty sure that the women would take the three human men on our team as hostages first, too. We dazzled the human men to go along with our plan. We would kidnap the four women together as a group, which served two purposes: it would allow us to deplete their numbers by four and serve the three human men up on a platter for the women so we could start the real vampire game. Afterwards, our wives would be weeping and begging us for mercy. I chuckled at the thought of that. I'll go easy on Bella, though—she had no idea whatsoever about the severity of what she was getting herself into.

We approached a heavily forested area on high alert and our rifles at the ready. Our sidearms were in their holsters ready to go as well. Garrett put his fingers to his lips, the four human women were about to cut through our area. They, too, had their rifles ready to fire. Our entire group quietly surrounded the women who immediately put their hands up. We were in the process of cuffing them when a battery of shots were fired. Pfft! Fucking careless idiots firing out into the open like that.

"Fuck! I'm hit!" Rex cried.

"So am I!" Felix yelled.

That's when I noticed that I had been hit square in the chest. Damn it! Garrett, Riley, and Mike were also down. This left the three human men, Emmett, Peter, Laurent, Carlisle, and Edward. They managed to take out most of the best shooters on our team in one fell swoop.

The remaining guys continued on their mission and were moving the four women into custody. They were about a hundred yards from where we fell. Emmett, Peter, and Laurent were providing back up with their rifles in position when they were ambushed by Vicky, Char, Alice, Rose, Irina, and Tanya. They started engaging in hand to hand combat when, one by one, our men started to fall beginning with Peter, then Edward, the three human men, Laurent, Carlisle, and finally Emmett. In a matter of seconds the rest of our men were either shot in the head or their back by pink sniper bullets. What the fuck? This wasn't even a contest. This may actually be my greatest strategic fuck up ever. The women were all smiling smugly at us.

Gianna and Amanda had crawled out from under two separate bushes with their rifles and big smiles on their faces. From their positions, they had taken out Garrett, the three human men, Edward, Carlisle, Laurent and Riley.

Bella jumped down from a tree a minute later. She looked proud of herself. "Well, that was easy."

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Felix asked, completely bewildered.

"Are you kidding? Come on, I'm from Forks. My Daddy was a cop and he loved to hunt. He took me hunting with him from the time I was three years old and on the weekends during the summers when I visited him. I also practiced at the firing range in the basement of the Forks Police Department at least once a week under my Daddy's orders—it was one of his rules. He got me a gun permit and a pistol for my eighteenth birthday. He wanted to make sure I'd always stay safe."

"I didn't know this," Riley stated. Neither did I. Shit! Charlie Swan sounds cool, I wish I could have met him. A gun permit and a pistol as a birthday present? That shit's awesome.

"What the fuck did I tell you guys? I told you not to underestimate Bella! Charlie Swan was one of the best customers at Newton's Olympic Outfitters! He was the Chief of Police. There was no way in hell he wasn't going to teach his kid how to fire a gun! Motherfucker!" Mike yelled. "She singlehandedly took out Jasper, Felix, Rex, Peter, Emmett, and me!"

The drill instructors showed up and declared the women winners. The boot camp weekend officially ended and we all headed to the airport for our flight home. We were all glum because our mates had proven us wrong. They could definitely fight. Tits and all.

"What I want to know is, who came up with the strategy. That was sheer genius!" Garrett stated.

"That was all Bella," Irina informed us with a look of pride. Shit. I was proud of my mate too.

"How the heck did you come up with the plan to take out the best shooters first?"

Bella smiled, "The Patriot."

"Huh?"

"You know in the movie, 'The Patriot', when Mel Gibson goes to get his son back from the British? He told his younger sons to take out the officers first and work their way down. I used that theory and took out the best shooters first."

"I noticed you took me out first, Stripper Wifey." Rex grinned.

"Uh, no, I actually took Felix out first. He's the best shooter, after all. You were just the first one to notice you were shot." Bella started giggling, so did the other women. We were never going to live this shit down.

"Ahem! Some of you owe us an apology!" Charlotte ordered.

We all apologized. It was pretty stupid and insensitive of us to underestimate the women because of their tits. I don't know what we were thinking.

"I'm sorry, we were being ridiculous. We weren't using our brains," I stated with remorse.

"You must stop thinking with your penises. You have a second, actual brain in your head," Gianna said.

I think she's right, maybe we do think with our dicks.

A few hours later, the plane touched down and we all went our separate ways. As soon as we entered our house, I had Bella naked and in bed. I hadn't been inside of her since Wednesday and I was cockblocked on Thursday so it had been six days.

"Jasper?"

"Hmm?"

"Get that little bondage kit that Char gave us. Why don't you try it out on me?"

Thank you, God! My confidence was pretty low right now and I think my mate knew exactly what I needed to bring me back. "I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too. I missed you."

"Me too, baby." Fuck the bondage kit. All I needed was my mate in my arms and her love to get my confidence back. I made love to her instead—over and over again, bathing in her happy emotions and just letting myself become one with her. Yep, I'm a lucky dude.

_**Three months later...**_

**Carlisle's POV**

"Bella, can you look over my English paper and tell me what you think?"

"Sure, Daddy. Give it here."

We were sitting at her house studying for finals. Pre-med majors and English majors both had to take a core set of classes. I was having trouble in my second semester freshman English class while Bella was dying in her math class. Fortunately, it was the last math class she'd have to take while at Columbia. I knew Vicky was helping her, but she was still having problems.

"All I need is a 'D'," Bella kept saying.

"Okay, I think you're a bit long winded. This is a basic English class. The professor is looking for clarity and succinctness. They want to make sure you can get your point across without rambling. You should have four to five pages typed at the most, eighty-six is a bit much."

"I wanted to make sure that he understood that I understood."

"Okay, let me try to explain this to you a different way. Your task is to explain the causes of the expansion of fast food restaurants and the effects of their popularity on society. So, this is a cause and effect essay. What you've gone and done is written a detailed history of each fast food restaurant and how they rank in popularity, then you end it without explaining the effects of the popularity on society. What you need to do is think of fast food restaurants collectively rather than individually. Don't go into too much detail. We don't need to hear about why the cheeseburger is more popular than the hamburger at each restaurant."

"Alright, I'm going to restart it now," I sighed.

At around ten am, the two of us headed to the university so we could turn in our essays and take the last of our finals. All I knew was that I was looking forward to summer vacation. I thought college would be simple, but it turned out to be more challenging than I thought.

Bella and I were done by four and we decided to celebrate with some of our college friends at a dive bar called the 1020. After a few hours there, we decided to unwind and go listen to some live music. We hopped on the subway and made our way to Joe's Pub in the East Village.

My life had changed considerably since I left Esme. Things like taking the subway, fraternizing with school friends, listening to music became natural and normal to me. At least once a week, I'd go do something with my brothers, be it playing pool or just hanging out at one of their homes and having drinks—we made it a point to at least spend time together.

I was finally able to talk to Esme in March. I went over to her house and tried to explain that our mating bond was broken. That didn't go over too well. I recall the heated discussion, clearly, as if it happened only yesterday.

"Esme, we need to talk," I stated as I walked into the house. I knew no one else was home because they were all going away for the weekend.

"I have nothing to say to you...you...you...infidel."

"I know what I did was wrong and I can assure you that I have not cheated on you since that night. I promise you that I won't, at least, while we're still married."

"What do you mean by WHILE we're still married, Carlisle?"

"I think you should sit. I need to tell you what Charlotte discovered about our bond." So, I told her. I told my wife about how our bond weakened slowly, then fast-tracked itself to a clean break until there was nothing left to tie us together. Esme was stunned just like I had been when I first heard about it.

She denied that it was true. "No, I refuse to believe it. A mating thread can never break!"

"Esme, you have to accept it. We just weren't meant to be."

"Carlisle! What are you saying? What are you trying to tell me? Are you leaving me permanently? Carlisle! Answer me!" Esme was hysterical.

"Yes, I think it would be the best solution."

"What about our children? We have children together! They need their parents together!"

"No, Esme—they're grown adults. They've proven themselves to be much more mature than you or me. They don't need parents."

"No, children need their mother and father forever. How else are we going to prevent them from making mistakes?"

Esme, mistakes are healthy. You can learn a lot from them."

"What will everyone think? I'll be an estranged wife. A scorned woman who has been abandoned along with her children by her cheating husband. I won't be able to show my face in society again!"

"Esme, you won't be an estranged wife. I'd like to file for a divorce."

Her face took on a new expression, showcasing agony, rage, and desperation. "D...d...divorce?"

"Divorce," I said, calmly. "I am at fault here. I am the one that cheated—not you, but I cannot live a lie any longer. Esme, there's nothing left between us. We shared some wonderful experiences together in our one hundred years, but at the same time neither of us were able to fully grow to be the people we were meant to be. I didn't want children, you still do. I'm happy to let them go and be their brother rather than their father. You can't seem to do that. That's okay, though, you and I are two different people. You like to keep a clean, beautiful, organized and decorated house. My apartment is a pig sty. I like being able to leave my clothes strewn all over the floor or leave a stack of papers piled high on the dining table. We're just too different, Esme. We have different wants—different needs."

"Please, Carlisle. Don't do this. Don't leave me."

"I'm sorry, Esme."

"No...no...no..." Esme sobbed. "Please...no...not a divorce...please...I'll do anything...please...Carlisle! This can't happen! Our children, Carlisle, think of the children—what will become of them?"

"They're doing fine by themselves, Esme. They're all married anyway."

"Still, they need their parents."

"No, Esme, I can't find it in my heart to be their father. I can be their brother, their equal, and offer them knowledge and guidance if they need it, but I can no longer be their father."

"It's Rose and Bella, isn't it? They put this idea of divorce in your head, didn't they? Do their husbands know Carlisle? Do they know that you're fucking their wives?"

"How dare you insult my girls that way. It wasn't that long ago that you thought of them as your daughters, too. How fucking dare you even think that either they or I would be capable of such an act." I was boiling. The bitch had just crossed the line.

"Well, Carlisle, the fact is that you're unusually close to them—especially to Bella. I heard you're even going to school with her. You can't seem to let her out of your sight can you. Are you spending as much time with her as you can while my son is working hard in school? Is that what you're doing?"

"Esme, stop! Right now, before you say something you regret. I know in your heart, you don't feel that way about Bella or Rose."

"Carlisle, I gave you a hundred years and you're just throwing it all away. Please...please...let's give it another chance...this can't happen...I can't...oh God...oh God...no...please, no...OH GOD!"

We were each sitting on the floor on opposite ends of the living room with our backs against the wall.

"You cheated on me, Carlisle. You cheated on me! How could you? You bastard! You fucking bastard! I hate you! I hate you! Have you thought about what that did to me? How it made me feel? I felt so...so...violated. You had someone else's tongue in your mouth. You had someone else's hand on your penis. Not mine. Someone else's. That one act cheapened every single sexual experience we've ever had together!"

"Esme, what we shared together when we were intimate, I'll always remember. We had some wonderful times together. I regretted cheating on you as soon as I realized what had happened. I live with the guilt of the hurt that I caused everyday. Esme, I still love you, it's just that...well...it's a different kind of love now."

"It's me, isn't it? It's me. I drove you away, didn't I?"

"No, Esme, it wasn't just you. It was a combination of things. It was mostly my fault. I was living a lie. I was pretending to be something I'm not. I wasn't ready to be a husband or a father. I was tired of being a doctor, too. I wanted to explore new career options, but it didn't happen."

Esme was bawling uncontrollably. I got up from my side of the living room and went to comfort her. One thing led to another and we ended up having sex right there on the living room floor. I knew that our bond had broken when I had no desire whatsoever to mark her after my release. She didn't mark me either.

"Is she as good as I am?" Esme asked.

"Who?"

"Bella."

"Fuck you, Esme!" I left after saying that, I haven't heard from her since. It's been over two months. We were still married and, honestly, I was about ready to fast track a divorce through Jenks.

"Bella, can we stop in at the Walgreens at Astor Place before going to Joe's Pub? I want to grab a new iTunes card."

"Sure, let's go." Bella followed me inside. I purchased two one hundred dollar iTunes cards and gave one to my daughter. "You didn't have to do that. Thank you, though."

"Well, I figured I was picking one up for myself anyway. Hey, why don't we text Jasper and see if he wants to meet us at Joe's Pub?" I suggested.

"Good idea. I'll do it." Bella quickly sent a text message over to her husband. They had such a wonderful relationship now that they've worked out the issues plaguing their marriage in the beginning. Esme and I skirted over all of our issues or I would just bend to her issues. There was no give and take in our marriage—it was either her way or my way with no room for compromise by either of us.

We walked into Joe's Pub and managed to find two open seats at the bar. The place was a madhouse—there were wall to wall people here to listen to the band. I ordered whiskey for the both of us and we tuned into the music on stage.

A few minutes later, Bella gasped. I looked in the direction where my daughter's eyes were transfixed and gulped. It was Esme, she was sitting in a booth in the arms of a man that I knew and they were locked at the lips, oblivious to those around them.

"I think we should go," I suggested. Bella nodded in agreement. I took her hand and led her quickly out of the establishment. We walked for a bit and came to a secluded area when, out of nowhere, I was attacked. Bella screamed and moved quickly to assist me, but the vampire who had me in a chokehold was extremely powerful.

"Let go of my father—you bastard!" Bella cried.

"Whore!" The vampire yelled and tossed my daughter easily into the wall of a building.

"How dare you address my daughter that way, you don't even know her, Alistair!" I managed to get out of the chokehold and shoved him down onto the pavement.

"Leave him alone!" Esme came running to assist. She grabbed hold of my neck and I lost my balance.

Bella, who had recovered, shoved Esme off of me and slapped her across the face, "Bitch!" The two women were fighting and Bella was easily winning. Esme had no real fighting skills, neither did I for that matter.

Alistair, angered at the sight of Esme being attacked, shoved me off of him and rammed my head into the pavement. I was momentarily incapacitated. He quickly punched Bella in the face. He, then, grabbed her neck with one hand and squeezed. "You dare lay your filthy hands on my mate! You—a cheap piece of trash who slept with my mate's husband!"

"Bellaaaa!" I screamed, desperately, still unable to move. My scream got her attention because she was able to get out of Alistair's hold and throw her shield up around herself and me. The momentum of the shield sent Alistair flying and slammed him onto the pavement. He got up and ran for Bella, but before he could get to her, help arrived. With a whoosh, Jasper and Felix ran towards Alistair and had him ripped apart in five pieces in seconds. Emmett grabbed Bella out of harm's way and helped me up.

"Sis!" Rosalie pulled up in Emmett's brand new Hummer from out of nowhere. Upon seeing her sister and me encased in her shield, my other daughter punched Esme in the jaw. "What did you do to her? What the fuck did you do to her, you evil bitch?"

"Major! People are coming," Felix yelled. We climbed inside of the Hummer bringing Alistair's parts and shoving Esme roughly inside. She looked terrified and she should be. I don't know what lies she told Alistair, but now she had crossed a line from which I doubt she could ever recover. I know one thing, I'm filing for divorce immediately and she'll have no rights to the Cullen name—ever!

Jasper had Bella in his arms and was trying to comfort her as best as possible. I was helped inside by Emmett. My cell phone buzzed, it was Alice. "Go to the Denali's house, if you attempt to drive to New Jersey you'll run into police trouble. They're doing random traffic stops as soon as you exit the George Washington Bridge."

Rosalie made a u-turn and high tailed it to Connecticut. We were greeted by a sea of worried faces. As soon as the Hummer came to a stop, a feral looking Victoria who had her fingers in her mouth, yanked Esme out and shoved her fingers deep inside her master's bite. Esme shrieked in agony. I didn't give a fuck. Vicky dragged her by her bite into the Denali home. Meanwhile, Alistair's torso was carried haphazardly into the house by Felix.

Vicky came running outside. "Major, we're awaiting your orders."

"What happened?" Jasper asked me and Bella. We told him our end of the story—how we saw the two making out at Joe's Pub, how we left without disturbing them, and how we were subsequently attacked.

"He called me a whore and accused me of sleeping with Daddy," Bella stated.

Jasper's face took on a savage expression. "Riley, Kate I need your gifts. Bella, Carlisle come with me."

"Please, son, please spare him. Please don't hurt him, he's my mate," Esme begged upon seeing Jasper.

"I don't think you're in any position to beg, Esme," Jasper scowled then turned to Alistair. "Who are you and what business do you have with my mate and her father?"

Alistair stayed silent. He stared into Jasper's eyes. He always was a stubborn fucker. Felix slapped him across the face. "Answer him!"

Alistair didn't speak. I decided to speak for him. "His name is Alistair. I've known him for roughly three hundred years. He's a nomad from England. Apparently, he's now Esme's mate."

"Is that so?" Jasper chuckled maliciously. Felix and Victoria soon joined in. "Why did you attack my mate and Carlisle?"

The question was, once again, met by silence. Felix pulled Esme up, roughly, and twisted her hand off from her arm.

"Leave my mate alone! She did nothing to them!" Alistair cried.

"Why did you attack Bella and Carlisle?" Jasper repeated.

Again, no answer. Esme's other hand and her two feet were easily twisted off by Felix. "Unhand my mate! You dare place your hands on another man's mate! I will do to you all that you do to my mate! It is an unwritten vampire law!"

"Ahem! I'd like to say that this man threw me into a wall, punched me in the face, and tried to strangle me. I'm pretty sure he was trying to rip my head off and he would have succeeded if I hadn't put my shield up. Does that mean you can do all those things to him too, my mate?" Bella smiled prettily at Jasper.

Jasper grinned at her, "I believe it does. He seems like a pretty knowledgeable fellow and he seems to know all about unwritten vampire laws. Felix, you were with the Volturi, what do you know of this unwritten vampire law?"

"Well, Major, I haven't exactly heard about that law, but this guy sounds pretty intelligent. Let's test his theory out first. I, mean, he did attack your mate first so that means you've got dibs."

"Good, uh, Katie, is there a wall I can throw him into?"

"Why don't I just shock him and you can call it even, I'm kind of partial to my walls."

"That sounds fair. Go ahead."

Katie stalked up to Alistair and started shocking him. He started screeching in pain and his torso was lying prone on the floor.

"Stop it! Stop it! Please!" Esme screamed. "He's my mate! Please don't hurt my mate!"

Jasper motioned for Kate to stop, then approached Esme. "What gave your mate the right to hurt my mate?"

Esme sealed her mouth shut. "Tell him, pet," Victoria growled.

"I told my mate everything she's done to me. She's sleeping with Carlisle. You have no idea how it felt to be betrayed by my own daughter and my husband like that."

"She's not lying. She actually believes Bella and Carlisle are having sex," Riley stated. "Esme, you know that I can tell when people are being deceptive, right?"

She nodded at Riley who turned to his sister and asked, "Bella, are you sleeping with Carlisle?"

"Ew, no. Incest isn't my thing," Bella replied.

"Carlisle, are you having sex with Bella?"

"Absolutely not. She's my daughter." I answered unequivocally.

"Esme, neither of them are lying. There's not a hint of deception from either of them. My personal opinion is that you made yourself believe that Carlisle and Bella were having sex because you couldn't deal with the fact that neither of them needed you anymore. You felt betrayed," Riley stated. "I'd like to know what you told Alistair about Carlisle and Bella. Why would he feel that he needed to attack Carlisle and Bella?"

"I...I..." Esme was interrupted by Alistair.

"I came to visit Carlisle a month and a half ago. I tracked him from New Hampshire all the way to Connecticut. That's when I found Esme alone. She told me that Carlisle had cheated on her with their daughter, Bella, and moved out. I was outraged that my friend could do such a thing to his wife. I moved to comfort her and that's when I felt the pull and I knew that Esme was my mate. I vowed, then, to destroy them both for causing my mate such pain. That's why I attacked them. If it helps, I had no idea that Bella was mated. I've never raised my hand to a woman in my life, I'm just very protective of my mate. I apologize."

"Why didn't you tell him I was mated, Esme? Do you hate me that much? Did you want him to hurt me?"

"I...I don't know...I was enraged...I just want to know why? Why don't you want me as a mother, Bella?"

"Esme, you can't have everything go your way all of the time. Life doesn't work that way. I just don't feel close to you at all. I thought I did, in the beginning, but I think I might have deluded myself into thinking you were like a mother when I was in high school. You should know that when I was dating Edward all those years ago, I was cared for and coddled for the first time in my life by a mother figure. For that, I thank you. Now, though, things have changed—I can take care of myself. It's not that I don't need a mother, it's just that I need to be allowed to make decisions on my own. You need to accept that. I'm happy that you found your mate, though. Maybe this time, you'll be able to find some balance and stability in your life. Good luck." Bella quietly walked outside after that.

Esme burst out into tears. "I'm so sorry. I made a mess of things, didn't I? I need help...Riley...if you even want to counsel me, still."

"Of course, I'll counsel you," Riley replied and pulled Esme into a hug and let her cry. "Jasper, can I speak to you in private for a minute."

The two of them went outside to talk. When they returned, Jasper spoke directly to Alistair. "I'm going to have Felix and Victoria put you back together for Esme's sake. I need a promise from you that you won't approach my mate ever again. If I detect your scent within a hundred yards of her, I won't hesitate to turn you into ash. Esme, I'm sorry, but the same goes for you. I'm cutting off any and all contact between you and Bella. You crossed the line when you told vicious lies about her, I don't give a fuck if you deluded yourself into thinking she was having sex with Carlisle. You have issues that you need to deal with and Riley's agreed to help you. I'm only doing this because you've been like a mother to me for almost eighty years and I appreciate that. My mate's safety comes first, though, and your mate attacked mine and so did you—I will keep her safe at all costs."

Rosalie walked inside. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I have something to say."

"Go ahead, sis."

"Esme, I'm sorry, but I'm cutting my ties with you. I won't make any decisions for Emmett, he can think for himself; but in my eyes, the way you treated my father and sister were selfish and unforgivable. You had a mental collapse, I've been there; but spouting lies about two innocent people just because you were jealous of their relationship, then allowing your mate to actually attack to kill—that proves how small of a person you actually are. I really don't have time in my life to deal with someone like you; I'm in a good place and I can no longer make space for someone like you. Good luck with your life."

Rosalie walked outside and an initially stunned Esme started sobbing. She had just lost her eldest daughter—permanently, it seemed.

"Oh God! Oh God! I'm losing my children!" Esme cried.

"Esme, I think it's been awhile since you thought of Rose and me as your children," Bella said, as she walked inside. "I want you to know that the decision to cut ties with you was not made easily. I already forgive you for your behavior since it was done while you were under mental duress. I forgive your mate, too, since you caused him to believe something that was wholly untrue. His reaction was quite normal, his mate was hurt and he attacked those he believed caused her to be in pain. Now, just because I've forgiven you, doesn't mean that I've forgotten about how you and he have the potential to harm me. I'm going to be proactive and not put myself in that situation—that's why I will no longer see you. I owed you this explanation at the very least. You were very good to me at one point and I know that Jasper still sees you as family. I think, Esme, that you need to learn how to love yourself. Hopefully you can learn to do that together with your mate. I wish you all the luck in the world and I hope that one day you find true happiness." Bella kissed Jasper on the cheek, then me, before leaving the house, once again.

Esme was stunned speechless and so was Alistair, who turned to Jasper. "Your mate has a very big heart and soul. In attacking her, I missed an opportunity to meet a genuinely good person. I will regret acting without knowing the whole situation for the rest of my existence."

Alistair was pretty much a recluse. He's been a nomad for roughly seven hundred years. I met him about three hundred years ago and we 'd developed this strange friendship in which he'd come to visit me once every century or so. Esme and Edward had met him during his last visit. I was still Esme's mate, then. Now, though, I doubted he'd be a nomad any longer because that certainly wasn't the type of life Esme was suited for.

"You really screwed up Alistair," I said, because I don't have as big of a heart as my daughter does. "Bella loves literature and history much more than even Edward does. She's a scholar."

I said that because Alistair was always looking for someone to talk about literature and history with. Bella would have been a great match for him.

"In any case, Esme, it's time we discussed our divorce. You're obviously mated and it's not fair to me or Alistair for you to hold on to our marriage. You've obviously been having an extramarital affair without my knowledge. We need to meet up to discuss the terms, I'd like Jasper to accompany me if he's amenable."

"Of course, sometime this week would be best. Bella and I are going away for ten days starting Saturday."

"Esme, is there a good time for you?"

Esme sighed, "The day after tomorrow, around three pm, in my office. I have the afternoon free and I'll send my secretary home early with pay."

Amanda and Tanya brought in Alistair's limbs. I noticed that they painted his finger and toenails a brilliant shade of purple. Vicky and Felix fused him back together and Esme tumbled into her mate's arms and started bawling. An enraged Peter, who apparently had just arrived, suddenly flew into the house. He grabbed Alistair and started beating on him. Alistair was in at least twenty pieces before Jasper and Felix were able to restrain him.

"If you fucking touch my granddaughter again, I'll rip you apart and bury the pieces in all fifty states!" Peter turned to Esme next, "Stay away from her or you'll meet the same fate."

After Peter left the house, everyone helped re-fuse Alistair then worked on reattaching Esme's hands and feet. They were both howling in agony because they didn't have enough of their own venom left to fuse their limbs back on and had to use our venom instead. Riley and Victoria took the two of them hunting immediately.

After they were gone, I turned to Jasper and Felix, "You both need to teach me how to fight. I was incapacitated within seconds. Bella had to defend me for God's sake."

Jasper and Felix both started laughing. Felix slapped me on my back. "That's pretty bad, Carlisle. Okay, old man. We'll teach you what we know."

Everyone started trickling back into the living room. We sat around and talked while we drank some whiskey. We were family, gathered together and mellowing out after a crazy evening. I kind of felt bad for Esme because this was something she'd never have again and this was exactly the type of gathering that warmed her heart. I was happy for her, though. She found her mate quickly. Charlotte just confirmed it saying that she saw a bond between the two that was stronger than mine ever was with her. Maybe, one day, I'll meet my mate. I was in no rush though, I planned on enjoying my life and surrounding myself with my family for awhile. After all, I had all the time in the world.

**I know there was some fluffy fun, but-more importantly, some serious stuff went down. I'd love to hear what your thoughts and, in particular, your feelings. I will always respond to your reviews. XOXO**


	49. Chapter 49

**Let me begin with an apology for the posting delay. The last two weeks have been ridiculously busy with kid related activities. Everything from parent-teacher conferences, school play, band concert, Puberty Night, and Invention Convention were held in the last two weeks. Yes, the last two events were living nightmares. Of course, my son's question at Puberty Night, "What if puberty never happens?" Thank you for your patience and thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. A frat party with Bella and Mike for all of you.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

_**One year later...**_

**Jasper's POV**

It's been almost a year since Carlisle and Esme's divorce. Things have changed dramatically in our family. For one thing, Alistair and Esme got married at the end of last summer. We all went to the wedding with the exception of Bella, Rose, Gianna, Felix, Carlisle, Peter, and Rex. The seven of them decided to go on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee with the girls acting as guides for the weekend. They all came home in cowboy boots, hats, and fattened wallets from hustling pool the entire weekend. They also got to go to a Keith Urban concert. Emmett and I were pissed off about missing the concert, the wedding was a boring, fufu affair put together by a hired wedding planner. Skippy, that asshole, made it a point to hum Keith Urban tunes whenever he was around us.

The divorce went through seamlessly. Carlisle—who was worth almost two billion dollars, ended up settling two hundred million dollars and the homes in Illinois, New Hampshire, and Ohio on Esme. She would also get to keep her business in her own name, of course. Esme initially wanted the home in Westport, but Carlisle refused. Instead, he transferred it to Riley's name. He was the most responsible and he had the ability to maintain his own home. He was also the only one that didn't own his own home. Edward owned his boyhood home in Chicago while Alice had Mike's homes in Forks and in Portland, Oregon. Esme readily agreed to that, she wanted him and Victoria to have a home of their own as well. Esme was actually in no position to argue with Carlisle anyway and I think she knew that, while Carlisle was the one that initially cheated on her, Esme was the one that was having a full blown relationship while still married to her husband. We found out that Alistair had actually been living in an apartment that Esme had purchased in Brooklyn for days when she couldn't quite make it home. This apartment was purchased using Carlisle's funds—she got to keep that, in exchange, she had to give up any claim to the home in Forks which she desperately wanted to keep for herself.

Esme, on her end, no longer wanted ownership of Isle Esme. Carlisle didn't want it either. I think it brought back too many memories for the two of them. Ownership of the island was, instead, transferred to Rose and Bella and renamed the Isla Bellarosa. I was jumping up and joy over that one. So, was Emmett, we immediately started making plans to upgrade the old house that was standing on the island currently. Emmett wanted to do the construction himself, he told me that I could assist by passing him tools. That was probably a good idea.

We quickly relayed what we wanted to Jenks and by the end of the week, the paper's were signed, and Carlisle and Esme's marriage was officially dissolved. Afterwards, Bella and I went on a ten day long trip to Australia where we went diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Of course, Bella pointed out that the rented scuba gear served absolutely no purpose whatsoever since we didn't really need to breathe.

Esme and Alistair were still living in Westport. She was painstakingly trying to rebuild her relationship with us 'kids' while Alistair tried to build one with us. Peter took a page out of Bella and Rose's book and cut off all ties with her. He couldn't accept that what she did to Bella and Carlisle as an act of a woman having a mental breakdown. In his opinion, Esme lied and withheld information from her mate. Alistair had no idea that Bella was mated to me.

Another person that had broken his ties with Esme was Rex. Somehow, he found out that Esme accused him of having an affair with Bella. That pissed him off to no end. On top of that, he and Bella were really close and Esme's betrayal of her was inexcusable in his books. He refused to show up to their wedding and, instead, went along with everyone else to Nashville on the day of the wedding.

I did my best to try to keep my relationship with Esme going, as did Emmett and Charlotte. I knew that she acted out of mental duress so I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Of course, Riley, Vicky, Mike, Alice, Edward, and Amanda still lived in the same house with her so they had to work on the relationship. Mike and Amanda's relationship with Esme had actually worsened. The two of them kept trying to convince their mates to move out of the house.

Getting to know Alistair was interesting. He was centuries older than we were, but younger than the Denali Sisters. He was extremely knowledgeable and well read, but lacked social skills from being a nomad for his entire vampire existence. He was extremely apologetic about attacking Bella and Carlisle because not only had he lost one of his only friends, but he missed an opportunity to get to know 'a singularly unique individual'—those were his words describing Bella. He had heard a lot about her from everybody. I had to agree, Bella was unique. I also didn't give a shit how remorseful the two of them were, they don't get to come near my mate.

Felix and I finished our Building Trades program at Bronx Community College this week. I'm proud to say that I graduated with a 1.33 grade point average while Felix got a 4.0. I suck at carpentry or construction work of any kind. I decided to enroll in the English program at Columbia with Bella next year to boost my confidence—I forged my transcripts to look like I was transferring in as a junior from Harvard with straight A's. I didn't feel like repeating all of those core classes the first two years. My buddy, Skippy, was coming along too. It turns out he likes to read as well. Personally, I think he asked me to enroll him because he likes to hang out with me.

It was Friday afternoon, Bella still had about a week and a half left of school. I had just gotten home from taking care of some bank business. It took three damn hours and I was excited to see Bella. "Babe! I'm home." I yelled into the foyer. Hmm...where is she? I can't smell her anywhere in the house. I'd better go check the refrigerator to see if she left a note. Ah, there's one.

**J—**

**Out for drinks with Edward, Amanda, Mike, and Alice. I'll be back later tonight. Come join us if you'd like. I love you.**

**B—**

Oh, well, maybe I'll join them later. I need to unwind first. I think I'll just switch the TV on. Another one of those reality shows. Who the fuck comes up with this stuff? Damn it. Why is this Disneyworld commercial on almost every channel I switch to?

I've always wanted to go there, though. Bella's been there and she says it's a blast—she went with Irina, Laurent, Riley, and Vicky back when she was still human. Em and I thought it might be nice to surprise our mates this Christmas with a vacation at Disneyworld. We're still in the planning stages, though.

Okay, time to switch channels. Now we're talking. I like the Military Channel. I'll just keep it on here and wait out this commercial. Why the fuck would Carnival Cruise Lines be advertising on the Military Channel? I suppose soldiers need to take their wives on vacation too. That three day cruise to the Bahamas looks like fun. Maybe I can...what the fuck? Is that? It is... Who the motherfuck are the vamps with her? I'd better call Peter and Vicky now.

"Hello?" Vicky picked up her cell.

"Lieutenant, get your ass over to my house now!"

"Major, is something the mat..."

"NOW, Lieutenant!" I didn't mean to lose my temper, but I was completely on edge.

"Yes, Sir!"

My cell buzzed just then. It was Peter. "I'm heading your way Major."

Victoria arrived about an hour later. Peter had arrived about fifteen minutes ahead of her. She had a longer distance to travel, though. I told them both to sit down and showed them a YouTube video of the Carnival Cruise Line commercial that I saw on TV. I found it online while waiting for them. Both of their jaws dropped.

"Fuck, why the hell is she on a commercial for a cruise to the Bahamas and who the fuck are the two freaky dudes with her?" Vicky asked.

"I was hoping that you'd know seeing that you were the last one with her."

"I really have no idea, but by the way they're dancing with her, I'd say they're her new lovers. Do you detect any other vampires aboard the ship they're on?" Vicky scanned the commercial trying to answer her own question.

"We need Emmett with us. He can find more footage online for the commercial."

"I'll call him now." Pete put the call in immediately—explaining a little of what happened on the phone.

Emmett arrived in no time armed with what looked like two brand new laptops. He explained that he went a little nuts a couple of years ago at the Apple Store and had them laying around. He wanted to designate special laptops just for dealing with her for security purposes. He booted them both up and set them up in no time. "The password on both of these is going to be 'BITCH#1', okay?"

"Got it."

"I've got something better than the commercial." Emmett grinned after fiddling with the keys for a few minutes. "I've got her Facebook page."

"Say what?" Pete asked, completely dumbfounded. Vicky and I were just as shocked as we looked onto the screen of Emmett's laptop.

"Is this her?"

"Uh-huh," the three of us nodded. I read her profile. _**Maria Asesina de la Noche**_**. ** Okay, Maria Assassin of the Night. Her name's fitting, I suppose. _**President of Public Relations Firm; Speaks Spanish; Lives in La Villa, Texas; From Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Born October 31**__**st**__**; Find me on World of Warcraft in Bone Chewer Realm as Sergeant Slayer.**_

"This is a fucking joke, right?" Victoria was staring at the screen with her jaw seemingly unable to close.

"She has tons of photos. They look like they were taken within the last five years. They let her in Disneyworld? Shit, Jasper, even Maria's been to Disneyworld. I feel fucking deprived." Emmett stated. "Look! She and her two minions have Mickey Mouse ears on. Oh, here we go, they're tagged as Manuel Amante Dulce and Rodrigo Pene Grande."

"Manuel Sweet Lover and Rodrigo Big Dick?" Peter asked. "What the fuck?"

"Um, I'm gonna hack into their Facebook accounts now."

"Okay, here we go, _**Manuel Amante Dulce. Vice President of Public Relations Firm; Speaks Spanish; Lives in La Villa, Texas; From Almolonga, Guatemala; Born February 14**__**th**__**; Find me on **__**Twitter. **_I'm going to look for the other dude now."

"Well, I can say one thing. Manuel is hot! I think he can give Rex a run for his money."

"Get your head back in the game, Lieutenant!" I chastised Vicky.

"What? I'm just stating facts. I can see why she changed him."

"Found him! _**Rodrigo Pene Grande. Senior Manager of Public Relations Firm; Speaks Spanish; Lives in La Villa, Texas; From Santiago, Chile; Born March 6**__**th**__**; Check out my Flickr page.**_ Jasper, are you sure we should be fearing these people?"

"Absolutely, we just need to figure out why they're out in the open now."

"Alright, I'm going to 'friend' all of them on Facebook. I need to find a fake profile pic. I know, I'll use a photo of Rex's from when he was in the Marines. Let me just hack into their system to get one. Perfect. This one is from when he was still a Private. Let me just photoshop it a bit."

"Ooh! Yummy." My lieutenant licked her lips upon seeing a photo of an eighteen year old Rex.

"What the fuck, Vicky, are you horny or something? First you say that Maria's second in command is hot and now Rex?"

"I've been on a fucking dry spell, alright! Riley's been working weird hours; as soon as he comes home, everyone seems to want him for counseling; and before you know it, it's time for him to go back to work. I just want to get laid, is that so motherfucking hard to understand?"

"Well, did you tell him?" You know, I never used to have to deal with issues like this when it was just me and Pete. Then again, we just fucked whoever we wanted, whenever we wanted.

"I have an idea! You tell him!"

"Huh?" She's got to be kidding me.

"You tell my mate that I'm horny. As our commanding officer, it's your job to help us deal with our personal issues in order to lead a more efficient troop."

Pete and Emmett were doing their best to hold their laughter in. Fine, if I'm the commanding officer, then my second in command is there to help me deal with internal troop issues. "Captain, as your commanding officer, I'm ordering you to deal with the issue of our lieutenant's, uh, libido."

"You're fucking with me?"

"No." I smirked.

"Aw shit, I'll deal with it, you fucking numbnuts." Emmett took his cell phone out and sent a text to Riley.

**From: E McCarty**

**To: R Swan-Biers**

**Your mate is horny. You need to fuck her.**

His phone buzzed with a text message ten seconds later.

**From: R Swan-Biers**

**To: E McCarty**

**Tell her to meet me in the lobby of the Sheraton Manhattan at midnight.**

"Uh, tell him I'll be there, Emmett. Thank you."

**From: E McCarty**

**To: R Swan-Biers**

**She said she'll be there dressed in new lingerie from Agent Provacateur.**

"I never said that!"

"Hey! Beggars can't be choosers and those fucking granny panties you wear can make a guy's dick hibernate really fast! You have a nice ass, show it the fuck off. Get yourself some nice thongs or boyshorts or something."

"I swear that I had this argument with Rex last year. Bella totally supported my right to wear whatever style underwear I feel comfortable in, I'll have you know."

I can't fucking believe I'm getting involved in this, but I have to do this for Riley's sake. "Vicky, just for tonight, go out and buy something sexy for Riley. I swear to you that it'll make a huge difference in the lust department. Oh, and Lieutenant, this is a direct order."

"Here, buy something like this." Emmett pulled up a page on the laptop.

"Nah, that's too tame. She needs crotchless panties or something, you know—for easy access." Peter took the laptop and brought up a different screen.

"Fuck no! That shit's too kinky looking. You always go for the wild shit, Pete! It's a fucking bedroom not a jungle." Emmett pulled up a different page. Within ten minutes, both Emmett and Peter had called the Agent Provacateur store in SOHO and ordered thousands of dollars worth of lingerie each for Vicky. They even managed to convince one of the girls to deliver everything here within the hour for a five hundred dollar cash tip.

"Alright! Can we get back to business now that Vicky's needs are all taken care of?"

"Okay, I doctored up Rex's pic a bit, I lightened up his hair and made sure that we can't read his nametag—give me a good name for him."

"Michael Edwards," Vicky said, quickly.

"That's actually pretty good. It sounds like your run of the mill everyday name. Okay, I've opened up an email account for Michael Edwards. Now, I'm going to create his Facebook profile. Give me a hand here."

In the end, we ended up with _**Michael Edwards, USMC retired, currently a bartender; Lives in Los Angeles, California; Originally from San Francisco, California; Have a hankering for Texans; Looking for friendship with beautiful Latina women; Find me on Twitter and Flickr.**_

Emmett created both Twitter and Flickr accounts for Michael Edwards, then pulled pictures from various cruises on Carnival Cruise Lines then photoshopped Rex's picture into them. He, made sure to doctor some of Maria's photos up—throwing in Rex dancing here and there with various women.

After Emmett threw the photos on Michael Edwards' account, he sent a friend request to Maria along with a message that read, _**"Hey, remember me from the cruise? I still think you're hot."**_

Now all we had to do was wait for Maria to add Michael Edwards as a friend.

The doorbell suddenly rang. The girl from Agent Provacateur had arrived with Vicky's delivery. Pete tipped her and she happily went on her way.

"Alright, get upstairs and model this shit for us. We'll tell you which one to wear," Pete ordered.

"I refuse..."

"Just do it, Lieutenant, it's a fucking order!" I yelled.

"I refuse to wear crotchless panties and pasties in front of you! That is a bit much, don't you think?" I agreed with Vicky after she pulled what looked like strings out of one of the bags.

"Hey, my great grandson has my genes running through him, I'm pretty sure he's just as dirty as I am."

I dug through the bags and handed Vicky three outfits that were a little more tasteful. "Try these three on and we'll tell you what we think."

Vicky grimaced, then went upstairs to change. After modeling about ten outfits, we decided she looked the hottest in a black corset with sheer black thigh high stockings and a red thong. "You know, this is so fucking embarrassing."

"Don't worry, think of it more like a brother helping a brother," Emmett stated. "Oh, hey! Maria accepted me as a friend."

Hell yeah, now we were talking live with Maria.

"I'm going to chat with her, okay?" I said, taking the laptop from Emmett. Meanwhile, Vicky ran upstairs to change.

"Hey, put one of those new bra and panty sets we bought for you on and throw out those huge granny panties!" Emmett called after her. I could swear I heard Victoria growling.

"_**Hey, what's up?" **_ I wrote.

"**Wonderful, are you still practicing your salsa?"** Maria wrote back.

"_**Oh, yeah, you and Manny are the best teachers."**_

"**Yeah, he is good. You should friend him. He and Roddy are both on Facebook."**

"_**No kidding, really. They're great. I had fun doing up the tequila with them."**_

"**Ahh...tequila, my favorite. I'll friend suggest you on their accounts, that way you can find them easier."**

"_**Thanks, gorgeous. Where are you now, anyway? Are you back in Texas?"**_

"**I was for awhile, I'm currently in Bolivia doing some research. We'll be going on another cruise in October. Maybe you can join us."**

"_**I'll do my best."**_

"**I see from your profile that you were in the Marines. Are you a war veteran?"**

"Bingo, Major, she's looking for new recruits. Look at how she's honed in on the fact that Michael Edwards is a Marine," Pete noted. They were all standing behind me reading the screen.

I answered Maria's question. _**"Yeah, I did two tours in Iraq and decided to call it quits. I was in charge of reconnaissance."**_

"**Oh, really? Where did you say you're living now?"**

"_**LA—it's where the beautiful ladies are. You know me."**_

"**Oh, si, si, I remember you, guapo."**

"_**I love when you speak Spanish. What does guapo mean?"**_

"**Handsome, like you are Michael."**

"_**I have to go to work. I'll catch you online later."**_

"**But, of course, mi amor."**

"Fuck me, she's definitely recruiting and she's trying a new tactic. I think she's venturing out into the public, getting new contacts, and changing those she deems worthy into vampires," I stated.

"We are so fucked. What if she gets a hundred guys like you?" Vicky asked, worriedly.

"We'll be ready. We're gonna have to double up on training. Skippy is actually better than I am. He was in the thick of things longer than the three of us put together plus he was the Volturi's best according to Eleazar."

"Shit, Jasper, I'm scared."

"Don't worry, sis, we'll pull through. I promise." I held Vicky for a bit. She really did look scared.

Emmett spoke, "I've gone offline so Maria doesn't know I'm still logged into Facebook. I've been digging around her profile and I found an interesting friend of hers."

"Who?"

"Only a Miss Amber Putain."

"You're shitting me?" Vicky asked, dumbfounded. "Let me scroll through Maria's friend list."

"Oh, Christ, Major, I think half of James' lovers are on here. There's Amber Putain, Violetta Fisher, Jeanine Ratson, Catalina Cuevas, and Regina Bower."

"Catalina Cuevas and Regina Bower?" Pete and I asked at the same time.

Vicky smirked. "I see you both know them too. Former lovers of yours?"

"Uh, yeah," Pete stated looking down.

"I'm not surprised. I bet neither of you saw or heard from them starting about twenty-six years ago."

Huh, come to think of it, no. It was like they both disappeared off of the face of the earth. "Did you bite them, too, Lieutenant?"

"I didn't like it when people touched what's mine even if the guy was a fucker!" Vicky growled. "They're all my pets—all five of them and I have many more, too!"

Pete, Emmett, and I put our hands up in surrender. We didn't need her going off her rocker and biting us, too. My sister was loving for the most part, but she also had this sadistic, psychotic side to her. Eh, maybe the master's bites will work to our advantage.

We logged off of Facebook for now. Emmett was going to monitor the situation. He was also going to join the realm that Maria was in on World of Warcraft and create more mock accounts. I know one thing, we definitely need to bump up our training if we're going to defeat Maria.

**Edward's POV**

Bella, Amanda, and I were hanging out at the Olde Queen's Tavern in New Brunswick, New Jersey together with Mike and Alice. Bella had sent a text out to Rose to meet us because she didn't want to be a fifth wheel. She was headed our way. This was definitely a college bar. It was chock full of Rutger's University students.

"Hey, baby, do you want to come to a party tonight?" Some drunk fucker approached Bella.

"No, thanks."

"Aw, come on, it's gonna be epic. It's at the FIJI house. I'm a pledge there, but I'm supposed to bring a date. Help out a desperate guy will ya?"

Mike put his arm around Bella. "Stay away from my girl, pledge! In fact, drop and give me fifty and recite the mission statement while you do so!"

"What in God's name are you doing, Michael?" Alice asked in a whisper.

"I'm just fucking around with a pledge. They're so easy to manipulate."

A crowd gathered around the poor pledge and started counting off his push-ups.

A guy with a Phi Gamma Delta t-shirt on approached Mike. "Dude, you're not in our house!"

"No, I'm a brother from University of Washington. I'm visiting my sister Amanda, she goes to Princeton."

"Oh, man, she's cute. Are you single, babe?"

"No, this is my boyfriend, Eddie." Amanda snuggled into me.

"Too bad. Well, shit, since you're visiting come on over to our house. The Island Party is tonight. I'm Josh, by the way." He stuck his hand out to shake ours.

"I'm Mike—good to meet ya and hell, yeah! We'll be there! Give us the address to your house."

"Can I stop now, sirs?" the poor pledge begged, exhausted.

Josh told him to stop and recite the names of the 'Immortal Six'. He did, was excused, and told to haul ass to the FIJI house and await the paddle. I wonder what the paddle is?

"Well, damn, we've got to go get bathing suits. Island Parties are epic!"

We walked out of the bar just as Rose was pulling up with Charlotte sitting in the passenger seat. Bella climbed in with them while the rest of us got into Mike's Pathfinder. I heard Bella explaining that we were going to a party and we needed to grab swimsuits really quick. The only thing we could find was a Walmart which made Alice happy because she could use her employee discount. We purchased our suits quickly, actually, we made Mike buy them since it was his idea for us to go to the party. We also stopped by at a liquor store and picked up a few cases of Jack Daniels—we planned on enjoying this party.

Four hours later, it was past midnight and we were all three sheets to the wind. None of us were going to be driving home so I thought I'd be proactive and call for a backup driver. I tried Riley, but his phone was off, so I tried Vicky—no dice there either. I know, I'll call Emmett.

"Edward?" Emmett answered right away.

"Me drunky pick me uppy?" I chuckled.

"Where the fuck are you? Is Rose with you? I got a text from her earlier that she and Char were meeting you guys in New Brunswick."

"Rosie drunky too..."

I was interrupted by Alice. "We're all drunk! Teehee! The human guys are all so drunk that they can't tell that I have fake boobies in my bikini top. Ooh! Bella's going to do a funnel, yippee!"

Jasper suddenly came on the phone. "Alice! Alice! Where are you?"

"Use your vampire senses!" Alice giggled before hanging up the phone.

"_Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella!" _the crowd was chanting my sister's name as she expertly inhaled a bottle of Jack Daniels through a funnel.

"My turn!" Amanda yelled and assumed the position with the funnel. She downed the bottle of whiskey, then went tumbling towards the floor. I caught her before she could get there. She giggled into my arms and started kissing my neck.

An hour later, Jasper, Peter, and Emmett walked into the party looking for their wives. I think they scented us out. Mike was in the midst of doing a keg stand. He was holding onto both handles of the keg and doing a hand stand while someone was feeding him beer directly from the keg. Two guys were holding onto his legs. It looked like fun.

"Hey, I want to have a go!" I said, as soon as Mike was done. I dove into a handstand while some guy fed me beer from the keg. As soon as I was done, Emmett was standing in front of me.

"Where's my wife?"

"Emmy!" Rosalie came hopping out from a different room. She barreled into his arms and started plastering his face with kisses. Emmett's shirt was ripped off of him and the women at the party started swarming around him like flies on honey.

Bella came loping out from behind her. As soon as she saw the keg, my lush of a sister yelled, "Keg stands, yippee!" She effortlessly did a handstand while Mike poured beer straight from the keg into her mouth. The applause was thunderous considering she was clad only in a bikini and had one of the nicest bodies here. Everyone seemed to want to assist her.

"I found your wife, Jasper," I informed Jasper, kindly. "She's a party animal."

"I can see that," he answered through gritted teeth. As soon as Bella was done he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder caveman style. "Find your women, we're leaving."

Suddenly, the whole house erupted in hoots and hollers as The Time Warp song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show started playing. Amanda, Char, and Alice were standing on the pool table leading everyone. Jasper and Emmett left the house carrying their mates. The rest of us followed along and did the time warp. We were in the middle of dancing when it happened, the cops came in and stopped the party. I saw Pete grab Char, Amanda, and Alice and run out the back. The rest of us were all cuffed and thrown into paddy wagons. I heard Jasper yell, "We'll bail you out!"

Well, this is a new experience—I've never been in jail before.

Jail was fun! We were separated by sex and sitting in cells across from each other. The party continued in jail. Someone started singing 'Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer On the Wall' and we all joined in. There was another group of kids from a different frat party shoved into our cells. Suddenly, all hell broke loose and a fistfight broke out between the FIJIs and the Delta Chis—two opposing fraternities with a supposed rivalry against each other. I had to hold Mike back from attacking because with his strength, he could kill one of the humans. He resorted to screaming expletives at the Delta Chis.

About an hour later, Mike and I were finally bailed out by Jasper. He drove us to Pete's in Rose's BMW. When we arrived, he threw Mike and I over each shoulder, then tossed us into Pete's swimming pool. Well, that was mean. The two of us got out and hurled Jasper in next. He punched us both in our faces before the three of us eventually got out and walked into Peter's living room where Emmett was being restrained by Alice, Amanda, Bella, and Charlotte—stark naked, I might add.

"Help me!" Emmett cried. Rosalie appeared to be removing his pubic hairs using threads. Peter was sitting in a chair cackling. He approached our imprisoned brother with a bottle of Jack and started pouring it into Emmett's mouth. He started lapping at the elixir greedily.

"Why the hell am I being subjected to this?"

"I need to practice my threading, that's why? You're lucky Gianna's not here. She would spank you for being uncooperative." Rose replied.

"Edward, do me a favor and hold his right leg down," Jasper requested.

"Um, okay."

As soon as I had hold of Emmett's leg, Jasper picked Bella up, and carried her upstairs. A minute later, I was overcome with an urge to bury myself inside Amanda. The two of us ripped our bathing suits off and were fucking in the middle of Pete and Char's living room on top of Emmett's legs. A naked Rose was straddling Emmett and bouncing up and down on top of him. Meanwhile, Mike had taken Alice missionary style on the coffee table. Pete was receiving a blow job from Charlotte as he sat in a chair.

"Oh my God! What's going on? I can't stop fucking Emmett," Rose panted.

Emmett, suddenly stood up, flinging me and Amanda off of him. Amanda promptly climbed on top of my cock. Emmett shoved Rose up against a wall and started fucking her. I could hear everyone moaning in ecstasy, everyone, that is, except for Jasper and Bella.

"Harder Emmett, harder! You know how I like it!" Rosalie cried.

Amanda moved down to suck me off. I was in a complete frenzy. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mike taking Alice doggie style. Oh no! My dick is shrinking.

"Edward! Get your shit up! What the hell?" Amanda complained. I turned my head to see Charlotte masturbating in full view for Peter. Ah...much better. _Schwing._ My boner was back. Ahhh!

A few hours later, we were all sitting sated, yet bewildered, in the living room.

"This didn't happen," Rose stated with conviction.

"No," we all agreed.

"I'm going to kill Jasper," Alice said. "There was absolutely no warning. I couldn't hear a peep out of them."

"That would be Pete's fault. He completely soundproofed their room," Charlotte explained.

Jasper and Bella came bouncing down the stairs, freshly showered, and full of joy. They took in the sight of the demolished living room and the eight of us completely naked. "What the hell happened here?" Jasper asked.

Rose narrowed her eyes and grabbed her threading kit. "Get him," she growled. In an instant, Jasper was laying naked on the living room floor being held down by everyone except for Bella. Rose started threading his body hairs off of him. Jasper was howling in pain, begging for mercy. By the time, Rose was done, the only hair left on Jasper were his eyebrows and the hair on top of his head. She even got his underarm hairs.

When we finally released him, Jasper got up and screamed, "Oooowwww! What the fuck was that for? Damn!"

Rose slapped him across the face. "You projected and caused an orgy. We were all fucking our mates in front of each other, you bastard."

Jasper and Bella started chuckling.

"It's not funny, Bella!" Rose admonished.

"Yes, it is." Bella couldn't stop laughing.

Rose started giggling, too. "You're right, it is."

We all started laughing and Jasper projected the humor around the room. We all took showers and got dressed.

Alice's cell phone started ringing. It was Esme. "Where in hell are you kids?" It's eleven am on a Saturday morning! Alistair and I had to open up the store for Mike and Edward and Tanya's looking for Amanda? Everyone's cell phones seems to be off."

"Oh! We'll be right home. Thanks for opening the store up for them, Esme. We're in New Jersey, we just lost track of time."

I checked in the pocket of my shredded swim trunks and saw that my phone was water logged. I would need a new one. Mike saw that his was in the same state from when Jasper threw us in the water. We would need new phones. "Amanda, is your phone okay?" I asked.

She checked inside of her pocket. "Yep, it shut off because I forgot to charge it."

Meanwhile, Jasper checked and saw that his iPhone, too, had been completely immersed in water. "Shit! You guys get to work, give me your phones, I'll take care of getting new ones for you. I'll bring them by later."

We handed Jasper our damaged phones. Alice handed him hers, too. He looked, quizzically, up at her.

"I hate my phone."

"Okay, I'll get you a new one, too."

"Weee! Thank you, Jasper! It can be my birthday present. Today's my birthday!"

"Oh! We'll have to celebrate." Bella smiled. "Are you off today?"

"Nope, I have to go in from two to ten. Will you come visit me at work?"

"Sure."

It was amazing how much Alice had changed. She actually enjoyed working. She started out working at Walmart as a floor associate, getting paid a dollar above minimum wage, she fast-tracked her way through the management training program, and two years ago, she was finally made a store manager and was getting paid almost a hundred thousand dollars plus bonuses. Jasper was handling her and Mike's money and building it up for them. Of course, Alice was helping everyone by looking into stock futures for everyone. I asked her if we'd ever catch up to Jasper. She told me that even if we combined everyone's assets, including Carlisle and Peter's considerable ones, we wouldn't even reach a third of what Jasper and Bella were worth. That made me laugh because Bella was still so careful with her spending. The only person more careful than Bella was Alice—no, maybe Rex. He was pretty cautious, too.

Alice, Amanda, Mike, and I took off for Connecticut. We talked about how much fun we had at the party. We all agreed that Bella was a party animal. I would have loved to see her in college, she must have been a hoot. She knew every single drinking game that was played, actually so did Mike. Those two must have partied hard during college.

As we pulled into the strip mall where our store was located, an angry Esme came outside with her hands on her hips. She lectured us, and rightfully so, about responsibility when owning a business. All of us were careful not to mention the fact that Bella and Rose were with us. She had a tendency to burst out crying when hearing their names. It was her own damn fault she lost them, though. I had never been so angry in my life than when I heard how she had lied about Carlisle and Bella. Amanda kept screaming at me about how she wanted to move out and how Esme's always made her feel uncomfortable. The six of us remaining in what was now Riley's house, have often discussed it and what we all really wanted was for Esme and Alistair to move out. The rest of us actually enjoyed living together as siblings. Riley, Mike, and I got along really well as did Vicky, Alice, and Amanda. Irina and Laurent have said that they'd move back in with us as soon as Esme and Alistair move out. It didn't look like that was happening anytime soon. None of us felt right about throwing Esme out.

Another thing that bothered the hell out of us was the fact that Carlisle, Bella, and Rose couldn't come over to our house as long as Esme and Alistair were there. Pete, Rex, Irina, and Laurent wouldn't come over either. Another pair that couldn't stand them was Felix and Gianna. Gianna took an instant hatred to Esme the first time she met her and tried to mother her. Gianna told Esme straight away that she had her own mother that could never, ever be replaced so kindly fuck off.

Esme was learning very fast that not everyone wanted a mother. I had to admit that she was putting in a greater effort to not smother us, though. I think she was terrified of losing the children who still considered her their mother. Only time would tell what would happen. What Esme needs to understand that with all of us, our mate's well-being comes before hers. In my case, Amanda was slowly reaching her boiling point and if necessary, I would move out of the house just to keep a smile on her face.

**Esme's POV**

Life was moving along and my relationship with my children was improving slowly, but surely. The one thing that I'll regret always is my loss of Bella, Rose, and Peter. I'll also regret not having Carlisle as a friend. It's no one's fault, but my own. I was so caught up in my own misery that I deluded myself into believing that Carlisle was having an affair with Bella and Rose. As crazy as it sounds, it made being betrayed by my husband of a hundred years easier to deal with. I let my jealously of Carlisle's paternal relationship with Bella and Rose fester into an imaginary affair because it would have been the worst case scenario. That way, I was justified in my feelings of anger, jealousy, hate, and betrayal. Of course, the relationship never existed and in the end, I ended up losing out by betraying the trust of, not only the three of them, but also of the rest of my children and my nieces and nephews.

Alistair understood and forgave me almost immediately. Bella also forgave me, but her last words to me were that she could never forget my betrayal and preferred to not risk being hurt by me ever again. I've asked Jasper to see if there was any way that Bella and I could make amends, but he told me directly that he didn't see any real possibility of that ever happening and he also informed me that he didn't trust me nor Alistair near his mate. Riley also expressed a similar sentiment as did Emmett in regards to both Bella and Rosalie.

I called Carlisle to try to make amends, but he told me that he would prefer it if we led separate lives without keeping in touch. He wished me luck with Alistair and said that he'd always pray that I had the best in life. I asked him to take care of himself and my daughters, Bella and Rose. He assured me that his daughters' happiness would always be one of his top priorities.

I knew from talking to my kids that Bella, Rose, and Carlisle were doing well. Rose and Peter's business was recently touted in an article as being the most honest and efficient auto repair shop in New Jersey. I was very proud of them. Bella and Carlisle were still attending school together. I heard that they have mutual college friends with whom they associate with outside of school. Carlisle also spent time with everyone in the family. Unlike me, he didn't have to work on his relationship with everyone and they all seemed to prefer him as a brother anyway.

Alistair was doing his best to become accustomed to life being surrounded by family. He had a bit of a rocky start establishing a relationship with everyone, especially considering that he nearly killed Carlisle and Bella because of me. They did respect that he was operating purely out of vampire instincts, but they couldn't accept the fact that he attacked them without any provocation whatsoever. Alistair regretted his actions too, it cost him his friendship with Carlisle and, now that he's heard so much about her, he wants to get to know Bella, but it's something that was not possible.

I was swapping out curtains in the living room when an SUV pulled up in the driveway. Jasper and Bella both got out, he embraced her and gave her a deep kiss on her lips. She, then, hopped into the driver's seat and drove away. It was the first time I had seen her since the night she was attacked, Bella was still as beautiful as ever.

Jasper walked inside of the house and greeted me with a peck on the cheek. He was here for his weekly visit. Alistair came into the living room and shook his hand.

"Alistair, how are you?"

"Good, the book you loaned me on the Civil War was quite interesting. The Union Army seems like a lot of vagrants to me." Jasper had been loaning Alistair books on the Civil War—of course, most of Jasper's books were pro-Confederacy so he was getting an extremely skewed viewpoint, but at least they were getting along.

"I brought more for ya." Jasper handed Alistair a stack of books. "This one is Bella's favorite. It delves more into the emotions of the soldier."

"Ah, it must be excellent, then. I'll save this one for last."

"Jasper, why did Bella drop you off today. Usually, you drive yourself." I was curious so I had to ask.

"Oh, well, she's taking Irina car shopping. Her Explorer finally puttered out. It was fifteen years old for God's sake. Afterwards, they're going shopping for a benefit ball that's being held to raise money for the homeless next weekend. It's being put together by Irina's work."

"Oh, well, that's nice." I would love to go to the benefit, but it's obvious that I'm not invited. I, also, would have enjoyed shopping with Bella. I couldn't stop the tears that came to my eyes. Jasper sent me some calm, I thanked him. I had lost so much because of my immaturity, Bella was one of my favorite daughters. She had my venom running through her because I loved her that much. I still hadn't come to terms with my loss.

Jasper, Alistair, and I sat down in the living room. Emmett came inside about ten minutes later. This is what it's come to for me, waiting for visits from my sons and being unable to visit them at their homes because I wasn't permitted in their homes.

**Irina's POV**

"Bella, it's official, I hate car shopping. That was the sixth dealership and the guy was a complete crook plus he tried to grab my ass. Maybe we should have Jasper help us."

"I'm beginning to think the same thing. I'll tell you what, I'll text him now and have him meet us later, meanwhile we'll go shopping for the gowns for the benefit—that way he can spend some time visiting with Esme."

"Sounds good. Now, where should we go for the gowns? I still don't know this area well."

"Hmm...beats me. Should we call Tanya?"

"No way! She has different tastes from us, she dresses like a ho. Let's just go to the Stamford Town Center."

"Okay, ooh...Jasper just texted me back. He wants to know where he and Emmett should meet us. I'll just have him meet us at the Stamford Town Center at five. That'll give us a few hours."

I loved spending time with Bella. She and I made it a point to spend Saturdays together. That's when Jasper usually visited Esme. I was glad when Bella told me that she wrote her off. When I heard how Alistair attacked Carlisle and Bella, I nearly went over and cindered them both myself. I'm extremely protective of Bella—she's like a daughter to me and when I heard she was attacked I flipped out and flew into a rage. I heard that her shield saved them both. I was so happy that my father had trained her so she had full control of both shields. I called him in India immediately and told him what had happened. I'd never heard Eleazar so enraged. He called Esme up, chewed her out, and told her that if she approached his family again—including his niece Bella, he'd ship her and Alistair straight off to the Volturi to face charges of attacking another vampire without provocation—the penalty of which is death or torture.

"Bella, I really like driving this Tahoe. It's comfortable, it drives like Riley's Suburban." I was driving because Bella, to this day, hates driving and she tries to limit it as much as possible. We've all gotten used to Bella handing the car keys off to us when she picks us up. It's a good thing, too, because she drives like a snail. We've all joked about Bella and Garrett one day having a race to see who gets to the finish line last. Between the two of them, they were the slowest drivers on earth. Actually, we had Felix to add to the mix now. He finally got his license after Jasper signed him up for a driver's ed class. I can't believe those Volturi fuckers never taught him how to drive. Anyway, he's so terrified about driving that he always goes five miles under the speed limit. He also has to drive a Honda Civic because he can't drive anything larger—not even Vicky's Camry. He thought it was too big. He looks so goofy being hunched over and driving such a small car. Gianna rarely lets him drive—she always loses her patience with him and starts spanking him.

Bella and I went into Sak's Fifth Avenue and started browsing through their evening gown section. I was a bit taken aback because she was looking through full priced gowns for once.

"Bella, why aren't you looking through the gowns on sale?"

"I'm challenging myself. I'm going to try to buy my entire ensemble at full retail."

"Why?"

"Oh, because of Alice. We went shopping at Kohl's the other day and there was a shirt that I really liked so I bought it, but Alice lectured me on retail markups and being irresponsible with Jasper's money, blah, blah, blah and I ended up suffering from an extreme case of buyer's remorse and returned it."

"How much was the shirt?"

"It was only thirty-four dollars. I ended up with a four dollar tank top instead."

I started giggling. Alice Newton had gone from being a shopaholic to a spendthrift.

We grabbed several gowns and tried them on. Bella started laughing at the sight of me in one of them. "Oh my God! That looks horrific on you. I think you can hide Laurent inside—and Emmett." The gown was strapless and shaped like a bubble—it literally, expanded outwards starting at the the top and it looked like I was wearing a tafetta garbage bag.

"He'd enjoy that. Well, maybe not Emmett."

"Teeheehee. Try something a bit more sheer. This one fit nicely, but the color doesn't go with my hair. It'll be nicer with yours. You're so lucky to have such pretty hair."

"Bella, your hair is pretty too. All you have to do is run a hairbrush through it instead of throwing it up into a ponytail all of the time."

"Yeah, but you have pretty, shimmery, silver blonde hair. It's so beautiful."

"Thank you, Bella. Oh! You're right, this shade of apricot does look good on me. I think I've found my dress."

"Good, I'm taking this cobalt blue one. I thought I'd do something different than my usual hot pink or black."

"Alright, let's find some shoes to go with it and then we can have the saleslady call the seamstress up to take up the hem. I think I need the bustline taken in a bit as well."

Bella pulled up on the halter. "Just about an inch or so, maybe you should go down one size." She ran out and grabbed a smaller dress. I was only five feet two inches and very slender.

I tried it on—it fit perfectly, except for the length. The saleslady brought us both a pair of strappy silver sandals that paired perfectly with our chiffon gowns. She called the seamstress who told us she could have the gowns ready for us two Saturdays from today. Well, that wasn't going to work for us. Bella took a page out of Jasper's book and told her that five hundred dollars cash was hers if she could have them ready for us by five pm today. The seamstress jumped at the opportunity, took both dresses, and went straight to work. We still had a couple of hours left so we went to Victoria's Secret. Bella and I each had a coupon for a free pair of panties from their Pink line so we went to redeem them.

Around five pm, we met Jasper and Emmett. The four of us went to collect the dresses from the smiling seamstress. She asked us to try the gowns on to make sure they were the correct length. They were absolutely perfect. Bella pulled Jasper's wallet out of his pocket and paid her the five hundred dollars that she promised.

When we got into the car, I had to ask, "Bella, how much cash do you have on you?"

"Hmm...let me see. She dug through her pockets. Twenty-eight, no wait, twenty-nine cents. Why? Do you need it?"

Jasper, Emmett, and I all sighed. We've all told her to carry at least a twenty with her at all times, but does she listen? Nope. Never. Jasper grabbed her wallet out of her purse and stuffed a few bills into it. "What if I get pickpocketed?"

Alright, that has happened before. For an observant girl, Bella had a tendency to be a bit clueless. She's always misplacing her keys and she's been pickpocketed twice since moving to Manhattan. She's taken to simply carrying her license and debit card only in her front pocket so she doesn't attract the attention of thieves anymore. Yep, some vampire my daughter is, huh?

"Bella, just make an effort to be a little more aware of your surroundings. Now, what kind of car do you want Rina?"

"I like this one, but now that I've been driving it around for a while, I think I might need something a bit scaled down because of my height."

"Well, do you absolutely have to drive an SUV?"

"Yes, you remember the snow we had last year."

"Good point."

"What about Edward's Volvo?"

"Too pretentious."

"Okay, so we look. No luxury brands, must be an SUV, and on a smaller scale than the Tahoe."

"Right." I loved Jasper. He was so perfect for Bella and always looked out for her best interests. He and I had always gotten along well.

We went to dealership after dealership and I finally ended up with a Toyota Rav-4. I'm more than positive that Jasper used his gift on the sales manager because I got a phenomenal deal on it. We stopped by at my sisters' house afterwards—their house had become the gathering spot on Saturday nights. Everyone, with the exception of Alice, was already there. They were setting up a surprise birthday party for Alice.

An hour later, Alice came trudging home. She was running late. "Surprise!" we all yelled.

Alice was absolutely stunned and touched at the same time. There was something else wrong with her, though. "What's wrong, Ali?" Mike asked.

She broke down and started sobbing. Oh, it's just that...I'm not really in the...p...partying...m...mood. I had to take the bus home, someone stole my car! I know it's old and...what...not...but still. I couldn't even call the police because I gave Jasper my cell phone this morning."

"We'd better call the police!" Bella said, worriedly.

"I'll take care of it," Mike said, glumly. "Why don't we open presents first? Maybe that'll cheer you up. We'll think about the bad stuff tomorrow."

Alice started opening her gifts. From Laurent and me, she received a gift card to Walmart. Why? It's her favorite store so we figured, why not? Char and Peter gave her a gift bag filled with sex toys from Char's shop. Edward, Amanda, Tanya, and Rex gave her a ton of new clothes from Amanda and Tanya's shop. Riley and Vicky gave Alice two tickets to a Broadway show. Rose and Emmett gave her and Mike a weekend stay at the Sheraton Manhattan. They had coordinated the date with Vicky and Riley's theatre tickets. Garrett and Katie gave her a Visa Gift Card. Felix and Gianna gave her a gift card to Victoria's Secret. Jasper and Bella gave her a new iPhone plus a mess of iTunes cards. Carlisle, who couldn't make it, gave her a brand new Coach handbag.

"Thank you so much, guys!" Alice gushed.

Mike suddenly stood up and pulled Alice up. One more present, Ali. We all followed them. In the garage, with a big red bow tied to it, was a brand new Toyota Prius.

"Oh my God! Michael, this is too much!"

"You deserve it, you work hard and you've been driving that clunker of yours for ten years now. You needed something more reliable plus the Prius gets great gas mileage cause it's a hybrid. We get a break on our taxes next year, too."

"I love you, Michael!" Alice kissed him on the lips. Aww, that was sweet. "Did you take my car?"

"Yeah, I needed it for the trade. It was only worth three hundred bucks."

"That's still something, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." The couple stood holding each other. The rest of us went inside of the house to give them some privacy.

"That was so cute!" Bella stated.

"How come you aren't sweet like that, Emmett?" Rose asked her husband.

"Alice isn't as picky about cars as you are."

"I am not picky about cars!"

There were several people clearing their throats and I swear Bella coughed something like "bullshit."

A few hours later, the party broke up and we all went our separate ways. I reminded everyone about the benefit ball next weekend. It helps to have a big family during events like those. I was passionate about helping the homeless and my family were all going to suck it up, eat human food, and attend just because they knew how important it was to me. They really were a big bunch of softies.

**So, Maria's back, Vicky's horny, Bella and Mike are party animals, Jasper is the ultimate orgy inducing empath, Esme's bummed, Irina and Bella make a good pair, and Alice and Mike are sweet. Let me know what you thought. I'll always reply to your reviews. XOXO**


	50. Chapter 50

**Hi everyone! Thank you for all of your reviews! I enjoyed reading them all. I'm sure you've noticed, but the review reply system on this site is still down. If I missed replying to you, it's because you have your personal message system disabled. I apologize for that. Rest assured that I did read your review and I appreciate your taking the time to read and respond. Spankings from Gianna for everyone! **

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Jasper's POV**

"Are you girls ready yet? Fucking hell! The four of you have been up there for hours! How much fucking time does it take for you to do your hair?" Emmett called upstairs, impatiently. He, Pete, Skippy, and I were sitting in our tuxes downing bottles of whiskey while we waited for our women.

"It's not our fault. Bella and Charlotte have tangles in their hair. They've never heard of a hairbrush! Merda!" Gianna cursed in Italian. Even I understood shit in Italian. It sounded sexy coming from her, though. "Isabella sit still!" _Spank!_

"Ouch! You spanked me!"

"If that's the only way to stop you from moving than I'll keep spanking you!"

"If she moves again, tell me Gianna, and I'll tie her arms to the chair for you," Rose growled.

"Ouch! That's my tit, Rose!" Char yelped.

"Stop wiggling the fuck around, then!"

"Dude, that shit sounds like lesbian bondage porn. It sounds hot," Emmett commented.

"No kidding," I agreed. We all looked longingly upstairs imagining whatever fucked up fantasy each of us had running through our dirty minds.

"Stop fantasizing about my mate!" Skippy demanded.

"Fucker! You get mine out of your brain!" I argued.

"All of you assholes get my Rosie out of your heads!"

A few minutes later, Gianna exclaimed, "Finalmente!"

The four women came gliding down the stairs. Holy fuck. Bella looked hot. She was wearing a cobalt blue, strapless chiffon gown that flowed sinuously to the floor. Gianna had arranged her hair in a loose updo that showcased her graceful neckline. Other than her wedding band, the only jewelry she was wearing were the diamond drop earrings that I purchased for her in Paris. She had her brown contact lenses in, some of us always wore contacts whenever a big group of us were gathering in public so that we wouldn't stand out so much with so many of us having golden eyes.

"Jasper." Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Stop projecting, we're late to the benefit. You can fuck her later."

"Way to ruin a fucking moment, sis!" I said to her.

"You were making googly eyes at her. Emmett, quit eye-fucking me! Now, come on, let's go!"

We all followed Rose out the door. She loved formal affairs and was anxious to get there. She always took charge of these things. Bella absolutely detested them, but she was going for Irina's sake.

"Stand up straight, Charlotte!" Gianna spanked her right on her ass. Damn, I wonder if she can spank Bella while I watch. Charlotte stuck her chest out and straightened out her posture right away. It seems Gianna likes formal parties too.

"Felix, does your woman spank you a lot?"

"Occasionally, why?" He actually winced when I asked my question.

"No reason, just curious." I'm more than positive she spanks him more often than occasionally. I mean her hands were spank happy. We've all been spanked on our asses by an angry Gianna which I had to admit was pretty sexy. I wonder if spanking can be considered a gift.

We finally arrived at the party and were greeted by the family. Irina thanked us for coming, then went back to mingling with the other guests. She was co-director of a non-profit agency that helped homeless people get back on their feet again. Carlisle and Peter were donating a million dollars each. I was donating five million dollars. There were lots of big names at this benefit—every one of them trying to lessen their tax burden come the following tax season. Alice was taking the opportunity to get to know some big wigs from Walmart while Edward and Mike were being grilled by some CEOs from Bass Pro Shops.

We all forced down some human food and listened to some boring speeches. Now, we were dancing and networking. Bella was standing on the other end of the ballroom talking to Gianna. Two CEO types approached them and started talking to them. I saw Bella show them her wedding ring then point to me and Felix. The two men bolted away from the girls faster than lightening.

"You know, I used to have to go to shit like this all of the time," Felix noted. "It was bad enough that when I was human my parents hosted formal balls four times a year, but when I was in the Volturi—the three shit for brains had formal balls once a week."

"You're kidding? For what purpose?"

"Let's see, if there was a visitor they would hold a ball in honor of them, the guard member's dates of inception into the Volturi, the date of our change, if the Romanians happened by they would hold one just to show off, Saint Marcus Day, Caius' birthday, Aro's birthday, you catch my drift, don't you?"

"So what do you do at a Volturi ball?"

"The same shit except for no sit down dinner, obviously. We did get to drink human blood out of wine glasses, though. The guard used to get fucked up drinking hard liquor. You always had to watch out for Jane because whenever she'd get drunk, she'd randomly inflict pain upon everyone. You could be just shooting the shit with someone, then, all of a sudden, you'd be writhing on the floor in complete agony."

"Shit, I never want to go to one of those."

"Neither do I—ever again."

A few minutes went by and I was talking to a British financier discussing the financial climate. He actually had some great insight and he and I quickly exchanged business cards before he went on his way. Tonight, I was known as Jasper Whitlock, President and CEO of the Whitlock Corporation. Bella was dancing with Rex when I detected a scent I never thought I'd smell again. Alice noticed, too. We are so fucked.

"Bella, put your shield down so I can see!" Alice said at vampire speed.

Bella gasped and put her shield down.

"Oh fuck!" Mike whispered.

All of the vampires were now on high alert. "Okay, for tonight, Jasper and I are married, the rest of you are okay. Bella, you're Isabella Newton for this evening. Thank God you wore your blue contacts, Mike. Carlisle, I'm killing you and Esme off. She won't recognize you with your new look anyway. Got it?"

We all nodded that we understood. Edward quickly explained the situation to those who had no knowledge who the new arrival was.

"Oh my God! Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen? I thought I'd never see you two again."

"It's Alice Hale now. How are you Jessica?"

"I always knew you two would get married. This is my husband Pierre Dupuis."

"Nice to meet you." I held my hand out to shake the guy's clammy hand. I noticed he kept checking out all of the women in the room.

"Is your whole family here?"

"Yes, everyone, but Carlisle and Esme, God rest their souls."

"Oh my God! What happened?"

"They were killed in a skiing accident in Austria."

"Why the fuck would I die in a skiing accident, couldn't she be a bit more dramatic?" Carlisle whispered to Bella.

Jessica scanned the room and caught sight of Rose, Emmett, Edward, and Amanda. They approached the newly arrived couple and greeted them. I noticed Mike and Bella slinking away to the other side of the ballroom. Pierre's wandering eye landed on Rose and Amanda and he kept smiling and winking at them. Fucking creep.

"Hey, Mike, is that the chick with the bouncy tits that you told us about?"

"Yeah, she is, Pete."

"God damn, she has nice knockers."

"I second that," Garrett said.

"I third that," Rex agreed.

"I fourth that," Skippy joined in.

"Nah, Bella's tits are nicer than Jessica's," Mike stated. "Look at how perfectly symmetrical each boob is."

"Um, I'm going to abstain from that one considering she's my grandbaby."

Rex, Garrett, and Mike were all standing there openly ogling my mate's tits. So was Skippy. Those motherfucking dicks—they were all taking advantage of the fact that I couldn't do jack shit about anything.

"Quit eye-fucking me!" Bella seethed.

Some human guy walked by her and grabbed her ass. She swatted his hand away and called him a few choice words. He saw the angry expressions on Rex, Garrett, Mike, Felix, and Peter's faces and pissed his pants.

The ball continued and Jessica wouldn't leave our side. It turns out that her husband is a French investment banker and he was here on business. They were here with another couple who invited them to come along.

She continued rambling about her life. She and Pierre had one son—ironically named Edward; she was a homemaker; she graduated from the University of Washington; yada, yada.

She, then, went on to update us about everyone in Forks. Ben Cheney married Angela Weber—they had three kids and were living in Forks; Eric Yorkie was a software engineer in Silicon Valley; Tyler Crowley was a garbage truck driver in Forks and was married to some chick named Leah and lived in La Push; and Lauren Mallory was a porn star living in Las Vegas—her stage name was Ashlay Bendover, in case we were interested in seeing any of her films.

Hell, yeah, we were. I sensed a stag night coming.

"I fucked a porn star, guys!" We heard Mike announce. The fuckers with him all high-fived Mike, congratulating him. Yeah, you may have fucked a porn star, but you're married to my ex-wife now, fucker, I thought.

Edward started chuckling and high-fived me.

Jessica suddenly gasped, "Oh, God! Pierre, my ex-boyfriend from college, Mike Newton is here. What a nightmare!"

"Ma cherie, you do not have to say hello if you don't want to. You said he is only a shopkeeper, no?"

"Jerk," Alice muttered. I agreed, what a little pretentious fuck!

"Did you guys know that Mike Newton was here?" Jessica asked us.

Edward was very quick, "Mike who?"

"He's my ex-boyfriend from high school and college. He was friends with that girl you dated, Bella Swan. Ugh, I don't know what you ever saw in her. She was so emo. After you left, she was completely depressed and she sat in her truck and cried all day. Mike actually felt sorry for her so he'd go and check on her, just in case she tried to kill herself or something. I thought she was crazy, you were just a high school boyfriend. I mean, you two didn't even date for that long and she acted as if her world was taken away from her. She's probably still pining away for you to this day. Someone like that can never get married. Anyway, I can understand why you broke up with her. Talk about emotional baggage, she wasn't even that pretty."

"Bitch." I heard Bella whisper.

None of us said anything. That was just mean of Jessica. Edward looked like he was just hit with a mack truck. I looked across the ballroom and the vampires all looked pissed off. Irina and Victoria were both being restrained by their mates. I don't think Jessica understood just how close she was to getting her neck snapped or I suppose she could be a midnight snack for Felix who was still having a fuckton of trouble feeding off of animals.

"That's it! Come on, Bella. This is fucking war!" An angry Mike grabbed Bella and the two of them started dancing cheek to cheek on the dance floor.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Mike Newton is with Bella Swan. Edward, this is a nightmare for both of us."

"Play the fucking part, bozo. Act like she's the last person you want to see," Alice whispered to Edward.

"Holy shit! You're right, that is Bella Swan. She looks fucking hot! I should have never broken up with her, I didn't know she was going to turn out like that. Check out those tits!" Edward stated.

Amanda, who looked like she wanted to murder Jessica, joined in. "That's Bella Swan? She's gorgeous! You're right, you should have never left her. Too bad for you that the guy she's with can give you a run for his money. Talk about eye-candy."

"That is Bella Swan? I've never seen a more beautiful female creature in my life. She is not as you described, Jessica," Pierre stated with his thick French accent. "You said she was skinny with no body and looked depressed."

"Edward, you were supposed to act like you don't want to see her, not worship her. Amanda, what was that?" Alice said so only we could hear. She rubbed her temples and said, "Oh fuck, Jasper, just don't lose it—remember that you're married to me for tonight."

"Listen to her, fucker," Peter confirmed from across the ballroom. He walked over and stood by my side.

The song ended and Mike and Bella stopped dancing. He pretended to notice Jessica right then and approached us. "Oh, hey, Jess. Fancy meeting you here. Wow, you got old. Ever heard of Botox?Holy shit! Is that Alice and Edward Cullen? Wow, the whole lot of you are here. This is like a mini Forks High School reunion."

We all greeted Mike as if we hadn't seen him since high school. "Bella, you'll never guess who I just ran into. Come here, sweetheart." Bella walked over and stood next to Mike.

"Who, babe? Omigod! It's the Cullens," Bella greeted all of us, but ignored Jessica.

"Hello, Bella," Jessica said.

Bella looked perplexedly at her. She put her finger under her chin, then asked, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I'm Jessica Dupuis, my maiden name was Stanley."

"Huh? I'm sorry, I don't remember you at all. I was only there for a short time anyway. I vaguely remember some chick named Lauren and her annoying little friend, though. Ugh, that whiney voice grated on my brain, it still gives me the shakes thinking about it to this day."

"Mike, didn't you tell Bella about how we once dated."

"Nah, I don't live in the past—neither does Bella."

"You dated her?" Bella pointed at Mike completely aghast. "She's not really your type is she? She seems clingy."

"Bella, come on, isn't that why we break up with people? Because they're not really our type."

"You see, that's why I love you so much, you're so smart."

"I love you, too, baby." Mike planted a deep kiss on Bella's lips. I saw red.

"You're dead!" I growled in a low tone to Mike. I was ready to kill him, kissing my wife was going entirely too far. Peter and Alice had death grips on me so I couldn't move.

"Jasper, keep your shit together! It's an act!" Riley admonished from the other side of the room so only the vampires could hear.

"I'm sorry, how did you two wind up together?" Jessica asked.

"We met a few months after college graduation. I walked into Mike's store looking for..."

"...skis. Bella's an expert skier—she used to be a ski instructor in college. I saw who it was and I helped her out personally. We've been together ever since. I even went skiing with her that weekend," Mike finished for her. "She's a professional skier now."

"Bella on skis?" Edward whispered, perplexedly. "That's the biggest crock of shit I've ever heard."

Pierre decided to introduce himself to my wife then. "Allo, my name is Pierre Dupuis. Your name is Isabella?"

"Uh, yes, Isabella Whi...Newton," Bella corrected herself quickly.

Now, the sleaze bag's focus was on my wife...uh, Mike's wife for the night...damn it, she's my wife!

"You are a professional skier? I would like to invite you to come skiing with my wife and me. We own a vacation cottage in the Swiss Alps. Perhaps, I can show you around." He was talking to Mike, but his focus was on my Bella. I'm going to kill him. He, then, turned to us. "You must all join us, He scanned all of the women up and down."

"Yes...yes...I'd love to see all of you." Jess batted her eyelashes, flirtatiously, at me and ran her hand over my arm.

"Jessica, do you have something caught in your eye there? I can help you wash it out in the ladies' room," Bella offered.

"What? Me, uh, n...n...no."

"Oh, I was just wondering cause you're like blinking furiously there."

Just then, Pierre, 'accidentally,' bumped into Bella and brushed, no fondled, her breast. I was outraged. I was about to rip his hand off, but Alice kissed me square on the lips to stop me. Blech. I never thought I'd have to taste that again. "Focus, Jasper!" she whispered.

"My apologies, madame, I can be so clumsy sometimes," Pierre said, this time he tried to bump into Rose and go for her ass, but Emmett stepped in front of her and he ended up grabbing Em's dick instead.

"Dude, I don't roll that way," Emmett stated. This shit was getting funny.

"As I said, I am very clumsy," a mortified Pierre said, red in the face. He was undaunted, though, because the next thing I knew he was handing his business card to us men and asking us to visit him and Jessica in Paris or come skiing in Switzerland.

Jessica, meanwhile, now turned her attention from Edward to Mike. "I can show you around Paris, personally. It is the city of romance, after all," she said, sticking her tits out in front of his face. "The scenery there is plentiful." Mike didn't pay any attention to Jessica, he just focused his attention on my wife's cleavage. Fucker.

Alice looked ready to kill Jessica. "Whore," she whispered, under her breath.

"I second that," Bella agreed.

Pierre was focused on Bella again. "So, where do you and your husband ski?"

Well, shit, Bella doesn't know squat about skiing. "Where do I s...s...ski? Erm..."

"Say Telluride, Colorado," Riley whispered from across the room.

Mostly in Telluride, Colorado. We go to Utah sometimes too." That was a good save.

"Ah...Utah has some nice skiing, but doesn't compare to Interlochen. I insist that you come and visit us. If your husband is too busy, I will make sure that you are well taken care of. You are, after all, an old school friend of Jessica's." The fucker had the nerve to put his arm around Bella.

"Fucker, I don't like anyone touching Stripper Wifey except for you in bed or me on the dance floor. Do something!" Rex whispered from across the ballroom.

"You? How the fuck do you think I'm feeling? She's my mate!" I replied, too low for any humans to hear. That's it, I'm ripping him apart.

Bella extracted herself from Pierre's greasy paws. Mike grabbed her and wrapped his arms securely around her. I noticed that Alice had a secure hold on my arm and Edward closed in on my side. Peter suddenly moved behind me.

"Uh, Pierre, I don't like it when other men touch my wife. You need to keep your hands to yourself."

"My apologies. I keep forgetting that Americans don't express their affection as much as we Europeans do. Would you honor me with a dance, Isabella?" Pierre asked.

Yeah, right. You ain't dancing with my wife. "Felix, if you drained them both—you'd be doing the world a favor."

"Hey, even I have standards." We all chuckled at that bit.

Bella looked up at Pierre and said, "I'd love to dance."

What?

"What?" Rex shouted from the other side of the ballroom, drawing attention to himself. Jessica immediately noticed him, licked her lips, and stalked over to him.

"What the hell is going on with my wife? Why is she dancing with him? Alice, do you see something? What's with Jessica and Pierre? Do they have constant affairs because they seem to flirt a lot with other people?"

"Yeah, they do," Edward confirmed. "He cheats on her, she cheats on him, they know and don't give a shit."

"You know this is really sad. Both of them are going to continue having affairs for the rest of their lives, it's unfortunate, really. Financially, they're set for life, it's their relationship that'll never be...wait..." Alice slipped into another vision. "Oh my God, Bella is going to change the course of things. They're going to realize how much they care for each other after..."

"Why? What's she going to do? Get in a cat fight with Jessica?" Mike asked, hopefully.

"Oh, yeah," Garrett said, enthusiastically rubbing his hands together. "Maybe they'll rip each other's gowns off and expose their breasts while they fight." Kate gave her mate a jolt causing him to jump up and yelp.

"Just watch, honey. Oh, this changes things a lot. Bella and Rex are going to..."

"Rex?" we all asked. What the hell does he have to do with this?

Bella started dancing with Pierre. "I'm afraid I'm not a very good dancer."

"Ma cherie, do not worry, I shall teach you everything I know. I am very skilled."

"Goody! I always wanted to learn how to dance!" My wife had a sneaky smile on her face.

Rex planted himself on the dance floor next to Bella with an overly eager Jessica as his partner. He started talking to Bella in a low tone of voice. "Why the fuck are you dancing with this joker?"

"Who the hell are you to tell me who I can and can't dance with? I have business to settle with this loser," Bella replied.

"What the fuck do you mean business? I don't like it when Stripper Wifey dances with anyone, but me."

"Fuck you, Rex, you're not my keeper!"

"I am on the fucking dance floor!" Rex shouted. "Take your hands off of my girl!"

"Pardon, do you know this man?" Pierre asked Bella.

"Yeah, he's my MAJOR PAIN IN THE ASS!"

"But, I thought you were married to Mike?"

"Only part time!" Rex replied, dancing with a thoroughly horrified and confused looking Jessica.

"Do you realize that those two sound like an old, bickering, married couple?" Garrett asked, approaching us together with Kate.

"Oh, don't worry about them. They're always like that. They have a strange love-hate relationship," I stated. Well, it was true, they did. They were just really comfortable with each other. Neither Tanya nor I had a problem with it. We actually got a kick out of their constant bickering.

"Stop dancing with him!"

"No! You stop dancing with her!"

"I'm only dancing with her because you're dancing with him! The fucking things I have to go through because you decide to cheat on me on the dance floor! Sheesh!"

Pierre twirled Bella into him, she stepped on his foot with her heel and not by accident either. He yelped. I definitely heard something break there.

"Oh goodness! I'm such a bad dancer. " Bella put her hand over her mouth.

"No, no...you are doing fine, ma cherie."

Rex broke into a grin. I think he got the picture. He twirled Jessica straight into Bella. "Aaack!" She started rubbing her elbow which I had no doubt would bruise by morning.

Meanwhile, that fucker Pierre ran his hand over Bella's ass then pulled her close up against his body. This time Bella stomped on his foot with the ball of her foot. "Oops!" she giggled. "I'm so clumsy!"

"Ohhh!" Pierre groaned as a couple of toes shattered.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine," He squawked out. The guy was definitely not giving up. He was now dancing with a limp and a grimace on his face.

Rex twirled Jessica a little too fast and she landed with a thud on the dance floor; at the same time, he elbowed Pierre 'accidentally' in the ribs. _Crack! _"Ay, mon dieu!" Pierre clutched his ribs and doubled over.

"Darling, darling. Are you okay?" Jessica came hobbling over. It looked like she twisted an ankle.

Bella and Rex both apologized for their less than stellar dancing skills. "It is okay, maybe it would be best if I sat down to rest." Pierre moaned, finally giving up.

"I'll help!" Bella offered cheerfully.

"No, no! My wife will help me. Really, please, there's no need," Pierre blurted out quickly. He looked terrified. "Maybe you can dance with my wife's partner."

"Okay, he's kinda hot."

"Sure, I can dance with her," Rex said, slapping his hand on Pierre's back. "Thanks, she's kind of cute."

"You're welcome," Pierre grimaced. Yep, that slap was definitely gonna leave a bruise.

Rex grabbed Bella and started twirling her around the dance floor like a pro as a bewildered Jessica helped her battered husband off of the dance floor and out of the ballroom. I doubted we would ever hear from them again. The vampires in the ballroom were all laughing. Tanya was shaking her head and chuckling.

"Jessica and Pierre are going to nurse each other back to health and confess their affairs to each other. Bella broke two toes on his left foot and fractured his right foot. Rex, on the other hand, broke six of Pierre's ribs when he elbowed him. Jessica sprained her ankle from that last fall. She also fractured her elbow when she bumped into Bella. Oh, and Jasper, keep his card. He'll be handling some of your cash when he's hired by Credit Suisse in about eight years. He's very good and he'll be terrified of you so he'll do a great job." Alice concluded.

"Cool. Thanks Ali." I, then, turned to Mike and planted a fist into his face.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"For kissing Bella, asshole!"

"Thank you, Jasper." My ex-wife smiled brightly at me.

"Anytime, Alice."

_**Three months later...**_

We were nearing the end of summer and it was almost time for school to begin again. We had roughly three weeks of vacation left. There was a heatwave in New York and the sun had been shining bright and sunny for two weeks straight, everyone was pretty much stranded at home during the daylight hours. Those that owned businesses made sure they arrived at work before dawn so they didn't sparkle walking in. Bella and I weren't stranded at all. We dressed like we did in Dubai, Bella in her abaya and burqa and me in my kandura and ghutrah—I just made sure that I wrapped the scarf completely around my face. The humans didn't suspect a thing, they just thought we were tourists from a conservative middle eastern country.

It was around ten pm on a Saturday night, Bella and I were sitting in the living room watching TV. She had her head in my lap and I was mindlessly running my fingers through her hair. Suddenly, Bella crossed her arms tightly across her chest and rolled to the floor.

"Jasperrrr!" she cried.

"Bella! Bella! What is it?"

"R...R...Rose. Need to go now!" She was already out of the door and I was right on her heels. We ran through the night. The humans who caught sight of us only witnessed a blur. Bella's pull to Rose was acting like a beacon, beckoning her to go and save her sister. We arrived in a deserted alley in the Wrigley Park area of Patterson, New Jersey. Rose was sitting—sobbing in the fetal position, in the far corner wedged between a dumpster and a rundown building. In front of her lay the lifeless body of a young man in his twenties, she looked up at us—her eyes were crimson.

"Oh, God...Rosie. Rosie, it's me, it's Bella." My wife wedged herself in between the dumpster and the building and placed her sister on her lap. "What happened?"

Rose broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. She didn't say a word, only cried tearlessly into my mate's arms. I heard the thundering of footsteps and a moment later, Emmett, Pete, and Charlotte arrived.

"Rosie! Rosie!" Emmett approached his mate, but she wasn't letting go of her sister.

"Emmett, let her be. She needs Bella now," I told my brother. The look of concern on his face was palpable.

"Rose." Charlotte approached softly. "Everything's going to be okay. We're all here for you."

"People are coming," Peter warned. "We have to run to my house. It's too populated between here and your house Emmett. Bella, can you run with Rose?"

She nodded that she could.

"You five go on ahead without me. I'll be five minutes behind you. I have to take care of the body."

We started running, it didn't take us long to get to Pete's house. Charlotte started running a bath. Peter arrived while she and Bella were bathing Rose.

"I took care of it. I have his wallet and cell phone right here."

"Oh God!" Rosalie suddenly screamed from upstairs. "I couldn't stop myself. I just couldn't! I followed him. I even took the bus with him. I couldn't resist his scent. It was beautiful, it was the most delectable scent ever. He was like a gourmet meal! I'm a murderer, plain and simple. A murderer! I can never show my face in public again, you guys must be so ashamed of me now! Emmett, oh my God, he's going to think I'm pathetic, he's...God...help me!"

Just as I suspected, Rose had met her singer. Sushmita had warned us that something huge was coming for Rose. She'd get through it fine because we've all been there. Well, Bella hasn't met her singer yet, but she has suffered through the guilt and the shame that accompanies a slip. She suffered for two whole years alone.

I heard some shuffling in the tub. Bella or Char must have hopped in with Rose to hold her.

"I can never think of you that way, Rose. You met your singer. We all have one and it was inevitable that you were going to meet yours."

"Is that who he was? It felt...Jasperrrr! Jasperrrr, I need you!" Rosie cried from upstairs. I looked to Emmett for permission because I knew that his mate would be undressed. He nodded at me to go ahead. I felt nothing, but concern for Rose from him at the moment.

I knocked on the bathroom door. "Just a minute!" Bella called. It sounded like Rose was getting dressed. Phew. Charlotte opened the door, she and Bella stepped out and ran down stairs. Rose tumbled into my arms clad in a thick terry cloth robe that belonged to Peter. I picked her up and carried her to the soundproofed room that Peter had set up for me and Bella. I knew she needed to talk in private.

I sat, holding my sister, on the bed until she was ready to talk. It was already daylight out when she finally decided to speak. "It was horrible, Jasper—the bloodlust, the need to feed, the want; it took over my entire being. I hunted him. I followed him until I knew I could take him, it was the only thing on my mind—nothing else entered it. I was consumed by his blood. I had to have it. I couldn't stop myself—the thought didn't even cross my mind."

Rose didn't leave my arms. She kept on sobbing tearlessly. For some reason, she needed me. Maybe it was because I've had the most slip ups in the family. Whenever I thought of slip ups, I thought of Felix. His attitude was refreshingly different from what I was used to when I was with the Cullens. While he tried hard to feed solely off of animals, he was having a lot of difficulty sticking to it so when he knew he wasn't satisfied enough and was in danger of slipping up; he would just tell everyone that either he finds a rapist or a murderer to feed off of or he's going to kill an innocent. We all encouraged him to go then, we didn't consider his feeding off of humans a slip up. Now, to deal with Rose.

"Rosie, you need to understand that the bloodlust you felt for that man was ten times more powerful than the standard bloodlust. He was your singer. I don't know why we vampires have singers, but we do. You reacted normally, most people can't resist their singers. Do you remember what happened when Emmett met his?"

"Yes, he said he abducted her in broad daylight without caring who was watching. He threw her in his car, drove to a secluded spot, then went for her jugular."

"Did you judge him?"

"No, how could I? She was his singer. He couldn't control himself."

"Okay, so why are you judging yourself?"

"He didn't do a thing to me. He was just catching the bus home and I happened to catch sight of him coming out of the store. What the hell did he do to deserve to be murdered?"

"Rose, if you judge yourself then you judge all of us. When I met my singer, I not only drained her, I seduced her and had my way with her, too. Of course, that was still when I was with Maria, but she didn't deserve what happened to her either. To this day, the guilt of what I did still rests on my conscience; but I don't let it consume me. I did what I did because I acted on vampire instinct. The sexual desire that comes with the bloodlust you feel for a singer is overpowering. More often than not, the singer is violated before he or she is drained. Just ask Felix, Peter, Garrett, or Laurent. Even the women will tell you that's what happens, ask any of the Denali girls, Esme, Charlotte, or Vicky."

"Oh God! God! Jasper!" Rose howled in pain. "That's what hurts so much. I wanted him. I wanted to have my way with him! I couldn't bring myself to do it so I just snapped his neck and drank from him until he was drained dry! I felt so dirty, so low, so...aaaagggghhhh...make it stop Jasper! Make it stop! Please!"

It was the one thing I couldn't do. She had to deal with this without me giving her a false sense of security with my gift. "I can't Rose, like it or not, you drained your singer and the feelings that accompanied it were what you actually felt at the time. You're going to hate me for saying this, but it was purely instinctual. That doesn't mean you shouldn't feel remorse for what you did, but you need to forgive yourself. Don't let the guilt eat away at you. You had no control over what you did. Accept it, Rose."

My sister started sobbing and screaming and pounding on my chest. "Why Jasper? Why? Don't you love me?"

"I do love you, that's why you have to work through this on my own. The guilt, the shame, everything it hurts! I know it does, I've been there, Rosie—time and time again. I can't send you any calm and sugarcoat it for you, it'll be worse if I do. I won't let you go through this alone, though. I'm here for you. Don't let it consume you!"

Rose went back to crying and screaming. She screamed, she cried, she hollered, she cried, she hit, she cried, and she cried some more until she finally collapsed onto her knees, begging whatever god was up there for mercy. I got down on the floor with her and prayed right next to her, the utter despair emanating from her hit me square in the chest. She fell into my arms and cried again. I wrapped my arms tightly around her and promised her that I wouldn't let go, then rocked her as she whimpered in agony.

For three days, my sister went through cycles of crying, screaming, and praying until she had a revelation, "Oh, Jasper! I just thought of something horrific."

"What is it?"

"Bella went through this all by herself when she drained the guy who tried to rape her. She didn't have anyone to hold her or listen to her rant and rave. She kept the pain, the agony, the guilt, the shame, all of it bottled up inside of her. How did she do it, Jasper? How? I couldn't have gotten through these days without you."

"I don't know, Rose, what Bella felt was simple bloodlust, though. There wasn't an overwhelming feeling of sexual desire accompanying what she felt. Hers was thirst coupled with anger and fear. It doesn't lessen her feelings of guilt and shame, though. Those were still the same."

"She was alone, though. How did she deal with it alone?"

"I don't know how she did it, but what I can tell you is that when I finally got to her she was a walking shell of herself. She let all of the guilt and shame affect her and the feelings of unworthiness emanating from her were significant. It took up until last year's soul reading with Sush for her to fully release the pain. You don't ever want to let it fester or eat away at your psyche like that. Someone once told me, 'Don't let guilt consume you; accept that what you did was wrong, then move on. Otherwise, it'll entrap you and limit your ability to function normally. Remember that bloodlust is natural to vampires.' I think that if you keep that advice in mind, it'll help you. Yes, taking a life when unprovoked was wrong, but the bloodlust and the desire you felt was not something you created yourself, it was instantaneous, instinctual, and natural."

"Those are wise words. Was it Carlisle that told you that?"

"No, believe it or not, it was Maria."

Rose's eyes widened at my revelation. "Maria? I didn't think she had a brain."

"You have to have a brain to become a powerful dictator, Rose. That's why she's survived this long, but regardless of how nasty Maria is, those words of advice, at least, are worth taking into consideration. You really had no control over the situation. You did control yourself, though, you didn't violate him. You, yourself, said that you couldn't bring yourself to do it. That's something to be proud of."

"Thank you, Jasper, for being you—for understanding, for helping me to understand. I love you."

"I love you, too, Rose." I held her for a few more hours until she finally built up the courage to go downstairs.

Peter wasn't home, he must be running the shop by himself. Emmett had his arms around both Bella and Char. They were both snuggled into his massive chest. Rose sat on the loveseat across from them and started confessing what she did and how she felt.

They all had tears in their eyes, Charlotte assured her that the feelings of desire that she felt was perfectly normal. She admitted that she couldn't stop herself from dazzling her victim into submission when she met her singer.

Emmett, then, owned up to the truth, "Rosie, I lied to you when I told you that all I did was drain my singer. I didn't, I dazzled her and violated her before I drained her. I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't..."

"Oh, Em!" Rose ran over to her husband and held him as he sobbed into her arms. "It wasn't your fault, I understand now, you couldn't stop yourself. I almost couldn't stop myself. Why Emmett? Why do you keep everything bottled up inside of you? You met your singer in 1952."

"You wouldn't have understood, then."

Rose nodded her head. "You're right, I wouldn't have understood. It's not something you can understand until you go through it yourself. You can't resist it, it consumes you until you give in to it. I don't know how Amrita or Edward did it."

Neither did I. Amrita was restrained by three vampires, but Edward resisting Bella day in and day out when she was human—the sheer amount of control that took must have been massive. Thank God, he had that control because I would have been without my mate for eternity.

Rose and Emmett thanked us and decided to go home and talk. Charlotte gave Rose about twenty boxes of contact lenses that she had on hand for work until her eyes returned to their golden color again. "You'll need to get more, it takes about five weeks for your eyes to return to their normal shade."

After they left, Char spoke again, "Pete said he won't be home until nine. I need to go on a hunt desperately. Can you guys come with me?"

"Of course, Char, I can use one too."

The three of us left in Charlotte's truck to go hunting. Neither Bella nor Char pried into my three day session of talking to Rose. They respected her privacy. They understood the need for personal space, something many of our family members failed to understand.

None of us really talked, what happened with Rose was still fresh in our minds. Charlotte dropped us off at the train station after our hunt and Bella and I headed home. We had a silent ride home. We sat next to each other, but apart; both of us needing to contemplate the events that transpired alone. Upon arrival at our house. Bella went upstairs to bathe. I did the same in a different bathroom. I sat downstairs and watched TV for the rest of the night, Bella spent her time reading upstairs. We both needed time to think alone and remained that way until morning.

Rosalie's experience brought back a lot of bad memories of my slips and transgressions against human society. I know now, due to Sushmita, that we all definitely have a soul. I thought back to my own soul reading from Sush, during which she pointed out that it's what we do with our souls from this point on is what matters. Our past actions, good or bad, has led us to the point we're at. Dwelling on the past doesn't help us, it's our choices now—in the present, that will determine the course of our souls in the future.

I was roused out of my musings by my wife who was quietly standing in front of me with a packed bag. I don't even know when she got there. "I want to go to Forks."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"Yes."

"When do you want to leave?"

"Now."

I threw my shoes on and grabbed the keys to the house in Forks. Carlisle gave us a set because he knew that Bella went to visit Charlie at least once a year, usually more. The two of us left immediately for the airport and, by early evening, we had arrived at the no longer familiar house in Forks. The house had been torn down and completely rebuilt from the bottom up. Carlisle, in a fit of rage, had gone to Forks after the divorce and torn Esme's masterpiece down with his bare hands. Afterwards, he met with an architect and made plans to have the house designed and built to his specifications. Edward and Alice no longer had rooms in the new house. Carlisle designated a floor of his house each for himself, for Bella and me, and for Rose and Emmett. There were only two guest rooms in the house. Carlisle's message was clear, the house in Forks was meant to be a sanctuary for his immediate family and invited guests only.

I still didn't know what Bella wanted to achieve here. She'd tell me in time. I had faith in her. We spent the evening reading. I noticed that Bella was stuck on the same page of her book for the entire night. It was around ten pm when she suddenly got up off of our bed.

"Bella?"

"I need to visit Daddy, come with me." She held her hand out to me. I took it. We ran to Charlie Swan's grave. Bella sat down in front of his headstone and gave him an update on everything that's been going on in her life including what was revealed about her during the soul reading.

"Oh, Daddy, the thing is, I know in my heart what I have to do, but it doesn't make my task any easier. I need strength and reassurance."

I sat beside Bella and put my arm around her. She put her head on my shoulder. "It's time."

Bella took her cell phone out and placed a call. A few minutes later, Jacob Black showed up with two men—fellow shapeshifters from what I could smell. They all nodded to Bella and me.

"Hello Jacob, Quil, Embry. How are you?"

"Good. You stink, but you're still cute, Bells," the one named Quil said.

"Thanks, how come you're the only one still phasing? You still look young. Jacob and Embry look, well...older."

"Ah, it's because I still have Claire to think about. I had to keep her safe throughout the years. I didn't want her to have to be imprinted to an old geezer."

"That's pretty sensitive of you, Quil. Claire must be um..." Bella started adding and subtracting on her fingers. I rolled my eyes, so did Jacob. I'm beginning to agree with Vicky that Bella can use one more round of high school math.

"Seventeen, Bells. Sheesh!" Jacob stated.

"That's right. We finally started dating last year." Quil showed Bella a picture of his imprint.

"So, Bella, why did you call me?" Jacob Black asked.

"I wanted to talk to you alone, or at least the semblance of being alone is fine. I know, you're going to have Quil and Embry trail you at a distance, I'm not stupid. My mate will be doing the same."

"Give us a little space," Jacob told his friends.

"Um, since you're going to be following us together anyway, let me introduce you guys to each other. Quil and Embry, this is my mate and husband, Jasper Whitlock. Jasper this is Quil Ateara and Embry Call."

The three of us shook hands and gave Jacob and Bella a bit of a head start. We didn't really say anything to each other as we walked about a hundred yards behind them.

"Here's the thing, Jake," Bella said. "I forgive you for accidentally causing my father's death. You were a young shapeshifter and you lacked control. You acted purely on instinct. You saw vampires, phased, then attacked. It's what you were born to do."

Jacob stopped walking. So did we. "Why Bella? Why now?"

"It was just time to clear the air—to let things go. I'm through blaming you for something that you had no control over. I owe you at least that much."

"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm so sorry. I took your father away from you, he was all you had left."

"No, I had my brother Riley and his wife Vicky. They were there for me every step of the way. They got my shit together and even made sure that I graduated from college. Everything turned out okay. I'm happy and I'm in a really good place right now."

"Can I ask you a question, Bella?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"When did you become a vampire?"

"About five and a half years after I left Forks. I was almost died from a gunshot wound."

"Are you happy? I mean, what's it like being dead?"

"I don't know Jake, I haven't been dead yet. I'm still alive and living life. I'm probably more alive than when you last saw me in Forks."

"Yeah, I think you might be. Thank you, Bella."

"You're welcome, Jake."

The two of them chatted for a bit about their lives and gave each other hugs before heading back to their respective homes. "Take care of her," Jacob whispered to me before turning towards La Push. I felt nothing, but love from his heart for Bella.

Bella and I left Forks by 3am. We drove at human speed to Seattle and arrived there by morning. We returned the rental car and took the shuttle to the airport. My mate had a decidedly lighter step.

"Bella, what do you want to do now?"

"You pick, Jasper, we still have almost three weeks of summer vacation left."

Well, hell, we're on the West Coast. I'm thinking Vegas. Two hours later, I was arguing with the manager of the Palms Hotel.

"I'm sorry Mr. Whitlock, but that room is currently occupied and the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa is undergoing renovations."

"Well, where the heck are my wife and I supposed to stay then?" I know I was being short tempered and unreasonable considering that we walked in unannounced without reservations, but damn it; I really wanted to stay in the Erotic Suite and play with my mate."

"I can offer you any of our available fantasy suites—free of charge. We have the Hardwood Suite with the basketball court."

"No," Bella said.

"How about the G-Suite?"

"It's too guy. I wouldn't be able to relax there."

"Ah, I know, what about the Barbie Suite? You stayed there once with your sister."

"No way! What if those Barbie dolls come alive and attack me? Have you thought about that?"

The manager and I looked at Bella quizzically. She was really creeped out by that room. I, personally, liked the idea of the stripper pole.

"Then, it'll have to be the Kingpin Suite. The other rooms are occupied."

"That'll be fine, thank you." Since when did my wife take over negotiations? Okay, I guess we don't have much of a choice. The Kingpin Suite it is.

We were personally shown to our room and given a tour by the hotel manager. Oh, hell, yeah! Two bowling lanes, a pool table, and the piece de resistance-two stripper poles on the bar and one in the show shower. Of course, I only had one available stripper, but hell she can strip three times for me. In fact, she can stay naked the entire time we're in this room. I wonder where we can pick up stripper heels for her here. I'll have to give Claude a call.

The manager gave us a pass for VIP access to all of the clubs within the Palms Hotel plus two spa packages worth a thousand dollars each including daily use of their Hammam—whatever the fuck that is.

I tipped him a thousand bucks in cash and told him I'd be gambling at the Playboy Club tonight. I was feeling pretty lucky. I planned on taking the house for all it was worth. I saw the manager out, then locked the door to our suite. We'd have to go shopping for clothes since Bella only packed for one night, but that shit could wait.

I looked for Bella, but she was nowhere to be found. I heard some Lady Gaga start playing and the shower turn on. I walked into the bathroom to see a naked Bella twirling around the stripper pole. There was a chair set up for me directly in front so I could watch. I pulled my iPhone out and started filming her. My cock was straining uncomfortably in my jeans ready to take on a life of it's own. Holy fuck! I need her now. I just realized that it's been five days since we...ahh...that's my girl...grab that pole and arch that back...that's it...oh fuck...spread those legs a bit wider, show me that beautiful pussy of yours. Fuck me. I couldn't take it anymore, I ripped my clothes off and plunged into my mate. She held onto the pole with her back arched as I ran my hands over her beautiful tits. She let out a small moan as my fingers lightly grazed her sensitive nipples, then moved down her stomach to her clit. I started rubbing small circles on her nub and tongued that sensual spot where I mark my mate time and time again while Bella backed her pussy up on me and fucked me, still holding on to the pole. Oh fuck, there's no way I'm gonna be able to hold it in for much longer.

"Keep doing what you're doing, babe. Sit on my cock, just like that. Don't stop...faster."

Bella sped up her movements and before I knew it we were screaming each other's names in a fit of passion.

"Mark me, Jasper! Now!" she ordered. I sunk my teeth straight into her spot and kept myself attached for just a while longer than usual. She needed to feel that I was a part of her and so did I. It had been days since we'd been together sensually and we needed to reconnect. We washed off in the shower and got ready to go. We were down to our last pair of underwear so, unfortunately, shopping was a must. On top of that, we needed dressy clothes for hitting the casinos and the clubs in the evenings.

Geez! We boarded the elevator, but for some reason, it went up from the twenty-fifth floor to the twenty-eighth. That's when we heard familiar voices coming from one of the rooms. We walked off of the elevator and decided to follow the voices, they led straight to the fucking Erotic Suite—the one that I wanted. That bastard! I wanted to test out this room with my mate. I knocked on the door and told them to open up.

"Jasper! My latex clad Indian sister barreled into my arms. I gave her a big hug and so did Bella. Amrita flicked her flogger and nailed me on the ass. Fuck, that hurt.

"What are you two doing here? Where's Amar?"

"Mm...ri...heremph," he managed to get out. He was strapped naked to a St. Andrew's Cross with a ball gag in his mouth. "Mm..per, Mm..ella—hmmelp me!"

"What did I tell you about speaking without permission?" Amrita smacked him with a leather flogger.

"Mmmaaaarrrgh!"

Bella's mouth was hanging completely open as she took in the sight before her. I think Amrita has taken her lessons with Char a little too far. Holy fuck!

"Um, we're going shopping, would you care to join us?" Bella asked quickly. I think she felt bad for poor Amar.

Amar was nodding his head in agreement up and down, desperately.

"Ooh, shopping. That's a great idea," Amrita said as she mindlessly flicked her flogger on Amar's chest continuously ignoring his flinches. "I think I'll go get ready now. Jasper, can you unbuckle my mate from his bindings? Oh, and no release for you, Amar, because you talked out of turn."

I unlatched Amar immediately. "Jasper, she's insane. Ever since she attended school in America, she's become more and more dominant in the bedroom. I can understand why you send Bella to Columbia University instead of to Mistress Charlotte's School of Sensual Arts."

Uh, no shit, you dumb fuck. Columbia's actually a real institute of higher learning, you'd have to be high to think Char's classes actually constituted a real education.

Bella was still standing there wide-eyed and in complete shock. "Ah, Bella, it's so good to see you." Amar hugged my mate tight and kissed the top of her head.

"Oh!" Bella gasped and looked down. I caught the source of her distress, then. His dick and nutsacks were tied off in some sort of elaborate weave and standing at attention

"I apologize. Amrita tied me off so I wouldn't lose my erection. I've been like this for the last eighteen hours." He untied himself and walked to his room to get dressed. Okay, no Erotic Suite for Bella and me. It's just a little too kinky for us.

"Bella? Bella? Are you okay?"

"Uh...uh..."

I pulled my mate in for a hug. "Never. We're never staying in this room. I promise. It's a bit too hardcore for us."

"Uh..huh...uh..."

"I love you, Bella."

"Uh-huh."

"You can close your mouth now."

"Huh?"

The four of us went shopping at the Forum Shops. I checked in with Claude and tipped him five grand so he would be on call for us just in case. Amrita went crazy buying lingerie at Agent Provacateur. She liked the kinky stuff that Pete preferred. Bella, on the other hand, stuck with Victoria's Secret. Amar and I separated from the women at one point so we could go shopping for clothes.

"Jasper, something has to be done. My Maharani has become just a little too overzealous in her homework. She's actually been emailing filmed reports of our sessions to Mistress Charlotte. This is becoming ridiculous."

"I'll talk to Char and have her speak with Amrita. What brought you two to Las Vegas anyway?"

"Oh, well, I'm actually here to meet with a tea purveyor in Philadelphia in five days time. This deal has the potential to be worth millions of dollars. Sahil and Eleazar are looking after the business in Darjeeling. I've wanted to come to Las Vegas ever since I heard about it from Bella and Riley so I decided to bring Amrita with me on a little vacation before the meeting. We were actually going to surprise you with a visit in three days, but it seems you're on holiday too."

"This was an unplanned trip. You're welcome to come for a visit in three days. We'll fly home with you. When did you arrive?"

"Two nights ago. If you don't mind Jasper, I'd appreciate it if you would come with me to the meeting. I'd also like to go to a casino while I'm here."

"Of course I'll go with you to the meeting. You know I've got your back. When we get back home, we'll research the company you're dealing with to make sure they're legit. We're planning on going to the Playboy Club tonight. Do you wanna come with us? The girls in the bunny suits are cute and they're not as hardcore as your mate." I winked.

"We will. We'll join you for everything. My cock could use a rest. I've booked time at the Hammam at six pm. Why don't you join us?"

"Uh, sure, okay."

We met up at the concierge desk where the girls were chatting with Claude, "Mr. Whitlock, shall I have your bags delivered to your rooms?"

"Please, also would you..."

"Pick up a suitcase for you and Mrs. Whitlock and have it delivered along with your purchases?"

"Exactly. You're a perceptive man, Claude."

We headed back to the hotel and unwound in our rooms for a bit before meeting our friends at the Hammam. It turned out to be a traditional Turkish Steam Bath. We had the room to ourselves for an hour. Amar explained that he declined the traditional massage and washing services because the humans would become suspicious of our marble skin. He and Amrita then stripped to nothing and showed us what to do. They washed each other from head to toe, similar to how Sahil does to us in India.

Okay, when in Rome...yeah, but we're in Las Vegas...all this shit stays here. I helped Bella out of her clothes and she threw a towel over her body to cover herself.

"I will wash Bella," Amrita offered. She removed Bella's towel from her with a snap and got to work.

Amar grinned and wagged his eyebrows at me. Fuck, yeah! Amrita started soaping Bella up from head to toe and scrubbing her body using some sort of a hand mitt that was provided for each of us. Holy shit! This had to be one of the most erotic things I've ever seen. Amrita's just washing Bella, but hell she was doing it naked and there was just something really sexy about it. Of course, there was nothing sexual going on, but when you have two of the hottest bodies on earth stark naked, wet, and soapy; all kinds of fantasies start running through your brain.

I looked over at Amar and gave him two thumbs up. He pointed to the camcorder that he had hidden on a ledge that was filming our wives. He was sure to give me a copy—this would be for just me and him. I chuckled as I sat and relaxed, taking in the glorious sight beholding my eyes. Yep, he sure is a great brother.

**So, you received a bit of an update on some of Bella's classmates from Forks High. How do you like the way Bella handle Jessica and her slimy husband? What did you think of what happened to Rose? Do you think that Bella did the right thing by forgiving Jacob? Jasper and Bella also got to run into Amar and Amrita in Las Vegas. Really, they're all a bunch of pervs, aren't they? I'd love to know your thoughts and I will always respond to your wonderful reviews. XOXO**


	51. Chapter 51

**Thank you for all of your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts. They make me feel all tingly! Eighties movies and a dip in Jasper's jacuzzi pool for all of you. The next few chapters are going to be more lighthearted. After that, we delve into heavier topics as Maria approaches.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

_**A/N: Skippy is Felix. That was his nickname when he was a sniper during the Civil War.**_

**Bella's POV**

We had arrived home in Manhattan about two weeks ago and I felt completely refreshed. The impromptu visit from Amar and Amrita was exactly what I needed to regroup my brain. I missed both of them so much.

I thought back to my trip to Forks, forgiving Jacob was something that was long overdue and needed to be done. Seeing Rosalie lose control after meeting her singer proved to me that, in the case of supernatural beings, instinct can definitely overpower control. Jacob couldn't control his reaction to seeing two vampires that day, just like Rose couldn't control draining her singer. In Jake's case, Charlie was the one who stepped in front of two vampires in order to protect them. Daddy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and I could no longer blame Jake for his death. That's why I forgave him.

I thought back to the soul reading session with Sush. She told us that in order for us to conquer Maria, we had to be at peace individually and collectively. I had one more thing to do, this one was going to be tougher than dealing with Jacob. I climbed into a taxi and made my way to a place that I never thought I'd ever visit.

I entered the modern, midtown Manhattan office and gave my name to the receptionist. A few minutes later, I was shown into a beautifully designed office. I faced the woman that I hadn't spoken to in over a year and spoke, "Hello, Esme."

"Bella, how can I help you today?"

I decided to just dive into the meat of the matter. "I'm here to make amends. You and I need to make a fresh start. I, for one, admit that I was wrong in thinking that I could exclude you from my life. I can, however, say that I was deeply hurt by your actions and that I needed this time to process my feelings. I can't say that we'll go back to being close friends, but maybe, in time, we can reach a point where we can have a civil friendship of sorts."

"Why, Bella? Why now?"

"Let's just say that I had a cathartic moment. I realized that, like it or not, you're a part of my life. My husband still maintains a relationship with you and so does my brother. Your venom runs through me as well. You were one of those that gave me this vampire existence. I knew that your behavior was caused under extreme emotional duress and that, in many ways, you couldn't help yourself. You convinced yourself that I was sleeping with Carlisle to the point where, in your mind, you thought it was true, so you acted upon that thought. Your mate behaved as a mate should have, he protected you from those that would hurt you. It was purely instinctual. I forgave you both, long ago, but I was still angry. I'm through being angry now. Anger has the ability to conquer you and consume you, I refuse to let that one emotion win. As vampires, we exist forever—that's entirely too long to hold a grudge."

"Oh, Bella. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I behaved the way that I did. Everyone lost faith in me that day and rightfully so. I've been thinking about my actions and, well, reprehensible would be too mild of a word to describe it."

She looked like she wanted to hug me, but I wasn't ready for that yet. I just wanted to let her know that I'd try to rebuild a relationship of sorts with her. She would never, ever be my mother again, but, in time, maybe we could become friends.

"What does Jasper say about all of this?"

"He doesn't make decisions for me, Esme. I think things through for myself and come to my own conclusions. He does the same himself. We don't make decisions for anyone, but ourselves."

"Thank you, Bella. Maybe sometime we can find a time to chat. Perhaps, we can take a walk around Central Park together to start rebuilding our relationship."

"That's fine, Esme. The next month is going to be pretty hectic for me with school beginning again. I know myself enough to say that I have to give myself time to settle into a rhythm before I'm comfortable with my schedule. Perhaps, after that, we can go for a walk."

"That'll be nice. Thank you, Bella."

"You're welcome." With that, I left. I felt lighter than I had felt before. Negative emotions have a way of bogging you down and it was time for me to release them.

I smiled as I walked through the streets of Manhattan. There was a street vendor selling a t-shirt with bleeding vampire fangs on the front that read 'Bite Me' so I bought one for Jasper. He'd get a good laugh out of that.

I continued walking until I reached Argosy Bookstore. They dealt with rare, out of print, and antiquarian books. I browsed the shelves and found something that piqued my interest—a beautiful green, cloth covered first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. It was in near perfect condition, but the asking price was five thousand dollars.

I ran two fingers over the spine and admired the book. I was contemplating whether or not to purchase it when strong arms wrapped around me from behind and engulfed me in a hug. The voice attached to it quoted from the very book I was admiring. "I love New York on summer afternoons when everyone's away. There's something very sensuous about it—overripe, as if all sorts of funny fruits were going to fall into your hands."

"Jordan from chapter seven of 'The Great Gatsby.' Hello, Edward, fancy meeting you here."

"Hey sis, I was just seeing if there was anything new here. Oh, and don't buy that. I have two copies, you can have one of mine."

"Why do you have two copies?"

"I thought I'd lost one so I bought a second copy. It turned out that Carlisle had borrowed it. They're both first editions and in way better condition than this one."

"I'll take you up on that offer. Thanks, Edward." I gave him a peck on the cheek. The two of us left the bookstore, hand in hand, and roamed the streets of New York City. Edward and I didn't see each other often anymore because we both had busy schedules, so just hanging out together was a rare treat. This was a random meeting. Apparently, Edward had a business meeting in Manhattan that went better than expected so he decided to just hang out in the city instead of going back to help at the shop—hence, the suit.

"I'm telling you, Bella, hiring Gianna was the greatest thing ever. It gives both me and Mike a little more free time and her sales volume is incredible. The men just flock to her because of her looks and her accent. We still have to share her with Tanya and Amanda, though. They won't give her up because they sell more when Gianna's working too. Everyone trusts Gianna's opinion because she's Italian and they equate Italy with fashion. Come on, I want to show you something."

Edward took me to a rundown pub in the East Village. The sign in front read 'Mc Sorley's Old Ale House—Established 1854.'

"Gee Edward, this place is actually older than you are."

"Yeah, I used to come here during my rebellious years when I hunted humans. It was during Prohibition so they had a backroom where they served ale. They didn't allow women in here until 1970, you know."

"Really? Wow, they were one of the last holdouts, huh?"

"Yeah, their motto was 'Good ale, raw onions, and no ladies.' Anyway, I used to come here, find my prey, follow him out, and lead him to his death."

"Ah...and we're here, why?"

"Nostalgia and because there are certain things in my life that I can only share with you. Amanda is very much a product of this generation."

It was true, Amanda had absolutely no interest in anything from the past. In fact, history and literature were her two least favorite subjects. She liked new and modern things, but it couldn't be helped; when Amanda was transformed, she lost her personal history—she had to relearn everything in a short period of time so whatever she processed was 'in the now,' so to speak.

"Yeah, you're an old fart," I chuckled.

"Hey, I'm trying. I'm much more with the times than when I was dating you."

"Okay, I'll give you that."

"You know, Sushmita's soul reading was eye-opening. I now know that we all have souls, it's what we choose to do with it that determines our futures. Sure, I chose to be judge and jury of the souls of others at one point in my life, but that's because I thought of myself as a soulless monster. I didn't think it was right that murderers and rapists had souls and I didn't. I know better now, even James had a soul, however black it was—Sushmita could read it."

"Yeah, she could. That was some pretty scary stuff she revealed." I thought of the fact that James wanted me for himself. I also thought of the fact that Sushmita and Peter both said that I would have to be the one to destroy Maria. I started sobbing. "I'm terrified, Edward."

Edward pulled me into his arms and let me cry. He ran his fingers through my hair and, after a while, said, "Bella, the old Edward would have told you to run—to not face her, but now I know better. You have to face her and you will. I know you will and you'll defeat her, too, do you know why?"

"Why?"

"You see, I've always known that you were a better person than the rest of us—that your soul was purer than ours. A soul that is pure and whole holds untold powers."

"My soul isn't that pure, I'm a murderer, Edward."

"No, Bella, no...you aren't a murderer. Remember Sushmita said that by killing the man that tried to rape you, you rid the world of a blackened soul. No matter the reason, you saved at least one pure soul, probably more."

"I can't, Edward."

"You can. You're stronger than you know and one more thing—you're mated to the Major. I have no idea what forces of nature brings two mates together, but I can tell you that there has to be a damn good reason why you're mated to the strongest vampire on earth."

He walked me home after that. I went straight upstairs to my room to contemplate our conversation. I heard Edward quietly whispering to Jasper what we had talked about before leaving. Jasper came upstairs and laid on the bed next to me. He spooned me in his arms and silently allowed me to think.

"No matter what Bella, I'll be by your side always," he reassured.

I had no doubt that he would be, just like I would always be by his side—in life and in death.

_**Seven months later...**_

Life continued on. Carlisle, Jasper, Felix, and I were attending Columbia. Jasper and Skippy were in all of my classes and it was pissing me off because they were doing better than I was. According to the professors, they brought refreshing points of views to the discussions. Yeah, right, more like archaic viewpoints that appeared refreshing because they were from a century and a half ago.

My relationship with Esme was slowly improving. We met every two weeks and went for a walk in Central Park. Alistair came along the other day, I had to admit that he was a pretty interesting guy, now that he wasn't trying to rip my head off.

Sundays were now combat training days, we met at either the Denali home or Pete's home and Jasper and Felix took the lead in teaching us the best ways to handle newborns. Peter, Vicky, and Char were their seconds. The rest of us were just peons. Well, not Laurent, though. They were also incorporating karate into our fight tactics because Maria wouldn't be expecting it. Another thing they were doing was having Riley run us through football training drills to improve our strength and coordination. He was also teaching us footwork, tackling, and blocking because these moves would also throw the newborns for a loop.

It was Friday night and the start of Spring Break, Carlisle, Felix, Riley, and Emmett had picked up Jasper a couple of hours ago. The five of them were going to a screening of the 'Godfather' somewhere in SoHo tonight, then stopping at a bar for drinks. Rosie was coming over in thirty minutes. We were going to spend the evening hanging out and watching eighties flicks with some Jack Daniels and the hookah.

I was upstairs vacuuming when the doorbell rang, "It's open, come in!" I heard the door open, then close. I shut the vacuum off and ran downstairs to greet my sister. "I was just upstairs vacuuming. You're earl...uh...um...uh...excuse me, who are you?"

I was staring into the smiling face of a gorgeous female vampire with twinkling red eyes. She was sitting on my sofa with her shoes off and her feet up on my coffee table with two large suitcases by her side. Jasper didn't tell me about any unexpected house guests. She was about to speak, but Rosie walked inside at the moment and locked the door behind her. "Sis, how many times do I have to tell you to lock the fucking door? You never know who'll walk inside with it unlocked like this. This isn't fucking Forks, you know!"

Yeah, I definitely see the validity to her point now. If I survive the night, I'll make sure that I lock the door as soon as I enter the house from now on.

"Your sister makes a good point, you know. You could have been beaten up, raped, or murdered by some psychotic vampire. Luckily, it's just me."

Rose stood stock still by my side. She, too, now was unable to speak.

The vampire spoke again, "Since you two aren't going to introduce yourselves, I'll just take it upon myself to do so. I'm Chelsea Volturi."

"V...V...V..." was the only sound that Rose and I could mumble.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not like those asswipes in Italy. I swear it. I just had to take their last name because I have no idea what mine is, plus that's what it says on my passport. See?" Chelsea showed us her passport and she was, in fact, who she said she was.

"Excuse me, what brought you to my house?" I asked.

"Can you tell me your names first so I'm not standing here like an idiot wondering who the fuck you are?"

"Um, I'm Isabella Whitlock and this is my sister Rosalie McCarty."

"Oh, good to finally know your names. I just arrived in New York and was walking around when I smelled a familiar scent. Where's Felix?"

I gulped, "Um, he's out for the evening."

"Oh, you don't mind if I just park my ass here and wait for him, do you? I don't really have anywhere that I can go."

Rose finally decided to speak then, "Don't you have a rather large castle in Volterra, Italy that you call your lair?"

"I used to, but not anymore. I'm no longer welcome there. Well, that was kind of my own doing...I guess you could say that I'm on the run, but they won't be looking for me. They won't feel a connection to me, you see. Oh my gosh, is that Sixteen Candles? I loooove Jake Ryan—he is so fuckhot. Oh and you have The Breakfast Club, too. Ooh! A hookah and Jack Daniels. I have nail polish somewhere in my suitcase. Oh, I know! We can give each other manicures and pedicures and do our hair. You could really stand to run a hairbrush through your hair. It's really pretty, but you have tangles in it. So, which film are we watching first?"

Boy, could this girl talk! Rose and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. We were standing there holding onto each other looking completely stunned. Chelsea opened up one of her suitcases and started digging through it. She pulled out some pajamas, took her clothes off, and threw them on. "Aren't you two going to wear pj's too?"

"Uh, sure. We'll go change," I said uneasily.

Rose and I bolted upstairs to my room. "What the hell is going on?"

"Beats me," I answered, as I got out a pair of pajamas for Rose. "Let's just put some pj's on and try to get to know her and hope to God that our men get back soon. So far, I don't feel any bad vibes from her, do you?"

"No, she's actually very nice, but she talks too much."

We were back downstairs in no time. We started with The Breakfast Club, then moved onto Sixteen Candles. By the end of the two movies, the three of us were toasted.

"Hey, Bella, let's go skinny dipping in the jacuzzi pool!" Rose suggested.

"Fun!" Chelsea was standing naked in the middle of my living room in no time. Oh, well, I suppose I should be a good hostess. I got out of my pajamas, so did Rose, and the three of us ran upstairs to the jacuzzi pool. Chelsea was extremely proactive—she brought along six bottles of Jack Daniels plus the hookah. She put everything down and dove straight into the pool. Rose and I had bonded with Chelsea tonight. We knew her entire story with the Volturi including how they forced her to create a mating bond between herself and some schmuck named Afton. We were completely livid!

We decided to climb my tree and we started singing repeatedly to the tune of 'Happy Birthday'—making up our own words as we went along. I really like Chelsea, she's tons of fun.

**Jasper's POV**

"Carlisle, that was fucking classic! I'm glad we went to see it," Riley stated. "My favorite part was when Clemenza says, 'Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.' Shit! That cannoli looked good."

"What the heck's a cannoli?" I asked.

"It's an Italian dessert. They throw a sweet cream cheese filling into a crunchy, tube shaped shell."

"Cannoli means little shell in Italian," Felix pointed out. "It's also slang for cock."

"You actually ate something shaped like a dick, man?" Emmett questioned Riley.

"Yeah and I enjoyed it, too. They taste good."

"Dicks?"

"No, cannolis, fucker!" Riley punched Emmett in the arm.

"Ow!"

"I don't know about you guys, but I get fucking horny whenever I see the Godfather," I pointed out.

"Yeah," they all mumbled.

"Hey, it's fine for you guys, you all have mates. The last time I got laid was during angry sex with Esme and that was over two years ago. I'm getting sick of jerking off in the shower!"

"Shit, let's get out of this bar and hit Jasper's jacuzzi pool," Riley suggested. "I could use a swim."

We picked up a case of Jack Daniels on the way home and started drinking. We were having a stag night of sorts. That brought back memories of our last stag night when all of us gathered at Pete's place to watch Ashlay Bendover movies. We must have watched at least ten movies and we still had about sixty to go. That Lauren Mallory really does bend over a lot. Our all-time fave was the one that was filmed in Forks. That was one of her older movies when she played the role of a pig-tailed teenager getting laid for the first time. I remember Mike pointing at the screen and blurting out, "Hey! That's actually her room. I lost my V-card on that bed! Of course, I was only sixteen and I was so excited that I only lasted about ten seconds."

After that, we all talked about the first time we had sex. Felix and I both got laid at the same whore house in Louisiana. Emmett told us he got laid in a barn with one of the neighbor girls. Garrett's first time was with Kate after he was changed. Rex and Riley both did it in high school after their junior proms—in cars, I might add. Carlisle's first time was with Heidi Volturi who, apparently, was like the Lauren Mallory of the Volturi. Felix said that he frequently dove into that pussy, too. We all knew about Edward's first time—it was like reliving our first time, too. Poor Pete was sad because he didn't remember his.

Laurent's first time was actually with his first wife after their wedding on the plantation they were slaves on. It was actually kind of sad. He had to leave her and his daughter and son behind when he was sold to another plantation. It was on the way there that he was changed into a vampire. He said that the first thing he did, after he gained control of his bloodlust, was return to the plantation where his wife and kids were at and force the plantation owner to give them all papers setting them free plus give them each enough cash so they could survive for ten years up north in Massachusetts. After that, he watched all of the slaves take off in two wagons that he also had the plantation owner sign over to them. He, then, drained the owner, his wife, and the foreman of the cotton farm, and followed the wagons to make sure that they made it safely into Massachusetts. He watched over his wife and children from a distance. He said that both of his kids became educated and successful. His wife never remarried. When she became too sick and frail to go on and she was clearly suffering, Laurent showed himself to her and told her that he loved her and could never love another. She replied that she had always loved him and would always look after him from heaven. She also urged him to not let love pass him by, should he ever come across it again. They held each other all night for one final time. After that, she looked into his eyes, said she was ready, and Laurent released her from her suffering and drained her. He, then, buried her himself and carved out a headstone with his bare hands. It wasn't until he met Irina that he found happiness again.

All of us guys had tears in our eyes after hearing that story. We had to watch another Ashlay Bendover flick to make us all happy again. This one was an orgy set in the Hardwood Suite at the Palm's Hotel. Riley declared that he could never stay there with his sister again, but we were all going there—just us guys for an epic game of basketball and an Ashlay Bendover movie marathon. In the end, we all congratulated Mike because ten seconds or not, losing your V-card to a porn star brought you to legendary status.

Carlisle, Emmett, Felix, Riley, and I set foot in my house. We immediately noticed two huge suitcases, one was open with clothes strewn all over the sofa. There were empty bottles of liquor littering the coffee table. There were also three pair of women's pajamas and panties discarded on the floor. Felix detected the scent, so did Carlisle; they said one name, "Chelsea."

We rushed upstairs to the jacuzzi pool where we heard voices. The five of us bolted into the room. The girls were running around stark naked and singing to the tune of the birthday song over and over again.

_The Volturi, they suck;_

_Aro's a twat;_

_Marcus has toe jam;_

_And Caius loves cock._

Chelsea noticed Felix and ran up to him to give him a hug. What happened after that was the freakiest thing I've ever witnessed in my existence. Chelsea turned to look at us and Felix introduced us all. The last one he introduced to her was Carlisle, "You remember him, don't you, Chelsea?" Felix asked.

Carlisle and Chelsea became completely still and fixated on each other. They both had smoldering black eyes filled with lust. In fact, their desire was overwhelming. Suddenly, Carlisle yelled, "Mine!" He ripped his clothes off and entered Chelsea in one fell swoop. We were all staring in abject shock. Bella and Rose were hanging naked off of tree limbs with their mouths hanging open, seemingly unable to move. Riley and Emmett tried to go grab Rose and Bella, but Felix and I stopped them. This was vampire claiming at it's most primeval. If they made any big movements, Carlisle would view it as a threat to his mate and rip their heads off. We explained this to them and also informed Bella and Rose that they had to remain where they were. Rose had a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand, she took a big swig and passed it to Bella who was hanging from an adjoining branch. I noticed that Felix snapped a picture of our women hanging from the tree branch using his iPhone. I'm gonna kill him. Not now, but damn it—I'm gonna rip his head off later.

The ritual was over when Carlisle sunk his teeth deep into Chelsea's jugular with his release. I never, ever, ever want to see that shit again. Never, ever, ever. Nope, never again. No way!

"Wow!" Chelsea exclaimed. "That was the best sex I've ever had in my life! So, that's what it's like to fuck your true mate!"

Emmett and I moved slowly to the tree and got our mates down. We placed them behind us.

"Oh my God! I'm so glad I came here! You know, it's funny, Carlisle, I thought I detected your scent when I smelled Felix's. Hey, Rose, Bella—doesn't Carlisle kind of remind you of Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles?"

"Uh, no way! Jake Ryan is a sex god. Carlisle is just our dad and, by the way, I want to puke." Rose cringed at the sight in front of her. Bella had her eyes squeezed shut.

"Carlisle's good too, but that might be because he's my mate. I know! Let's go downstairs and compare! I can go for watching Sixteen Candles again. We'll do our nails with that Italian nail polish I have. Carlisle, can you get off of me? I have to go watch a DVD with Rose and Bella. You can come along if you like, but I'm not sure if you'd like the movie." Does Chelsea ever shut up? It was obvious that she had the gift of gab many times over.

Carlisle was still inside of Chelsea. He withdrew himself silently. She grabbed a towel and wiped her pussy and inner thighs off, then flung the towel at poor Riley who was left standing there holding it. God help me, now, that's a sight I never want to see again. And I thought the mating ritual was bad. The three girls ran downstairs, still drunk, and stark naked to watch Sixteen Candles.

"What the fuck just happened?" Carlisle asked.

"Here, wrap this towel around you and sit down. We need to have a man to man talk," I said.

"When you were with the Volturi, did you ever witness a vampire claiming ritual?"

"No, I'd heard about them, but no—I've never witnessed one myself."

"Well, Chelsea is your true mate—your soulmate. You both acted on pure vampire instinct. By taking her in front of us, you were staking your claim."

"Yes, but I thought she was mated to Afton."

"Afton likes taking it in the ass from Caius!" Chelsea yelled from downstairs.

"Let me explain," Felix piped in. "Aro forced Chelsea to create a mating bond between her and Afton in the hopes that Caius would give up his homosexual tendencies."

"There you see, Carlisle. Afton wasn't her mate and he's a fudgepacker. She's hot, too."

"Yeah, she puts Esme to shame," Emmett agreed.

"Oh, boy, this sure changes things, but what about the Volturi? Won't they come after her? She is their most important asset."

"Oh shit!" we all exclaimed. We didn't need the Volturi on top of Maria.

We rushed up to my room and I gave Carlisle a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The five of us ran downstairs to talk to Chelsea. If the Volturi come after us, we were up shit creek. When we got to the living room, the girls were dressed in pajamas and watching the guy on Sixteen Candles all googly-eyed.

"Chelsea," Carlisle said.

"Shh!"

"Chelsea, we need to talk to you."

"Be quiet, Daddy, I'm trying to bleach my brain by watching this movie!" Bella stated.

Actually, that was a good idea. We all settled in to watch Sixteen Candles. How the fuck did we go from the Godfather to a live vampire claiming to Sixteen Candles? I'm gonna have to watch an Ashlay Bendover film to man up a little. After the movie ended, and the girls gushed about the final kiss, we turned the TV off.

"You're right, girls, Jake Ryan is hotter than Carlisle," Chelsea declared. "I love that color on you, too!" I looked down and realized that I, and the rest of the guys, all had hot pink nail polish on our finger and toenails.

"Chelsea, you need to tell us how you came to leave the Volturi," I stated.

"Well, ever since Felix was thrown out for falling in love, I kept thinking about how unjust things were. So, I started planning. I harbored cash away in a suitcase because I knew that I'd be sent off with nothing when I was eventually sent away. I, then, started playing around with the bonds. I hated Afton, my created mate, so I started with him. I created a strong mating bond between him, Caius, and that frigid Athenadora. I, also, removed Renata's loyalty to Aro so she could no longer shield him. I had to do that so that I could weaken my bond with Aro. She always liked Marcus so I created a strong mating bond between them. I figured the old geezer deserved to get laid after the shit Aro and Caius pulled on him with killing Didyme and all. After that, I gradually worked on weakening my bond with everyone else until there was nothing left, and they had no idea what I was there for. They didn't even care whether or not I had a gift. They won't be coming after me because they can't stand the sight of me anymore. They were begging me to leave in the end. Isn't that cool?"

Shit, yeah. Chelsea singlehandedly fucked up the entire coven dynamics of the Volturi.

"Tell me, when you left, how were things with the Volturi?"

"Well, basically, what I did was strengthen all of their bonds with their mates to the point where it was unbreakable and all consuming. Caius and Afton are now both mated to Athenadora. Aro and Sulpicia are still mates. I mated Renata to Marcus, Heidi to Santiago, Demetri to Corin, Alec to a new girl named Bree, and Jane I turned to ash for being a bitch. They were so caught up in their mates that they just laughed when they saw that Jane was gone. Anyway, I made their bonds so tight that the only thing on their minds are their mates. It's like one big orgy there now. Oh, and Marcus has taken over the throne so things should become a little more just now—if they snap out of their non-stop obsession with their mates, which I highly doubt."

We all started laughing. Eleazar always said that Chelsea was their biggest asset, but could also be the downfall of the Volturi. Well, now, she's our asset. Combined with Char's gift, she'll be able to fuck up Maria in unimaginable ways.

"I'm horny," Chelsea stated succinctly to Carlisle.

"Oh, well, I have an apartment three blocks away."

"Nope, too far. Let's just go upstairs." Quicker than lightening, the newly mated pair disappeared to a vacant room.

I fixed my eyes on Rose and Bella, "Alright, you two. Start explaining how she came to be in our house. Don't get me wrong. I like her and I detected nothing, but genuine feelings from her, but why was a complete stranger in our house?"

"Before you start," Riley interrupted, "I can confirm that Chelsea was being completely honest."

"Well, that's good. Now, start explaining girls." Rose and Bella were absolutely too trusting. This is how they met Amar, and Charlotte told me that Bella was completely oblivious to the fact that Felix and Gianna were even around when they ran into them.

"It was my fault. I left the door unlocked and told her to come in, thinking it was Rose," Bella admitted. "I'll be locking the door from now on."

"You're damn right, you will!" Riley chastised. "I've told you over and over again how unsafe it is to leave the door unlocked. This is from the time you were eighteen, mind you!"

Good. I'm glad it's Riley getting angry at Bella instead of me. Maybe she'll listen this time.

"What I'd like to know is how you came to party with her?" Emmett asked.

"Well, she was nice," Rose explained. "She also just kind of invited herself to hang out with us and started planning the whole night."

"You know something, we'll talk about it later." I nodded at Emmett. We'd have to go over safety rules in private with them.

Riley and Felix left right after that. Riley had work and Felix said he was horny from seeing three hot women naked for half of the night. Speaking of which, so was I. I noticed that Em and Rose were no longer in the living room. Ah, they're in their room—I hear them.

"Come on, baby." I picked my mate up and zipped us up to our room. Time for the Major to spank his mate for being such a naughty girl. I was about to tell Bella to get on her hands and knees, but dang she's sucking on my cock and it feels so good. I guess she's not that naughty after all. "That's my girl." I patted her on her head and succumbed to my feelings. Time to let Carlisle and Chelsea experience the full force of my lust. That's what they get for making me witness a claiming. That's right, I'm gonna project and damn it, I'm gonna enjoy it.

_**Eighteen hours later...**_

Rose, Emmett, Bella, and I were dressed and ready to go hunting. We were just waiting on Carlisle and Chelsea to stop fucking. I had stopped projecting lust about eight hours ago, but those two kept going, on and on, like the Energizer Bunny on X.

"Um, Jasper! Can you send more of that lust up here. I really like it!" Chelsea yelled down. "Whooo! I love riding your cock, Carlisle! Come on, Jasper! More lust! More lust!"

"Don't you dare!" Bella warned. She had her hands on her hips and she and Rose looked feral. They grabbed some clothes out of Chelsea's open suitcase and ran upstairs. The next thing we heard was Carlisle being thrown out of the room.

"I need clothes, Jasper."

"Just grab something from my room."

Carlisle walked downstairs fully dressed. "I feel completely refreshed. My mate's a firecracker!"

A couple of minutes later, we were in the Tahoe driving to Bear Mountain State Park. We gave Chelsea a choice of hunting human criminals or animals. She said that she'd give animals a try. We had run deep into the woods and were about to split up into mated pairs when we came across a huge grizzly bear. Chelsea pounced on it and had it drained almost instantly. She licked her lips and said, "They aren't that bad, if I keep feeding off of them, will I get beautiful golden eyes like all of you have?"

"Yes," Carlisle grinned.

"Okay, now hurry up and hunt guys. I want to go dancing."

"Right." I grabbed Bella and told everyone that we'd meet back at the Tahoe in an hour. Bella took down a couple of deer, I took down a mountain lion, a fox, and a bobcat; then I took Bella. We ran into a completely sated—in all ways, Rose and Emmett, on the hike back to my vehicle. The four of us stopped dead in our tracks when the Tahoe came into view. Smack dab on the roof of my vehicle were Carlisle and Chelsea getting wild and kinky. That's right, on the roof. He had her on her hands and knees, doggy style, and was slamming into her from behind.

Chelsea noticed us. "Are you guys ready to go dancing?"

None of us said a word. She just kept on talking. "Hang on, let me just cum and we can go."

"You know, something," Rose said. "I think Char's just met her match."

"She did meet her match already in Amrita," Bella corrected. "Char has just been outdone."

Chelsea had her orgasm, threw her clothes back on, and hopped into the Tahoe. "Well, come on! What's taking so long? Aren't we going dancing?"

Fucking hell. Carlisle didn't even have the decency to look ashamed for his public indecency. He looked like a kid in a fucking candy store. He threw Chelsea on his lap and the two of them started making out furiously in the third row seats. I drove us to the Boom Boom Room, Carlisle got us in after Bella threw contacts in Chelsea's eyes. We were instantly surrounded by desperate women.

Chelsea climbed up onto the bar and made an announcement, "Here ye! Here ye! Attention all single, desperate women! These three men have been claimed and they belong to us. If you approach them, prepare to die! We have no qualms about beating you all into little bits of pulp!"

"I really like Chelsea," Rose noted.

"Yeah, me too," Bella agreed.

Yep, she was going to be a handful, just like Bella and Rose. God help us all.

After leaving the Boom Boom Room, we headed straight to Pete's house where we were all meeting for our training. Everyone flocked to Carlisle and congratulated him. He introduced Chelsea to everyone, there were several gasps by those who knew the significance of the name Chelsea Volturi.

"I don't like my last name. It really carries a bad vibe to it," Chelsea whined. "Oh, hey, Bella, Rose, and I made up a song—wanna hear?"

The three of them started singing their Volturi song.

_The Volturi, they suck;_

_Aro's a twat;_

_Marcus has toe jam;_

_And Caius loves cock._

"Holy shit, Major. Is what they're singing even legal?" Vicky asked.

"Probably not." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Ooh, a pool!" Chelsea squealed, ripped her clothes off, and dove in. "Come on in! The water's soothing!"

"What the fuck?" Peter asked me and Carlisle. "Char!" Charlotte dove into the pool naked, Tanya followed, then Amanda, Gianna, and Alice.

Rose and Bella came barreling down from upstairs with bikinis on, thank God. They dove into the pool. Several iPhones were on record, speaking of which...I narrowed my eyes at Felix. "Shit!" he screamed and plunged into the swimming pool.

"You know, Major, I think everyone can use a break from training. This just proves it," Riley suggested wisely.

"Okay, party at my house starting now!" Pete announced.

Well, hell, I've been partying since Friday. Why stop now? I'm on Spring Break anyway. I ran upstairs, changed into swim trunks, and decided to join the beautiful ladies in the pool. Chelsea was just yapping away non-stop about this and that with a beaming Carlisle by her side. They disappeared about an hour later and we didn't see them for the rest of the day.

Felix, Emmett, Riley, and I took the opportunity to explain what happened between Chelsea and the Volturi, and how her gift will give us a huge advantage in the future fight against Maria. Felix said that Chelsea was a strong fighter. Not as strong as Bella or Amrita—they were the toughest female fighters we had, but on par with Vicky and Char. She also had experience like Char and Vicky, which actually put the three of them at an advantage because Bella and Amrita had no experience with fighting at all—they were just immensely skilled and Amrita retained her newborn strength for some reason.

By around ten pm, most people left for their homes. We had partied all morning, afternoon, and evening and we were all exhausted—even for vampires. The only ones left at Pete and Char's were us; Tanya and Rex; Felix and Gianna; and Emmett and Rosalie.

My cell phone buzzed all of a sudden. "What's up Carlisle?" I asked.

"Can you and Bella fly down to Las Vegas? I'm getting hitched."

"Uh, sure, when?"

"As soon as you get here."

"Um, okay. Wait a minute? Are you calling from Las Vegas now?"

"Of course I am. Chelsea doesn't like the name Volturi so I'm going to turn her into a Cullen. We're staying in the Barbie Suite at the Palm's Hotel. Do you know that they have a stripper pole in the shower...oh, yeah...that's right, baby...grind down on that pole just like that..."

"Carlisle?"

"Uh, not you Jasper, you don't need to grind down...anyway, we're not going anywhere. Can you bring me and Chelsea something to wear? We can't exactly leave the room...bend over and touch your toes, sweetheart, now spank that ass..."

I ended the call. I had nine sets of eyes staring at me. Pete suddenly stood up with a determined look in his eyes. "Alright, Rose call Edward and have him run the shop for this week. If he tries to argue with you, tell the fucker that Bella's worked for him for no pay, at least a hundred times, in the past three years. Also, have Garrett help him out in our shop, he's pretty handy with tools for an old fucker. He looked pointedly at me when he said that for some reason. Felix, you and Gianna are coming along with us, don't argue about cash—we have plenty and I promise that you're going to leave Las Vegas a rich man. Tanya, call Amanda and tell her she's in charge of the store for a week. Let's go to Newark, there's a flight that leaves for Vegas in an hour. We can just make it if we leave now."

Pfft...and Pete says he doesn't have a gift.

"But what about clothes?" Gianna asked.

"Oh, don't worry, we can go to the Forum Shops. I wonder if Claude is still there?" Tanya looked between Pete and Char.

Oh, yeah...hahaha. I forgot about that. My wife had a sneaky smile on her face too.

We all headed for the door. "Ahem!" Bella cleared her throat loudly. "We can't leave yet."

"Why not?"

"Rose and I are dressed, but Char, Tanya, and Gianna are still naked from the pool."

We all stared at them. Huh. I didn't even notice. Neither did anyone else, apparently. "Well, what are you waiting for! You have one minute to get dressed before we have to run to the airport!" Pete yelled.

A minute later, we were hoofing it to Newark Airport. We just made the flight and were, currently, on the six hour plane ride to Las Vegas.

"Where are we going to stay?" Gianna asked.

"We'll just stay in the Hugh Hefner Skyline Villa together. There are four bedrooms in there anyway," Pete decided.

"Hell, yeah! We're partying Playboy style!" Emmett whooped.

Bella jotted a quick note on the cocktail napkin to me. _'Fuck no! I am not staying with all of them.'_

I nodded to her that I agreed. There was no way in hell that I was staying in the same suite as those perverts. Bella and I were getting our own room. That way I can perv out with her in private.

Bella climbed onto my lap and nuzzled my neck. I pulled the blanket over us to cover us. She kissed me on the lips while I fondled her tits and played with her nipples. Bella's hand undid my jeans and she started jerking my cock. Thank you God for small miracles. We had the first class seats in the last row, everyone else was seated in seats in front of us. I moved my hand underneath her skirt and into her panties. I motioned for her to keep silent as I inserted two fingers into her pussy and rubbed small circles onto her clit. My mate's walls clenched tight onto my fingers as she came. She bit hard into my neck and marked me, then she moved back onto her seat, leaned over and gave me one of the best blow jobs of my life. She swallowed every bit of cum that I pulsed onto her tongue.

"If you're done, I could use one of those too." Rex and Tanya had their heads peeking out over the seat backs. Apparently, we gave them a free show. "Shall I just whip it out now to make it easy for you?"

"She is good," Tanya said. "Wow! How did you make him cum that fast? You know, I think Rex holds out on cumming on purpose so he can keep me down there."

"Felix does that too! Ugh! You're so insensitive." I heard Gianna saying out loud.

The couples up front started arguing about men and blow jobs. I jotted a quick note to Bella on the cocktail napkin. _ 'Forget about a different room. We're staying at a different hotel.'_

"I agree," Bella said, and moved back onto my lap so I could hold her.

We arrived at the airport in Las Vegas. We climbed into two taxis to the Palms Hotel. I told everyone that I'd handle the cab fair. As soon as everyone walked into the lobby, Bella and I jumped back into the taxi and hightailed it away from the Palms Hotel. "Drive," I ordered the driver.

"Where to, sir?"

"Just keep driving until I tell you where to go."

I quickly called Claude and told him that we needed a hotel suite ASAP and under no circumstances could it be the Palms Hotel.

"May I ask what type of room you're searching for, Mr. Whitlock?"

"Private and um..."

"Would you like views overlooking the city or is that not important? Do you prefer certain amenities like an in-room gym, private pool, or a slave cage?"

"A slave cage? Why the fuck would I need a slave cage?"

"Well, certain clientele have very um...how shall we say it...discriminating tastes. For example, the last time, the other Mr. Whitlock stayed here, he requested a slave cage with a stripper pole inside as well as a sex swing suspended from the ceiling."

"Okay, Claude, I'm not like the other Mr. Whitlock, my wife is...is..."

"She's not as kinky as the other Mrs. Whitlock?"

"Exactly!"

"Personally, I prefer your Mrs. Whitlock—about ten years ago, the other Mrs. Whitlock kept trying to get me to climb into bed with her and Mr. Whitlock. I kept trying to tell her that I was a one man kind of man, but she didn't seem to comprehend what I was saying."

"Oh really? Claude, you should know that the other Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock are here in the city as well. Just make sure that you keep me and my Mrs. Whitlock happy, and I'll make sure you're happy. Is that a deal?"

"Yes, sir! Now, let me speak with Mrs. Whitlock. She can tell me what kind of room she wants. That way you and I will both be happy."

"Smart man."

I handed Bella the phone. "Hi Claude! Nothing kinky, no view of the strip necessary, lots of privacy, and above all, romantic. Oh, and it would be nice if there was a pool at the hotel, but I don't think there's one without one in Vegas, is there?"

Five minutes later, he called us back, "Good news, Mr. Whitlock, I was able to find a room for you at the Bellagio. I took the liberty of booking you into one of their luxury villas—I think you'll find they'll suit your tastes perfectly."

"Thank you, Claude. Will you be at work today?"

"Yes, sir. Even if I weren't, I'd still be at your beck and call, twenty-four hours a day, during your stay in Las Vegas."

"Thank you, Claude. I'll see you in the afternoon." I planned on tipping him well, especially with my crafty brother on the trip with me.

As soon as the call ended, I received one from Peter. "Where the fuck are you and Bella?"

"We got tired of the Palms and decided to stay elsewhere."

"Bullshit!"

"Where the fuck are you? I got us the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa man."

"Meh, we've stayed there before. We want to try a different hotel."

"Fucker, bring my grandbaby back to the hotel!"

"No! She's my mate. Besides, she wanted to try a different hotel too." I decided to try a different approach. "Pete, do you really want to hear me and Bella going at it? She is your grandbaby, after all."

"Good point."

The cab driver drove us to the Bellagio. The manager came out personally to greet us and checked us in immediately.

"Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, we are delighted that you chose the Bellagio for your stay in our fine city, this time around. Usually, you stay at The Palms, do you not?"

"You came highly recommended by our personal concierge."

"Well, if there's anything, anything at all—please call me at anytime day or night. This is Tony, he is our chief concierge. I believe you know his other half, Claude," the manager introduced us to the human form of a Greek statue.

"Holy hell, he's hot," Bella whispered under her breath. If she were human, she would have been drooling. I could already smell my mate's arousal. I gave her a little spanking on her ass. Bella just stood there smiling like an idiot. Nope, we won't be calling on Tony. We'll call Claude, but not his...his...I wonder who the man is in the relationship: Claude or Tony?

Tony spoke then, he had velvety, smooth voice. Fuck. "Now, I know you'll call Claude for most things, but if there's anything I can do—you can count on me, too. I'm usually here from seven am to three pm."

"Thank you," Bella gushed. "We'll be sure to call you—a lot. A whole lot."

"Now, let me give you a tour of your villa. First of all, you have a private entrance so you don't have to go through the hotel. You have a formal dining room, a living room with a fireplace, and a full service bar. Over here, you have his and hers bathrooms each with a whirlpool bath for two, rainforest Swiss steam showers, towel warmer, and cedar closets. This room is the private beauty and barber salon and there's a massage room through this door. You have your gym, and dry and steam saunas here. This is your bedroom right here, and follow me please." Fuck me, what the fuck else is there with this room, a butler? He led us outside.

"This is your private, secluded courtyard. As you can see, the gardens have been manicured and there's an outdoor fireplace for your pleasure, as well as, a private pool and spa. Claude mentioned that Mrs. Whitlock requested privacy and a hotel with a pool. We made sure that we gave you the most secluded of our villas and we assumed that you would prefer a private pool, although there is a rather nice public one at the hotel. This is the remote for the automatic drapery and sheer controls. Your villa also comes with your own personal butler, you can summon him by hitting the button that reads 'butler' on your room phone. Also, the manager is providing you with twenty-four hour limousine service during your stay at our hotel with his compliments, two tickets to Cirque de Soleil, and you will have entry into all of our bars and nightclubs with no wait or cover charge at any time. I'll give you some privacy now."

I tipped Tony a thousand bucks in cash before he left the room. He left with a huge grin on his face.

"Bella, where are you?"

"I'm in here." I opened the door to the bedroom and was greeted by the most beautiful sight in the world: my wife lying naked on the bed, propped up by pillows, with her legs spread wide open for me.

"Take your clothes off carefully and slowly, Jasper. You only have one set until we go shopping, after you make love to me."

I did exactly as she asked and savored every minute I had with my mate. It was early evening by the time we hit the Forum Shops. Okay, so I might have made love to her more than once, but I had to try out every room in our villa. I went straight to Claude and tipped him twenty grand in cash. I knew it was more than my usual; but with Pete in town, I needed to make sure that Claude remained tight-lipped about me and Bella and loose-lipped about everyone else.

Bella and I purchased enough clothes to last us a week. We both agreed that we liked our room a lot, and we planned on staying and relaxing, for as long as we could, before returning to school. We ran into a disheveled Rex while we were shopping for dress shoes.

"I'm so glad I ran into you guys. Help!"

"What's up, Rex?"

"Here." He handed us a list. On it were the names of everyone staying in their room plus their sizes for everything from their underwear down to their socks.

"How come you got charged with picking up an outfit for them?"

"I'm the only one that didn't rip my clothes off. I like these jeans and I look hot in this shirt."

"It's alright, I guess," Bella shrugged. She had a dreamy expression on her face. I bet she was thinking about Claude's boyfriend, Tony. Rex and I both folded our arms in front of our chest and raised one eyebrow. Bella took her iPhone out and snapped a picture.

"What the hell was that for?"

"I'm gonna frame it, you both looked hot and insanely jealous for some reason."

"So, will you guys help me shop for their stuff? I need to pick up two casual outfits and one for going out tonight plus underwear, sox, and dress shoes for everyone. They're going to take care of the rest by themselves tomorrow. Oh, and one more thing, since I'm here alone, maybe you guys can help me pick out a ring for Tanya. I'm gonna ask her to marry me, hopefully we can do it while we're here."

"Rexy!" Bella jumped up into his arms and plastered his face with kisses.

"It's about time, man." I slapped his back.

"Thanks, brother. Oh and we can't go to Harry Winston. I don't have a spare million bucks to spend on a ring like you do. I'm a cheap bastard"

We took care of the clothes shopping quickly, then stopped at the concierge desk to talk to our buddy, "Claude, this is my other brother, Rex Whitlock. He's looking to tie the knot and wants to purchase a wedding set. The stores in here are pretty pricey, do you have any suggestions."

He gave us the name of a jewelry wholesaler in Las Vegas away from the strip. We got into the limo and made our way there.

"How come you two have a limo?"

"It came with the room."

"Oh."

"What's bothering you, Rex? You look depressed."

"That guy Claude didn't even bat an eyelash at me. Usually the fags dig me. What the fuck? Do I have BO or something?"

"No, he's just really, really in love with his partner," Bella breathed, then she got that far away look in her eyes again. That's it, I'm fucking the idea of Tony the concierge out of her, until she's screaming my name, and my name, alone! God damn it!

We got to the jewelry store and Rex picked out a simple, two carat round cut diamond engagement ring with a gold band—Tanya's preferred metal. He picked out a plain gold band for the wedding ring, as well as a platinum one for himself. The diamond wasn't flawless like Bella's, but it was still beautiful. There was a small nick on the inside of the engagement band so it wasn't selling at all—apparently, it had been sitting around for eight years. Originally valued at 5000 dollars, the man was willing to let it go for half price. Rex, who was Bella's bargain hunting soul brother jumped at the opportunity. 2500 dollars for a diamond engagement ring was a steal. Including the two wedding bands, Rex paid a total of 3300 dollars. What a deal! We dropped Rex off at the hotel and started back to ours. Bella's cell phone rang.

"Honey, are you in Las Vegas yet?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Oh good. Would you mind picking up clothes for me and Chelsea? We haven't left the room yet, not that I want to, but...oh...well...whatever."

"I need Chelsea's sizes and what kind of underwear does she want."

"Um, just let Jasper pick them out. He knows what I like from the Ashlay Bendover films."

Huh? Why the hell do I have to pick out Chelsea's underwear? You see, this is exactly why Bella and I are staying elsewhere.

Bella wrote down Chelsea's sizes and some other crap that they needed and we made our way back to the Forum Shops. We picked up a week's worth of clothes for the two of them, threw them into two suitcases, and asked Claude to deliver it to their room at The Palms Hotel.

_**Later that evening...**_

We were at the Marquee Nightclub at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. All of us were just having a blast dancing to the seductive beat of the music. Sometimes, we danced in a big group and, other times, we went off on our own. Bella looked sexy, she was wearing silver sandals, white dress shorts, and a slinky tank top adorned with silver sequins. Right now, we were all taking a break in our VIP seating area.

Rex, who had been letting off nervous vibes all evening, suddenly got down on one knee in front of Tanya with an assured expression on his face. "Tanya..."

"Yes! Yes! I will marry you."

"Phew, I thought I'd have to go through a long spiel about how you mean the world to me and how I can't picture another moment without you being my wife, but this will do."

Rex slid the engagement ring onto Tanya's left ring finger and, after a few murmured 'I love yous,' the two of them fell into a passionate kiss. We all applauded.

"Well, so we're having two weddings this week, I'm assuming," Carlisle said. "How are we doing this?"

The women started planning. Chelsea and Tanya both wanted to get married in white dresses. I actually saw humor in that, so did Emmett. The two of us started laughing uncontrollably and I projected the humor throughout the entire club. When I finally stopped, people were lying on the floor, clutching their stomachs, and the DJ was swinging like Tarzan from the chandelier. He fell with a decided thump and ended up having to be transported to the hospital.

The two couples decided that they wanted separate weddings. Rex and Carlisle both asked me to be their best man while Chelsea asked Bella, and Tanya asked Charlotte to be their matrons of honor. Tomorrow, the group in the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa were shopping—they needed more clothes to last them the week. Chelsea and Carlisle were spending the day 'relaxing' at the hotel. Bella and I had a trip to The Valley of Fire State Park planned. We were actually going hunting, under the guise of sightseeing. Later, everyone was meeting up to go shopping for wedding clothes—the men and women, separately—then, we were hitting the casinos. I had already hit the casino at the Bellagio and, so far, I was up by about five hundred thousand dollars.

"So, why are you two staying at a different hotel?" Chelsea asked Bella.

"Oh, I've been staying at The Palms so much that I decided I wanted a change in venue."

"Where are you staying?"

"Just a room at the Bellagio."

"You really should consider staying at The Palms. Our room has a stripper pole in the shower and a cool Barbie design."

I noticed Bella cringe and shiver at the mention of the Barbie Suite.

Chelsea continued talking. "Oh my gosh, it's so much fun stripping in there. Carlisle likes it when the water hits my tits while I'm dancing for him. The room where everyone else is staying is cool, too. They have a big heated jacuzzi pool just like the one at your house, but no tree. They really need to throw a tree in there. There's also a round, rotating bed in Emmett and Rose's bedroom. Oh, and a slave cage, a St. Andrew's Cross, and a sex swing were just delivered to their room."

Man, I don't even want to know what kind of decadence was going on in that room.

Chelsea, of course, kept yapping. "In the Volturi, one time, Heidi strapped Aro to the St. Andrew's Cross for a week, in the castle playroom. She slapped a male chastity belt on him, then made him watch while she had sex with every guy in the castle—except for Marcus. You remember that, don't you Felix? Didn't you do Heidi and Corin at the same time then? Anyway, when she finally released him, he was so far gone that he came all over the playroom floor without even penetrating her. It's the stuff of Volturi legends. Anyhoo, Carlisle, do you have one of those stripper poles in your shower? I still haven't been to your apartment yet."

"Oh, well, it's kind of messy because I'm a bit of a slob."

A bit? Carlisle brought slob to a whole new level. He had his shit lying all over the place. On any given day, we could walk into his apartment and there would be papers strewn on the floors and his underwear could be lying on the coffee table. He always had a pile of clean laundry on the dining table, I'm positive he didn't put his shit away—ever.

"That's okay, I'm a slob too. I hate organization—it sucks all of the creativity out of my brain. I had the messiest room in the Volturi Guard."

"I can confirm that," Felix said. "Trust me, Carlisle, you and Chelsea are like two peas in a pod in that department."

"Ahem, well, as far as the stripper pole is concerned—I can have one installed in the shower."

Hmm...now that's a good idea. I'm thinking renovation. A glass encased show shower with a stripper pole for my Bella.

"Goody! Can we have a tree in the living room, too?"

"Whatever your heart desires."

Bella fixed me with an evil glare. She always wanted a tree in the living room. Well, she got one in the room with the pool. How the fuck are we supposed to explain the tree to guests?

"Jasper, will you tell me how you procured your tree?" Carlisle asked.

"Uh, actually, Esme found it. I can ask her for you."

"Ooh! Is that, Esme, your ex-wife. Is she pretty? I can't wait to meet her. You know, you guys have such a funny family. Carlisle is Bella and Rose's father, and Bella is Peter's great granddaughter, but Carlisle isn't Peter's grandson. Charlotte isn't Bella's great grandmother either. Emmett and Rose are married, but they're both Bella's brother and sister and Jasper and Rex are Bella's husbands, but Rex just asked Tanya to marry him. How is that going to work? Is Jasper going to be Tanya's husband too?"

We all started laughing. I suppose it would look weird to an outsider.

Gianna decided to try to help, but only made it worse. "Rex is Bella's husband, but only when they dance and argue. You should hear them, they put any Italian couple to shame. Now, I am Rex's sexual muse, but only when I'm having sex with Felix in Italian. Tanya can never speak Italian while she and Rex are having sex because he starts to think. Rex can't think when he has sex or strips, he needs Bella to bring him back. Jasper actually encourages it because he doesn't want shame brought upon the Whitlock name. Oh, and Rex and Bella are weird, really weird. Last year, they went to a Lamaze Class just for the hell of it."

Chelsea looked perplexed. "So, you're sleeping with Rex?"

"No, no, no...Bella's my Stripper Wifey. She's my partner for life on the dance floor."

"I don't get it."

"You will eventually, it took me a while too," Gianna said, brightly. "Now, there's more. Jasper used to be married to Alice, who is married to Mike, who lusted after Bella's tits, and liked to see her bounce up and down in gym class. Bella, on the other hand, used to date Edward, who is married to Amanda, who is Peter and Bella's daughter."

"Edward is married? I thought he was gay."

Now we were all laughing! Damn. I've got to make sure I don't project. I took a deep breath. "No, Edward isn't gay."

"Okay, so the only gay one is Mike, but you said he's married to some girl named Alice. Where was she the other night? I saw the pervert necking with a little boy and calling him Alice. Frankly, I'm surprised you allowed that type of degenerate behavior in your house, Peter."

That did it. Nope, I couldn't hold out anymore. I started howling, so did everyone else; and by everyone else I mean everyone in the club. People were clutching at their sides and laughing for no reason whatsoever. The bartenders started spraying drinks out of their sprayers on everyone, the bouncers started letting everyone inside, people were hanging from the rafters. Everyone was giggling and things were completely out of control.

"Jasper, teehee, Jaaaasssper, you have to stop...teehee...ssstop...ppprojecting." Bella was sitting on my lap, laughing like a madwoman. After a few minutes, she finally composed herself enough to throw her shield on everyone in the club, but me. I nodded to her when I was able to stop myself, she let down her shield, and I threw lethargy on the humans in the club.

"Again! Again! That was so much fun! Look! I mated that delicious looking man and that four hundred pound woman just for the heck of it. I really like playing with humans. They're so easy to manipulate. Aw...look at those two nerdy people. I'm going to create a bond between them because I don't think they'll ever meet anyone if I don't." Chelsea started concentrating on a really geeky looking man and woman.

"No! Stop!" Char yelled, horrified. "They're brother and sister."

"Oh, well, then there's no hope for them, then. Meh, I'm feeling generous, I'll find them each someone else. What do you think of that hot bartender for the girl and the woman with the orange thong, underneath her white pants, for the guy?"

Charlotte's jaw dropped. She was stunned into silence for the first time since she was transformed into a vampire.

"Boy, do you have your hands full Carlisle," I whispered.

"I can see that."

Yep, when Charlotte Whitlock, who can't be fazed by anything looks horrified, you know that she's just been outmatched.

We decided that Carlisle's wedding would be in three nights and Rex's the night after. Both the women and the men were planning bachelorette and bachelor's parties. God help us all. I hope we survive Las Vegas. No, I hope Las Vegas survives us.

**Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I truly enjoy hearing from you and I promise to respond to your review. XOXO**


	52. Chapter 52

**Thank you very much for your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts! Wow! The general consensus seems to be that you all think Chelsea's a great gal, just a tad chatty. For my female readers, I offer you an attentive Jasper while I gift my male readers with a visit to a very special work site.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**Bella's POV**

The weddings were planned for tomorrow evening, and the night after. Tonight was the joint bachelorette party for the very wild Chelsea and tame Tanya. That's right, Tanya, is tame—very tame compared to Chelsea. I found out that Chelsea is twenty-two like me. She was old, very old, I mean before Christ was born old. In fact, she was born in 1100 B.C. She had a joie de vivre that sustained her and she was curious, very, very curious. Chelsea was extremely pretty. She was about an inch or two shorter than me, with dark brown hair, and twinkling eyes. She had a very petite, hourglass frame. I kind of felt bad for Esme, Chelsea was a knockout while Esme was, well, there was a matronly air about her.

We were in a party limo, cruising up and down the strip, headed for Sapphire where we had VIP seating in the very front row for 'Men: The Show' courtesy of Claude-concierge extraordinaire. We were shown to our seats and we immediately started ordering drinks. Rosalie told them to just keep bringing the Patron. Shit, tequila, I get a bit crazy with that.

The show started and the men started dancing. No one could really compare to Rex, but we'd have to make do with what was presented to us. Chelsea, who had never seen Rex the Sex in action, was jumping up and down, and squealing at the sight of the men.

We were downing shots, left and right, by the time the last act was announced, "Ladies, Ladies, Ladies...I know you've been waiting all night for him...I have the pleasure of presenting to you...the one...the only...the incomparable...THE CAPTAIN!"

"Huh?" Our entire table fixed our eyes on the stage.

There, smack dab, in army fatigues, was Claude's life partner and my personal, fantasy, sex god, Tony the Concierge. Fuck me. I think I just came in my panties. Tanya's jaw was pretty much dragging on the floor and Rose was hanging onto my arm for dear life, fanning herself. Nine Inch Nail's 'Closer' started playing, and I zipped in front of the stage at vampire speed and started screaming my head off.

Rose was right behind me. "Sis, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. I want him!"

"No shit. Oh my God!"

Our entire table was lining the stage, and screaming for The Captain, before the human girls even had a chance to leave their seats.

I waved ten one hundred dollar bills in front of his face and shoved them all in between my breasts. Tony leaned down and picked them each out, one by one, with his teeth. "Hello, Mrs. Whitlock."

"Hello Tony. I mean, Captain," I gushed.

"Why don't you join me up on stage?" Holy hell, velvety smooth cum inducing voice. Claude sure is a lucky man.

Tony pulled me up onto the stage and because I'm a total bitch, I threw my physical shield up around my sisters so they couldn't get through. "Bella! Bella!" they shouted while pounding on the invisible barrier. They just looked like they were doing fist pumps at a rock concert.

"Why you little bitch! Take that fucking shield down so I can get to him," Tanya yelled.

"Isabella Marie Swan Piper Whitlock, let me the fuck out!" a savage Charlotte screamed. "Do you hear me? This is your step-great grandmother talking. Now, I want a piece of that man that you're...fuck me, Jasper's going to kill you!"

"Jasper? You're worried about Jasper? What the fuck am I going to say to Rex?" Tanya seemed frazzled.

I used some of the moves that Rex and I learned in our exotic dancing class and moved seductively along with The Captain to the rhythm of the music. Hey, I knew the guy batted solidly for the other team, but that didn't mean that I couldn't play with him while he was pretending to be straight. I mean, hot is hot, right?

"So, are you a real captain?" I asked the hunk of sex in front of me.

"Actually, I am. I retired three years ago. Claude's a retired corporal. After his original four year enlistment, he enrolled at the same college as me. We met at freshman orientation. We started talking and he found out I was in the ROTC program, that's when he told me that he had just gotten off active duty and was in reserve status for the next four years during college. He became a concierge after he graduated, while I had to serve out my time in the army. ROTC is good because your first commission is as an officer. We've been together for seventeen years now."

"Oh...he's so lucky." Oh, motherfucker, the Captain can be my commanding officer anytime. I bet that's how he and Claude play in bed.

"Nah, I'm the lucky one," he said, as he flipped me over so that I was facing him on my knees, staring at his extremely well endowed member. "Claude is sensitive, trustworthy, beautiful—everything you desire in a husband."

"Mmm...sounds like mine," I cooed as I removed his pants seductively like I was shown in class.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this Mrs. Whitlock. Are you a professional?"

"I've been well trained by my husband," I answered, referring to Rex. I slowly gyrated my hips as I pulled myself up.

"Oh, your husband is gorgeous. You must sink your teeth right into him."

"Oh, I do. I do." Yep, I just sunk my teeth into Jasper's neck earlier today, but what I'd like to do is sink my teeth into your...

The Captain pulled me up to his chest. I shimmied one leg up along his leg, he caught on to what I was doing and grabbed my thigh, while he held onto my arched back. I caught sight of my sisters.

"You little, fucking bitch! I swear to God, Sissy! You'd better release me from this shield and share the living Eros with me!" Rosie yelled.

"I swear, I'm going to spank you when you get back down here!" Gianna assured me.

"Ooh! Will you spank me, too?" Chelsea asked. "Bella, you should lick him. I'd lick him."

"Bella! I am so telling Rex!" Tanya shouted. "He's going to be upset that his Stripper Wifey is having an affair."

"And I'm telling Jasper and Peter, you little tart!" Charlotte added.

"So, do you enjoy being a concierge, Captain."

"Yes, especially when guests like you and Mr. Whitlock are put in my charge, Mrs. Whitlock."

"Call me, Bella," I breathed.

"Bella." Oh, yes, say it again baby. "You do meet a lot of interesting clientele in Las Vegas, Bella."

"Oh, yeah, I heard from Claude that he once had to deliver clothes to the parking lot at the Forum Shops, apparently there was a naked man receiving oral favors from two nude women. They were completely oblivious to the fact that Claude was even there."

"Oh, I know. You mean the crazy blonde trio—the blonde man with the bushy pubes and the two women—one platinum blonde, and the other a strawberry blonde, by the dumpster. They're part of Las Vegas legend now." Gotcha.

"Is that so?" I smiled at Tony, then smirked pointedly at Char and Tanya.

"You know, Char, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

"You're right, Tanya. Bella's just dancing with The Captain, anyhow. No harm done."

The song ended and I gave The Captain a peck on the cheek, and thanked him for the dance. "I'll be down to party with you girls in a minute."

My sisters all started screaming in joy and rushed back to our table. I explained that Tony was the concierge at our hotel, gay, and the husband of Claude—the concierge at the Forum Shops.

"Well, shit, when I booked the show, it said that the men walk around after the show and do lap dances and what not for us for tips. We can also use them for body shots," Char stated.

"Ladies, get your cash out. We're reserving The Captain for us exclusively," Rose said definitively.

The Captain must have made at least ten grand off of us—five off of Rosalie alone. I didn't go for a lap dance, but all of my sisters did. I wanted to savor my scintillating sex dance that I had with the Greek statue.

At two am, Sapphire closed. We climbed back into the party limo and had the driver take us to a nightclub called Surrender, where we partied until the 4am closing time. After that, he dropped us off at our respective hotels, where I was looking forward to surrendering to my personal commanding officer, Major Jasper Whitlock.

**Jasper's POV**

Carlisle and Rex's bachelor party was crazy. We went to the Palomino Club, the oldest strip joint in Las Vegas—it was grandfathered in when the laws were changed so it was the only one that allowed full nudity. Peter, Emmett, and I have been going there since it opened in 1969. After getting liquored up and paying for a mess of lap dances, the six of us headed to The Playboy Club for some gambling, some more drinking, and some bunnies.

We had just settled in for drinks. We were hanging out with some cute bunnies when Felix started pointing to the entrance excitedly. "Guys! Ashlay Bendover just walked in—look!"

"Come to Daddy, baby," Pete muttered under his breath. He was completely obsessed with Ashlay Bendover flicks, actually, so was Emmett.

"What are we going to do? What if she recognizes us?" Carlisle said. Fuck.

"You're fine because you don't look like you anymore, but Emmett and I are..."

"Emmett Cullen? Jasper Hale? Do you remember me? I'm Lauren, Lauren Mallory."

"Of course we remember you. How are you?" I asked.

"Great. Oh, and it's Lauren Fuchs now." Seriously? That's her last name?

"I thought your last name was Bendover," Pete stated.

"Ashlay Bendover is just my industry name. I see you've seen my films."

"I'm a fan. Can I have your autograph?"

"Sure."

"Anyway, I'm married now. My husband is...oh, there he is...Eugene, come meet some friends of mine from high school." A short, balding man with horrific allergies walked to Lauren's side. "Eugene, these are my friends, Jasper Hale and Emmett Cullen, and their friends. Jasper and Emmett, this is the love of my life Eugene Fuchs."

Emmett and I shook Eugene's hand.

"Would you mind if we joined you?" Lauren asked with a smile. "I'd love to catch up."

"Sure, have a seat." I motioned to Lauren and Eugene to sit down. Pete patted the spot next to him for Lauren. "Let me introduce you to everyone, this is my cousin, Peter Piper, our friends Felix Goodwin and Rex Fantasia, and this is Emmett's cousin, Kenny Cullen."

"Good to meet you all. So, how is your family doing? Are you married?"

"Yes, Emmett married Rosalie and I ended up marrying Bella Swan."

"Oh, how is she? Did she turn out beautiful? I never really liked her in high school, but that was because I was immature and jealous about her dating Edward, but he turned out to be a dick, didn't he? If you had seen her after he left, you would know what I mean. The only way a girl can become that depressed is if a guy dumped her and said nasty shit to her. Personally, I think he did a number on her confidence. Anyway, I always thought that Bella would become a knockout if she worked out and brushed her hair."

"Oh, Bella's a looker," Felix confirmed. "She still doesn't brush her hair, though; but my wife takes a brush to it, even if she's kicking and screaming."

"Good. Is Bella here in Las Vegas? I'd love to see her. I want to apologize to her for being such a bitch in high school. I believe in karma and I think it's a good idea to apologize for any past wrongdoings."

"Uh, yeah, she's here, so is Rose. They're having a bachelorette party for Rex and Kenny's fiancees right now."

"Awesome. Maybe we can meet tomorrow morning around ten. Come to the G-Suite at this hotel."

"Sure, Bella will be there," Pete answered quickly. "I'll bring her personally—even if I have to carry her in."

"Thank you! Oh, Eugene, here's your inhaler—are you okay? He has asthma."

I can't believe she's married to this guy. She must really love him. I tuned in to Lauren's feelings and all I felt was love and concern for her husband. I also felt genuine feelings of honesty coming from her towards all of us. Wow, has she changed since high school.

"So, what do you do for work?"

"I'm a professor at NYU and Jasper's in international finance."

"That's awesome. How are your brother and sister, Edward and Alice, doing?"

"Edward is fine, he and Mike Newton run a business together. Do you remember him?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember Mike. He's very...how should I put this...well, he'd do well in the adult film industry." Lauren got a faraway look on her face.

"Mike?" we all asked at once. We were all completely flummoxed by that statement.

"Oh, yeah, he's very well hung, and he can go on and on in bed. He can also cum on demand. We were um, friends, for a while, then he suddenly disappeared."

"He's married to my sister, Alice," Emmett informed her.

"You're fucking with me? I hope she's changed for Mike's sake. She looked like a boy in drag and she was annoying as hell. I never understood why you were with her, Jasper. I think Bella Swan is a much better choice. In any case, she had the best tits at Forks High School, she just needed to work on her posture. Anyway, I can get her into my line of work if she ever needs a job."

Fuck no. "Don't look so excited. It ain't happening, ever," I whispered to Rex and Felix who looked excited at the prospect.

"So, what do you do for work, Eugene?" I asked.

"I'm a gynecologist here in Las Vegas." No way! I wonder if he gives his wife her checkups. I bet he does.

"Oh, really? I'm into medicine myself," Carlisle said. Clearly, his interest was immediately sparked. He and Eugene started talking about medical stuff.

Around four am, we called it a night and everyone went back to their hotel rooms. I decided to walk back to the Bellagio, thinking that I should probably give Bella a thorough physical exam. As soon as I closed the door to the villa, my pants were ripped off of me and I was buried deep inside of a drunk and lusty Maharani Sucks A Lot's mouth. She must have been drinking Patron all night. Okay, I guess I'll settle for giving her an oral exam.

_**Ten am...**_

Bella and I forced ourselves out of bed about fifteen minutes ago, got dressed, and made our way over to the Palms Hotel to meet Lauren and her husband. We didn't have time for showers, so we still reeked heavily of sex. She was an animal last night, she kept wanting me to be her commanding officer in the army. Fuck, that was fun. I took her in every room of the villa—including the sauna and the massage room.

Everyone was waiting for us in the lobby. We all smelled like walking sex. Apparently, we were just waiting on Carlisle and Chelsea.

"Jasper, what the hell is going on with the women?" Rex pulled me aside, and asked in a whisper. "Tanya kept calling me 'Captain' all night. Then, when I listened into everyone else's lovemaking, I realized that Rose and Char kept referring to their mates as 'Captain', too. Now, Char I can understand, Pete is the Captain. Then, there was Gianna, she kept purring 'Capitano, Capitano' to Felix in Italian."

"Nope, that didn't happen to me. Bella kept calling me Major all night, but that's pretty normal, when she wants to be dominated."

Carlisle showed up with Chelsea hanging all over him and murmuring, "I can't wait to get back to our suite, Captain Cullen."

We knocked on the door of the G-suite, a man answered it. He put his finger to his lips as he let us in.

"Okay, one more time, lights, camera, action!" a man in a director's chair called. Ashlay Bendover was currently bent over a chaise lounge with some guy pounding into her from behind. All of us guys moved up front so that we could get a closer look, just in case they asked us to critique the acting. Our women were watching the scene with stunned expressions on their faces. Well, everyone except for Chelsea that is—she eagerly took in the scene in front of us.

"Shit man! My dick's getting all hard," Peter whispered. "This is art."

"Oh, yeah, fine art," Carlisle agreed.

"Cut!" the director yelled. "That was perfect! Twenty minute coffee break and it's back to work everyone."

Chelsea jumped up and down. "My turn, my turn, I want a turn!"

I saw Bella and Rose grab Carlisle's personal nut job, and put her firmly in between them.

"Well, hello, sweetheart," the director said to Chelsea. Then, he zoomed in on Bella and Rose. "Wow, Ashlay—you didn't tell me your friends were this beautiful. Have you girls ever been on camera?"

"Uh-huh, one time, Heidi and I made an amateur black and white film called, 'A Romp in an Unused Bed With Felix' just for fun. We used Marcus' bed because, well, someone had to use it."

"Bastardo!" Gianna slapped Felix across his cheek.

"It was before you were even born, darling," Felix defended himself.

Lauren approached the director with a robe on. "Rich, they're here to see me. Fuck off."

The director shirked away. "Bella, Rose—so good to see you." She hugged them both. "You both look beautiful."

"Thank you, you look great, too," Bella said.

"Oh, I have a great plastic surgeon. Who does your work?" Bella and Rose still looked like they were in their early twenties rather than their mid-thirties.

"Um, a Dr. Tony Claude in Bellagio, Italy," my wife answered quickly.

"Wow! He does really good work."

"Oh, yes, yes he does," Bella breathed.

"Mmm...I agree," Rose moaned. She actually moaned.

"What the fuck, bro?" Emmett asked in confusion.

"I'll explain later."

I'm snapping that fucking concierge's neck before we leave. I don't give a fuck if he's Claude's husband. God damn, motherfucking...the last time she lusted this much over a guy was when Rex was human.

Lauren apologized to Bella about her behavior in high school. Bella thanked her and told her not to worry about it, because it's all in the past. They exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers. Lauren also promised to send each of us guys an autographed copy of her latest DVD—which she's filming now. Pete pulled his pants down and had Ashlay Bendover autograph her name on his ass with a hot pink Sharpie. After that, we all left so Lauren could get back to work. In any case, we had a wedding to prepare for, and I had to fuck any thought of Tony the concierge out of my wife.

At seven pm, we were all gathered at the Graceland Wedding Chapel, wearing suits and dresses, waiting for Chelsea to walk down the aisle. I was standing up front by the altar, next to Carlisle, who was standing next to an Elvis impersonator who had his eyes fixed on Bella's tits. Shit, she looks hot. She was wearing a hot pink cocktail dress or whatever the hell you call them. I didn't care, it was silk, sexy, and her twins were calling out to me saying, "Play with us, Major. Play with us all night long."

After Carlisle and Chelsea both said, "I do" and the perverted Elvis impersonator planted a fat kiss on the bride's lips, the two newlyweds went off to start their honeymoon back in the Barbie Suite. They said they'd meet us tomorrow for Rex and Tanya's wedding at A Little White Chapel, which was—ironically, where Bella and I got married. They were getting married inside instead of outside, though—and no Elvis either. They were having a more traditional wedding ceremony.

Chelsea didn't want any pomp. She wanted a more whimsical wedding. Carlisle didn't give a shit either way, he just wanted to tie the knot. So, they went for the very cliché Elvis wedding in Las Vegas. It's funny because I would have thought that, of all people, Carlisle would have gone for the traditional ceremony—he sure has changed a lot.

With Carlisle and Chelsea off screwing each other, the rest of us had the night free. It was a beautiful evening and only eight pm so we decided to stroll up and down the Las Vegas Strip and hit a few casinos. True to Peter's prediction, Felix hit it big when he won twenty thousand dollars on a slot machine, which he, in turn, gambled playing roulette. He won close to six hundred thousand dollars and asked if I could build it up for him when we returned home.

While the rest of us were at the casinos, Bella and Rex—both of whom weren't huge gamblers, went to the buffet at Circus Circus to try to find a human food that was palatable to them. We all told them not to, but did they listen? Nope! They spent the hour before meeting us puking in one of the bathrooms at Circus Circus. Someone reported that a couple got food poisoning from the buffet, and the health inspectors came and shut it down.

At around eleven pm, we headed to XS, the nightclub at the Encore. We were all ready for a night of dancing. With a hefty tip, we were able to walk right in, and secure VIP seating. We immediately ordered their bottle service so that we would get bottles of Jack Daniels and Patron delivered to us continuously.

The club was hip and modern and so was the crowd. There were beautiful mosaics on the wall and there were golden, nude statues of women, and stripper poles galore. The design and décor were based on the curves of the female body so it was truly sinuous in look. Of course, when I think of the word sinuous, I think of my mate; but not tonight—she and Rex were sprawled out on a single sofa clutching onto their stomachs because the idiots still had human food to bring up. I swear to God, for two intelligent vampires, those two can bring brainless to a new level at times. It's kind of like that ridiculous Lamaze class they took. What the heck was the purpose in that?

The rest of us were dancing and having a grand old time. We noticed the cocktail waitress bringing a bottle of pink stuff out to our table. Rex and Bella must have ordered some kind of fancy drink. The girls all rushed back to the table excitedly. We went too. We got there just as Bella swigged half of the bottle and passed it to Rex.

"You two could have shared, you know!" Rose said, angrily.

"It's Pepto-Bismol," Rex said.

"Ew! I remember that from when I was human. Hey, why are you two even taking that? Medicine doesn't work on vampires. Pepto Bismol is so vile!"

"Exactly." Rex and Bella both rushed to the bathroom to upchuck. Rex came out a few minutes later looking completely refreshed. Bella was still inside. I decided to go and wait for her by the ladies room. After a couple of minutes, she bounded out looking revitalized.

"The attendant had mouthwash so I was able to rinse my mouth out. Phew! I'm never eating human food again!"

"Never say never, babe. Come on, I want to dance with you. I've missed you all night."

"Me too, Jasper. I love you."

"I love you, too, Bella."

We danced to a couple of songs on the dance floor, then went back to sit with everyone at our table. A thoroughly drunk Gianna was spinning on the stripper pole in our VIP area. She was actually pretty good. Nowhere near as good as Bella, but, then again, I was biased in my opinion. Gianna sat down and it was Tanya's turn. Oh, now that's bad. Rex wasn't kidding. She really can't dance. She looks like she's doing the robot on a stripper pole.

A velvety voice could be heard coming from behind us, "Would you care to dance, Bella?"

Aw, hell, no! Since when does Tony call my wife by her first name? That's pretty unprofessional, if you ask me.

"Absolutely, Tony," Bella replied, breathlessly. I could instantly smell the arousal of every single woman in our party.

"Say what?" Rex, who was listening attentively to the interaction yelled. "Wifey, what the hell d..."

He stopped abruptly and gulped. Tony was staring at him in abject shock. "Rex?"

Rex couldn't answer him. He was stunned silent. He just gazed straight into Tony's eyes. His human eyes. Tony spoke again, "I thought you were dead. I went to your funeral. Mom and Dad were devastated. What the hell? You look young. You..."

Tony ran his hand down Rex's cheek, "You're cold. Bella's cold too. You haven't aged a bit. You still look like you're in your twenties. You should be forty-two!"

Okay, what the fuck is going on and how come he knows that my woman is cold?

"Say something!" Tony yelled pounding on Rex's chest. I heard a bone crack.

"Tony, what's going on? Are you okay, honey." Claude ran up to us. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, I...Tony, what's wrong?"

"We need to go somewhere private to talk. All of us," Rex finally spoke. I nodded to him, then called the waiter, and closed out the tab. Rex had a serious and dazed expression on his face. He put an arm around Tanya, and one around Bella, and held them close to him. One was his mate, the other his best friend, sister, and closest confidant; he needed them both. Char told me that Rex and Bella had a very close sibling bond. Not as close as the one Bella shared with Rosalie, that bond couldn't even be described with just one word; but extremely close and getting closer by the day.

We all went back to the Palms Hotel and gathered in the living room of the suite that everyone was staying in. It was the best place to go because we'd have to call Carlisle to get Tony's hand looked at. I'll say one thing, the guy was a tough motherfucker. He wasn't complaining of the pain at all.

"Well?" Tony demanded. Rex seemed to be contemplating what to say. "Come on! I deserve an answer! You tell me why my supposedly dead, big brother is walking the earth! Tell me!"

Oh fuck. His brother? Uh-oh.

Rex looked to Tanya and Bella for help. Tanya, who was horrific in crisis situations, simply pulled Rex closer to her. She looked pleadingly at my wife.

"Tony, Rex did die thirteen years ago, but he was given a new life," Bella explained.

"What kind of life? What are you saying? I mean, Rex, you haven't aged a bit, you're a little paler, but not so much, your skin is ice cold and it's hard, but smooth—like a granite kitchen countertop."

Yep, this guy's a fag for sure. Our skin isn't usually compared to a cooking surface.

"Your eye color has changed. They're gold, all of your eyes are gold, in fact. Otherwise, you look the same, but the thing is, you should be seven years older than me. You should be forty-two. Now, I look older than you."

"I'm a vampire," Rex answered, simply.

Tony and Claude stared at us in abject shock. Claude was the first to recover. "You're all vampires. I've noticed, throughout the years, that Mrs. Whitlock hasn't changed at all. In fact, she looks younger and healthier with her spray tan than when I first encountered her thirteen years ago with Mr. Whitlock. The dumpster blow job trio look exactly the same—with the exception of their spray tans, as well."

Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose, Char looked up towards the ceiling, and Peter slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Everyone else stared wide-eyed at the three of them. Bella and I started cracking up.

"Well, at least you aged well," Tony said, then he tumbled into Rex's arms for a hug. The two were sobbing—one with tears, the other without.

"I missed you, kid."

"I missed you, too. It was the worst day of my life when I found out you had died. It was right before I was shipped off to Iraq. Claude remembers. I was already with him back then, but I hadn't come out yet. I've gotta call everyone and tell them."

"You can't," Rex stated.

"What? Why not? Troy misses you, man. Whenever I see him, we go out for drinks at Murphy's, and I end up having to carry him home because he's drunk himself into oblivion reminiscing about you."

Claude spoke, "Think about it, honey. If the world found out that vampires actually exist, what would happen?"

I think Tony realized what Claude was saying. We all helped by explaining the nature of vampires and what would happen if the Volturi were ever to find out that humans knew of our existence. After that, we chatted and got to know each other on a more personal level.

"So, you were both in the army?" I asked.

"Yes, I was a Corporal while Tony was a Captain." I noticed that the women all had guilty expressions on their faces, all except for my wife—she had her poker face on.

"So, Jasper, were you an exotic dancer at one point? Bella said that you taught her those moves."

"Oh, she did, did she? When did you dance with her?"

Bella had her fist shoved in her mouth. Her poker face was gone and replaced with an anxious one.

"Last night at Tanya and Chelsea's bachelorette party. She and I did a one on one dance onstage to 'Closer.' The manager wants to hire her."

"The wife's not available!" Rex snapped, then faced Bella. "You and I are gonna talk later."

"Hang on, I thought she was married to Jasper."

"She is. Hey, I'm marrying Tanya tomorrow. Do you and Claude want to come to my wedding? It's at six pm at A Little White Chapel."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Tony smiled, then winced in pain. I think his hand was bothering him. Emmett ran down to get Carlisle. A robe clad Carlisle and Chelsea came thundering into the suite.

"Will one of you run to a twenty-four hour pharmacy and pick up some medical tape for me. I'll write down the type. I also need a splint and a sling."

I volunteered to go with Bella. It was only a mile away so we walked. "Alright, spill. How come you and the girls suddenly know all about Tony, and what happened at the bachelorette party?"

"Did you enjoy the full nudity and lap dances at the bachelor's party the other night?" How the fuck did she know?

"You know something, you don't have to tell me about the bachelorette party. As long as you had fun, that's all that matters to me."

"Me too, Major." Ha ha, my mate called me Major all night last night. I, at least, know she was thinking about me, and only me, when we made love—not the Captain.

"Jasper, what are we going to do about Tony and Claude knowing what we are?" Bella asked on our way back to the hotel.

"We'll have to figure it out. I'm still a little worried about the Volturi finding out, even if Chelsea messed with their bonds so that their concentration is focused on each other. Also, if Maria finds out, he can be used against us. We're good for now, though."

Bella got a worried expression on her face. I knew she was anxious about facing Maria, but it had to be done. I knew better than to bet against Sush and Peter both. Bella had confided in me, Edward, Rose, and Rex about how frightened she was. The four of us were trying our best to keep her spirits up. Bella had taken a big step and made amends with Esme and Alistair. She did this because she knew that the family had to be whole and together when we faced Maria. She had settled into a civil relationship with them, everyone else soon followed. While their relationship with Esme and Alistair couldn't be deemed as close, they could all stand to be in the same room as them for brief periods of time. None of them really talked to the pair, Char said that their bond with them was that of a business acquaintance—someone that you know and work with when necessary, but didn't bond with on a personal level. Bella's relationship with Esme was just a smidgen closer, but not at the level of friend and confidante. She was actually a bit closer to Alistair at this point, probably because the guy was actually interesting.

We returned to the suite with the supplies, and Carlisle worked on setting Tony's hand for him. He was lucky that he was such a strong fucker because he only suffered from a boxer's break at the end of his pinky's metacarpal bone.

Rex was chuckling that Tony couldn't throw a punch to save his life.

Claude agreed, "That's what I always say, he can't even form a proper fist. We were in a barfight during college, and I had to work double-time to knock out everyone around us because he wasn't any help at all." I was trying to picture the world's best concierge in a fist fight. He seemed so refined and delicate. I had to admit that he was in top shape, though.

"That's cause my mom always babied me, plus I had my seven big brothers to defend me," Tony stated.

"There are more of you?" Chelsea asked with a hopeful glint in her eyes. Didn't she just get married?

"Yeah, but they're all married."

"Actually, Tony and Rex are the two best looking men out of all of the brothers. It's as if they sucked the hot genes out of everyone," Claude explained. "Their brother Troy is the spitting image of a bulldog. He looks scary, but he's one of the nicest men you could ever meet, though."

"Nah, it's cause we take after our mom. She was a looker when she was young."

We all talked a bit more. Claude and Tony actually fell asleep on the sofa. Bella and I returned to the Bellagio to chill for a bit.

"You're not going to start calling me Captain now, are you Bella?"

Bella kissed me deeply and with all of the feeling of love that she felt for me. "Now, why would I do that? Doesn't a major outrank a captain?"

"Always," I replied.

"Always," Bella confirmed and kissed me again. We took a dip in our private pool and made love in the moonlight until the sun came up. The sun was blazing out so we were confined to the hotel until twilight, unless by some miracle, the day became overcast. Around noon time, we called Claude. Our trusty concierge, who was suddenly family, answered right away.

"How can I help you guys?" He was a lot less formal now.

"We've got a bit of a problem. Bella and I had appointments at the salon at The Palms Hotel with everyone else so we could get ready for the wedding, but the sun is out so we called and cancelled because there's no way we'd make it out without sparkling. The problem is..."

"You need an appointment at the salon at the Bellagio?"

"Exactly." Man, this dude's perceptive.

"I'll take care of it. Tony's at the hotel until 3pm, I'll have him handle it."

"Thanks."

"No problem, I'll see you later this evening."

I ended the call. Bella looked up at me with a grimace. "I don't get why we have to do the whole beauty salon thing for the wedding. It's such a pain in the ass."

"Hey, I'm with you right there and so is Tanya. It's actually Rex's request, you know how high maintenance he is."

"Yeah, between him and Riley, I don't know who's worse."

"Edward," I answered.

"You're right."

There was a knock on our door and I smelled Tony behind it. I opened it and let him inside. "Sit down, take a break," I offered. "How's your hand?"

"Painful. I'm just glad that it's Friday because I have the weekends off. Claude called and said that you needed salon appointments. Do you want them to come to your room or do you want to go to the salon?"

"Either."

"Here's the thing, I don't recommend the salon here. It's expensive, the stylists all have sticks up their asses, and they suck. Do you want to go to my salon? I'm heading there as soon as I finish at 3pm. They do great work and they're cheap. You two can just bring your wedding outfits along and change at my house after and we can go to the wedding together."

"There's only one problem, we can't be out in the sun."

"Leave that to me."

"Okay, we'll do it your way, then."

At 3pm, Tony came to get us. He led us out into the covered garage through the employee doors. "Can you drive a stick shift?"

"Yeah, why?" That's an odd question.

"Good, cause my hand hurts and I'm having trouble shifting. I barely made it to work this morning."

I took the keys from him and hopped into his Volkswagen Jetta. He handed me sunglasses and a baseball hat. Bella had already covered herself in a scarf and had dark sunglasses on. I pulled into a strip mall in a seedy part of Las Vegas well away from the touristy areas. An hour and a bit later, the three of us were primped for the wedding. I took care of the tab, it was only a hundred bucks for two men's haircuts, a ladies updo, three manicures, and a pedicure for Bella and that included a twenty-five percent tip.

I drove us to a small house in Henderson, Nevada and pulled into the attached garage. It was cozy, but modern inside with an oversized gourmet kitchen that didn't fit with the house. "This is my personal indulgence," Tony explained. "I love to cook and eat."

"I did, too, when I was human. I had to learn how to cook because my parents didn't know how," Bella stated.

"Rex and I were in charge of the cooking at our house when we were growing up. My parents each had two jobs, so the responsibility fell to us."

"Would you mind if I whipped something up for you and Claude? It's been awhile since I've had the opportunity to cook."

"Sure, go right ahead."

Tony and I talked and got to know each other while my wife worked her magic in the kitchen. By the time Claude arrived home, she had dinner for two ready and on the table for them. I really would have liked to have tasted Bella's cooking. There were so many things that I wish we could've had together, but since we were vampires, it would never be a possibility. Eating her food was one thing, but babies were another. I finally understood Rose's desire to be a parent. If we were human, I would have had a big family with Bella. It's something the guys and I have all discussed. Being a vampire gave us eternal life, and having a mate provided us with unconditional love for that time period, but the caveat was that our line could never continue. We could never teach our sons the things we know or walk our daughters down the aisle and watch them get married, so we had to make up for that deficiency by making married life as exciting as possible. I was lucky, though. Bella had a zest for life that was unmatched by any other, except for maybe, Rex. She was willing to try new things and see new places. I had to admit, I haven't been bored for even an hour, since meeting her.

"Oh my GOD! This is the best lasagna I've had in ages, you have to give me the recipe. This is restaurant quality," Claude gushed between bites. He put a huge smile on my wife's face.

"Thanks. It's really easy. I'll jot it down for you. I don't have exact measurements, I just do it by instinct. I hate measuring cups."

I took a bite out of the lasagna. Of course it tasted like crap, but I just wanted to try something concocted by my mate. "You know, I bet if I were human, this would have been delicious," I told her.

She kissed me deeply on my lips. God, I love my wife.

The four of us made our way to A Little White Chapel for Rex and Tanya's wedding. Tony stood up for Rex instead of me. I was perfectly fine with that—he was Rex's real brother, after all. Charlotte was Tanya's matron of honor. After the minister presented us with the new Mr. and Mrs. Rex Whitlock, we decided to go for drinks and dancing. Unlike Carlisle and Chelsea, Rex was in no rush to make love to Tanya. They've been together for thirteen years, after all. Speaking of which, I'd have to do something special for Bella and my wedding anniversary this year.

We were about to leave the chapel when Tony received a phone call. "What do you mean I'll be fired if I don't perform? I can't! I broke my hand. Rocky, I'm your best performer. I need this job, my mom's in a nursing home."

What an asshole! I can't believe he won't let him take a night off. His hand is broken for fuck's sake!

"Fine! I'll be there," Tony groaned. "Fuck!"

"You are not going! Your hand is broken, we'll figure out another way," Claude stated. I was on his side. Hell, I'll pay for the nursing home expenses, Tony shouldn't have to go on stage with a broken hand.

"I have to. You know that mom's in a nursing home. It costs five grand a month and we have a mortgage, Claude."

"You can't go on..."

Rex interrupted, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me about mom yesterday? Are you shouldering the expenses yourself, Tony?"

"Rex it has nothing to do with you, okay. Our other brothers all have kids, they can't afford to contribute to her care. Troy tries, he puts out whatever he can per month, but usually it's a hundred bucks here and there. I'm the only one that..."

"Not anymore. Tanya and I both work, we have no kids, and we don't have to pay for food. Five grand is not a problem for us."

"You can't show up after thirteen years and take over everything all of a sudden, Rex!"

"Tony, please, we'd like to help" Tanya begged. "Even if we only pay for half. Please let us do this for you."

"Yeah, well, I still need my second job. Rocky said that either I show up or find someone just as good as I am, to do my act tonight, or I'm history."

"Rex will do it," Bella stated. "He's the only one that I know that can do a good enough job. He's been keeping up with his skills too. We've been going to an exotic dancing class every Wednesday for almost three years now."

"Is that why you're such a good dancer?" Tony grinned.

"Yeah, probably."

"Alright, I agree. As long as you save a dance for me later when we go clubbing."

"Wait a minute! I didn't agree yet."

Bella pinched Rex's arm. Tanya smacked his arm. Gianna spanked him on the ass while Rosalie and Charlotte rounded in on him with death glares.

"Ow! I'll do it. I'll go on stage."

"My turn!" Chelsea jumped up and down then started smacking Rex's ass repeatedly. Poor Carlisle. He really does have his hands full. I like her, though.

As we got into the limo, we saw two couples get out of their vehicle. "Oh my," Charlotte said. "This is so sad, they're each with the wrong person. That man should be with that woman, and vice versa."

"Oh, that is sad." Chelsea concentrated on the two couples walking in. All of a sudden, they stopped in their tracks and released each other's hands. The two men grabbed each other's women and started kissing them furiously. "Is that better?"

"Much." Charlotte smiled and hugged Chelsea. Yikes, I'm not so sure if that's not considered an abuse of power. At least the world will be filled with happy couples after those two work their magic.

We hung out back in the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa until it was about ten pm. We all changed into something a bit more casual. Bella and I ran back to our hotel to change while Claude and Tony borrowed clothes from Carlisle and Rex. We all felt like a more casual venue tonight. We made our way to Sapphire where we had reserved VIP seats. Actually, the greedy manager bumped another party to give us the table after we offered him double the usual price for the table.

Tony came running out from the back and spoke to Tanya, "He's asking for his wifey."

"That would be Bella," Tanya chuckled.

"You're really gonna have to explain those dynamics to me one day."

Bella and Tony returned the table a few minutes before Rex was due to go on. The manager walked up to Tony and threatened him, "He'd better be as good as you say Fantasia."

"Prick," Bella mumbled, loud enough for the schmuck to hear. The asshole noticed her. "Well, hello, delicious. Did Tony here tell you that we could use a hot ticket like you here? You can audition for me in my office right now. I'll make time for you. I'd like to see what a hot number like you can do for me. I'll make it worth your while, I promise." He patted his wallet, licked his lips, and ran his finger down her arm. Bella cringed and was about to say something, but before she could do anything I had stood up. I got right up into the fucker's face. So did Pete, Emmett, and Carlisle. Claude stood behind him with a menacing scowl on his face while Felix and Tony completely blocked Bella from his view.

"She's my wife, fucker! I'm gonna ask you once, and once only, to not approach her. As you can see, she has a lot of bodyguards. In fact, the women at this table—you don't look at them, you don't talk to them, and above all, you don't touch them! Do you understand?"

The weasel nodded his head furiously that he understood and took off in the other direction. A couple of minutes later, two bottles each of Jack Daniels and Patron were delivered to our table compliments of him. Yep, he was now groveling.

"Ugh, Tony, there's that evil, rich hag who shows up at my desk, orders me around, and never leaves a tip," Claude complained, looking at the bitchy looking matron with a pinched nose and a seemingly permanent scowl on her face. She was bitching to the peon club manager, Rocky, about the fact that we were in her reserved seats.

"Is it that shrew over there?" Chelsea asked.

"Yes, it is."

Chelsea got a mischievous smile on her face. She concentrated a bit on Rocky and the medusa and the two of them started making out, oblivious to who or what was around them instantly. "There, that's better, now she won't be frigid anymore and he'll never sexually harass the pretty strippers here again. Carlisle, I want to be a stripper."

"Sure, hon, whatever makes you happy."

My personal opinion is that Chelsea shouldn't be allowed to wander out in public alone—ever! Who knows what shenanigans she'll get up to. I mean, for God's sake, Tanya and Charlotte are blown away by her.

Rex appeared on stage with a bang. Bella reached for my wallet and grabbed a mess of bills out and started waving it around for him. I knew what she was doing, all of Rex's tips would go to Tony, so she was contributing to taking care of his mother in the only way she knew how. The other women did the same thing. They were all waving at least a thousand bucks in front of Rex's face.

"La mia tigre," Tanya purred in Italian. She kept babbling words to him.

"No, non parli in Italiano. Comincerà pensare!" Gianna yelled at her.

"What happened? What's going on?" Tony asked.

Chelsea translated, "Tanya called Rex her tiger in Italian with that fucked up accent of hers, then Gianna yelled at her to not speak in Italian cause Rex will start to think."

"Why? Can't he think and strip at the same time?"

"NO!" we all shouted.

Gianna and Tanya continued arguing in Italian. Rex was dancing with a perplexed expression on his face. He was taking in the scene of the two women arguing in earnest. Chelsea joined in the fray and yelled in Italian to Tanya.

"Felix or Carlisle, translation please!" I yelled.

"Chelsea told Tanya to shut her mouth because when she speaks Italian, it sounds like she's a dog in heat. Tanya just told her that she's been told that she sounds sexy when she speaks in Italian. Gianna and Chelsea just called bullshit on her. Holy fuck!"

_Smack! _Gianna slapped Tanya across the face. Tanya lunged to attack. Bella, Rose, and Char jumped in and were holding back the three women. Rex was standing completely still on stage. Something had to be done.

"Sergeant Major! Are you a Whitlock or not! Start shaking that ass and start dancing. That's a fucking order!" I yelled. Not working. "Someone fucking put a muzzle to Tanya!"

Charlotte put her in a headlock and clasped her hand over her mouth. It was a move used to restrain newborns so it was impossible for Tanya to move or speak.

I hopped up onto the stage. "Come on Sergeant Major! Start moving those hips! I'm ordering you to move those hips!" I started gyrating my hips in order to show him what to do. The women in the audience started screaming.

"Um, Jasper, slowly turn around and face the audience, and unbutton only the top button of your shirt. Don't stop moving your hips, keep going with the rhythm," Tony instructed. "Good, now grab onto each front panel of your shirt where they overlap. On the count of three pull them apart hard...one, two, three." I ripped the shirt apart and buttons went flying all over the place.

"Major! Rip your t-shirt off straight down the front, trust me on this," Peter advised.

I ripped my t-shirt off and the women started screaming.

"Alright, I'm back. Keep dancing, Major. Let me catch up to where you are. No matter what, don't take your cowboy hat off—leave that on," Rex whispered from behind me. I did as he said. How the fuck did I get wrangled into this?

A thunderous roar from the audience told me that Rex had ripped his shirt off. Women were screaming frantically, flashing their tits and lifting their skirts in a lust-filled haze. I glanced out into the audience and saw that Bella was in the front row and staring straight at me with pitch black eyes filled with desire. I started dancing for my wife, and my wife, alone. Fuck everyone else.

"Take your belt off," Rex instructed. "Fling it to the audience."

"I like this belt," I arguedd.

"Throw it to me!" Rose encouraged. She caught both mine and Rex's belts deftly with one hand.

"I want you," Bella mouthed. My mate's eyes were smoldering and she was licking her lips unabashedly while she watched me dance for her. My dick was hard enough to slice through diamonds.

"Unbutton your jeans, leave the fly undone, and keep gyrating your hips," Tony called from the audience.

The audience went wild as Rex and I gyrated our hips. "Come on Major! Show me what you've got!" Chelsea yelled. "Carlisle! You go up next!"

"Alright, we're coming to the end of the song. When I say 'go', rip your jeans off. Wait for it. Wait for it. Go!"

I ripped my jeans off and the women went nuts—so did Claude and Tony. They were standing on either side of Bella ogling me.

"I'd like to wrap my lips around that," Claude commented.

"Bella, you're a lucky girl. No wonder you don't venture out of your room until the afternoon," Tony added.

"I can see why you're Maharani Sucks A Lot," Rose stated, licking her lips without any shame.

That's when I looked down and noticed that my dick was standing at attention, saluting the audience. Shit. I forgot that I went commando tonight.

I grabbed my wallet and iPhone out of my shredded jeans, then got my naked ass off of the stage. Women were trying to touch me, but they couldn't get through the physical shield my mate had wrapped around me. I took Bella's hand and walked out of the club, straight into our waiting limo.

"Keep the privacy guard up and drive until I tell you to stop," I ordered the driver. I was inside of my mate the moment the limo door closed. By the time we walked in through the private entrance of our villa—nude and fully sated, dawn was breaking. I'll have to tip the driver well before we leave Las Vegas on Sunday.

_**A few hours later...**_

_Knock! Knock! Knock! _"Come on you horn toads! Open the fucking door! It's overcast today and tomorrow!" Emmett's voice was loud and clear as he pounded on the door to our villa. _Knock! Knock! Knock!_

I opened the door to find everyone standing there, including Claude and Tony. Well, shit. So much for spending the day alone with Bella.

"You've been fucking holding out on us! What the fuck kind of room is this?" Rex asked as he toured the villa. "Look at this guys: they have their own pool and private entrance with a garden and a spa, a massage room, a gym, a beauty salon, a sauna, cedar closets—did you two have sex in the closets?"

Everyone took a deep whiff. "Yep, they did. In fact, their entire villa reeks of sex. Have you no shame?" Peter asked me, pulling his great granddaughter protectively to his side.

"Hey, I'm not the one that's toying around with slave cages, St. Andrew's crosses, and sex swings," I argued.

"Oh, that slave cage is fun. Carlisle and I locked ourselves inside last night by accident. We had to pry the bars open to get out," Chelsea said.

"The point of a slave cage is for one of you to go inside while the other one titillates," Charlotte explained.

"What's the point in that? It's not fun unless we're titillating each other."

Apparently, like my mate, Chelsea wasn't big into bondage either.

"You know what this room is missing? A stripper pole. What kind of a hotel room has no stripper pole. I don't get it," Pete shook his head in disappointment.

"Yeah," Rex agreed. "This room kind of sucks. Anyway, throw your bathing suits on. Claude got us tickets to the Rehab Pool Party at the Hard Rock Cafe. Pete rented out a cabana for us. We're partying there, then we're going two-stepping tonight. For some reason, the girls have been on some sort of a cowboy kick ever since last night."

The pool party was hedonism at it's best. There were thousands of scantily clad men and women getting trashed and partying, as if tonight was their last night on earth. There was dancing in and out of the pools. Women were walking around jiggling their tits, people were dry humping in the pool and on the lounge chairs, there were drinking games going on all around us, it was total decadence. I was pretty sure that everyone at this party was going straight to hell with no reprieve. We had a bit more privacy because we were in the cabanas. Char, Tanya, Gianna, and Chelsea were partying in the pool with Carlisle, Felix, and Peter. The rest of us were kicking back in the cabana.

"This is like spring break on steroids," Bella pointed out.

"Exactly," Tony agreed. It's weird, ever since last night, I noticed that both Claude and Tony emitted a fuckton of lust whenever they looked at me. Oh well, as long as they know that I don't swing in that direction, I'm fine with it.

"Ooh! I like this Lady Gaga song. Let's go dance." Claude suddenly suggested to Tony.

"I don't feel like dancing. It's too crowded here."

Bella and Rose grabbed Claude and the three of them jumped into the pool and started dancing. The two of them, clad in bikinis, were like homing beacons for every male at the party. Within minutes, they were surrounded by hundreds of testosterone fueled men, vying for their attention. I once asked Eleazar if Bella and Rose were succubi. He said that they weren't. He said that they were just extremely beautiful and Emmett and I should just be grateful to be blessed to have such knockouts for wives.

"Well, are you gonna get the wifey or am I?" Rex asked.

"That's it! Someone needs to explain the whole Bella is his wife and your wife thing cause I'm fucking confused," Tony stated.

"Alright, legally, Bella is Jasper's wife—he's who she has sex with and stuff. On the dance floor, and at the exotic dancing class, Bella is my wife cause Tanya has two left feet. Otherwise, she's the sister I never had plus she goes to all those weird classes with me to keep things exciting."

"Yeah, like that Lamaze Class," Emmett piped in.

"Lamaze Class? Why would you two need a Lamaze Class?"

"Pain management. It comes in handy when you live with Kate—that's Tanya's sister. You never know when she'll shock the shit out of you."

"I have to fly out to New York to meet the family, though I'm not so sure about this Kate," Tony noted. "Oh, and Bella's my wife on the dance floor, not yours. We dance well together."

"Major! Bella's been cheating on us!" Rex joked as he took a swig from the bottle of Jack Daniels. The rest of us joined everyone else in the pool and partied. Our group, in general, attracted a huge crowd of worshippers. Well, heck, we were all pretty good looking and our women were just stunning. On top of that, Rex was an incubus while Tanya was a succubus.

We partied for a bit longer, then went back to our hotel rooms to get dressed for the evening. Apparently, Claude and Tony were staying in the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa with everyone else while Gianna and Felix moved into the second bedroom in the Barbie Suite with Carlisle and Chelsea, for the duration of their stay. Thank God, there's only one bedroom in our villa. I wouldn't want anyone moving in with us.

After a blow job for me and a quick orgasm for Bella in the shower, the two of us got dressed for a night of country music. We met everyone at Stoney's Rockin' Country Nightclub on the strip. Pete, Em, Felix, Char, and I were psyched, the five of us were from down south. Bella grew up mostly in Arizona which is a country music hub and, then, there was Claude. We found out that he's originally from Texas—not far from where I grew up, in Dallas. Pete and I got a few drinks into Claude and soon enough, that Texas twang he'd been masking for his job came flying out with a vengeance.

We were all having a blast. Bella and I danced for a few songs until Pete ordered that I hand her over to him. He's the one that taught her how to two-step and he did a great job, I might add.

We noticed a crowd gathering around the mechanical bull. Well, no wonder, Tanya and Charlotte were riding it together. Charlotte was in front and Tanya was riding bitch with her hands wrapped around her tits. Chelsea suddenly hopped on, while it was moving, and straddled Charlotte—the crowd went hogwild.

"Hey, Char, look around the room. Who should I mate with whom?" Chelsea asked.

I looked at Carlisle. He shrugged his shoulders and put his arm around my shoulder. "At least she's spreading the love."

That's true, and love makes the world go round, right? I looked around at my family—old and new, and everyone's hearts were filled with nothing, but love. I decided to take a page out of Chelsea's book and flood the nightclub with feelings of love and happiness. I figured, I have the power, why not use it. Ah...the joys of being an empath.

**While this chapter was seemingly innocent and fun, tons happened to our uber cool family of vamps. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter and, as always, I promise to respond to your reviews. Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! XOXO**


	53. Chapter 53

**"Change Tony and Claude! Change Tony and Claude!" Gee whiz, you're all testy. All I can say is, we'll see. I'm glad that you all like Rex's brother and I know for a fact that Claude was already one of your favorite characters. Thank you so much for your emotional responses to this chapter. Your reviews, messages, faves, and alerts were absolutely awesome. You can either go clubbing with Tony or with Rex, your choice.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Rex's POV**

We've been back from Las Vegas for two months now. It was the end of June, school had gotten out, and I was on my summer vacation away from those hormonal adolescents that I teach day in and day out. Tanya and I are now married, which didn't really matter to either of us, we didn't feel any different at all—we still loved each other as much as we ever did.

My brother and Claude were coming to visit us for two weeks starting this evening. They were staying with Jasper and Bella in Manhattan. They had more room at their house plus there was more for them to do in New York City. I didn't mind, I was over at their house most of the time during the summer anyway.

I was shocked out of my shoes when I ran into Tony in Las Vegas. It was the worst day and the best day of my life combined. The worst because I didn't really know how to tell him that I was a vampire and that I had to fake my death. The best because I had my favorite kid brother back. He was the one that followed in my footsteps, went to college, and made something of himself. He surpassed me in the military, too. Damn! He was a Captain up until three years ago. I was so proud of him.

Tanya and I managed to convince Tony to let us foot the bill for mom's nursing home for awhile. We wanted him to quit working for that asshat, Rocky. Tony was a good man, he didn't need the bullshit that Rocky gave him. With Claude's help, we were finally able to convince him to quit so now the bills were being forwarded to me and Tanya. As it was, I had a few million in savings socked away in the bank. When I first came into this existence, Jasper and Eleazar had each set me up with five million dollars each. Jasper because he was my sire and bore the Whitlock name and Eleazar because I was a Denali due to the fact that I was mated to Tanya. Tanya herself had a few hundred million dollars in assets so paying for mom's care was really no skin off of our backs. I considered the savings my emergency fund. I didn't earn a penny of it and I didn't feel as if I had a right to use it except in case of emergencies. That's why I paid for Tanya's wedding set using money that I earned from my job as a teacher. I wanted to buy the rings on my own rather than use money that was handed to me.

Mom was at Marian Manor in Dorchester, Massachusetts—two blocks from where I grew up. She was suffering from Stage 7 Alzheimer's Disease and her cognitive decline was very severe. I was devastated. Bella and I drove to the nursing home two days ago and we snuck inside to see mom. She didn't recognize me at all, but she kept saying that Bella and I made a nice couple. I left with tears in my eyes. Bella said that she'd come up with me to visit mom monthly. It was weird, I preferred doing stuff like this with Bella because she understood me more than Tanya did at times like these.

Bella and I snuck into my boyhood home afterwards. My older brother Troy now lived there with his wife and four kids. I peeked into the bedrooms to check on everyone's sleeping faces—it looked like he had two boys and two girls with one on the way. I could hear two heartbeats coming from his wife—her own and her baby's. I climbed into the attic and found some boxes marked, photos, and a few marked, Rex. I quickly sifted through the photos, grabbed a few that I wanted to keep and had Bella throw it into her purse. Bella and I, then, picked up the boxes marked Rex and left the house quietly.

I went through the boxes at home later and I found, among other things, my Marine Uniform and my prized Lego model of the Millenium Falcon that I put together when I was ten. Garrett, Felix, and Jasper thought it was so cool. Now we have a Lego room set up in Jasper and Bella's house. Mike and Riley always come over to tinker with them. They remember playing with Legos when they were kids too. Right now, all of us guys are working together to build what we're calling the Ultimate Star Wars Universe. This was, of course, Pete and Riley's idea. Jasper went to the Lego Store and spent, what Bella called, a shameful and exorbitant amount on Legos. She didn't mind, though, she liked it when all of us guys spent time together. I always catch her watching us with a smile on her face whenever all of us are together.

It was 5am and I was waiting for Claude and Tony's flight to get in. They had taken the red-eye from Las Vegas to JFK Airport. Tony walked up and embraced me as soon as he spotted me, so did Claude. They made such a great couple and Claude was truly my brother's other half. I didn't have a problem with their relationship at all. Apparently, Claude was disowned by his family and aside from me, my mom, and Troy; the rest of my brothers were all uncomfortable with the fact that Tony is gay. I didn't know he was gay until we ran into him in Las Vegas. Char said that if Claude and Tony were vampires, they would be mates. That was good enough for me.

We rang the doorbell at Bella and Jasper's where my empathic vampire brother and sire opened the door shirtless and reeking of sex.

"Ah, wifey's essence. It has a bouquet like a fine wine," I said to egg him on. He growled at me.

Bella came bounding down the stairs a couple of minutes later. "She, at least, had the decency to shower," I remarked.

"Oh, shut it, Rex. It's not like you and Tanya don't get it on all of the time. Amanda told me that she caught you fucking her doggy style in the store room. By the way, Rex and Tanya fuck a lot."

"Hey, we can't help it. I'm an incubus and she's a succubus, we need sex more than blood. What excuse do you and Jasper have?"

"We're in love," she chuckled. So did everyone else. She showed Claude and Tony to their room, then gave them the grand tour.

"Isn't this just like the jacuzzi pool from the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa?" Claude asked.

"Yep, Jasper liked it so much that he had one installed. It just doesn't have the bunny symbol at the bottom. We opted for a pretty blue Moroccan tile instead."

"Is that a show shower with a stripper pole and why do you have a tree in here?" Tony questioned.

"Jasper and Bella like to play. That show shower was added after our recent trip to Las Vegas. It was our request since their house is the only one with enough space to install one," I answered. "They have a nicer one in the spa bathroom that's connected to their bedroom."

"Anyway, feel free to make yourselves at home—everyone else does. Oh, and I stocked the kitchen for you and I have a tray of lasagna ready to go for tonight's dinner," Bella said.

"Thanks, you didn't have to go through all of that trouble. Claude and I can cook."

"Yes, they did. She, Rex, Mike, and Vicky have been cooking up a storm all week. Our freezer is packed with food," Jasper informed them.

"Well, I look forward to meeting everyone."

"You won't have long to wait. I can smell Vicky and Garrett now." Sure enough, the doorbell rang and my fellow school teachers walked inside. We introduced Vicky and Garrett to my brother and Claude. Vicky whipped up what looked like the world's most fluffiest omelette for them. Fuck, I wish I could eat. Felix stopped in about an hour later, then Emmett. Jasper and Bella's house had become the hub of all activity ever since we moved to this area. It was centrally located and convenient for those of us in Connecticut and in New Jersey.

"So, when do we get to meet everyone else?" Claude asked.

"Tonight. We're having a party at my house. I figured that was the best way to introduce you to everyone."

"You've already met Vicky's husband, my brother Riley. Do you remember him, Claude?"

"Do I ever. He is gorgeous! I didn't know he was your husband, Vicky. I thought for sure he was gay. He takes such good care of himself."

"Claude, hold that thought and make sure to tell him that when you meet him. It'll make him happy," Vicky chuckled with a mischievous smile. "I can't wait until you two meet Mike and Edward, they're gonna love you."

A few hours later, we all headed to my house in Connecticut. Claude and Tony joined me, Jasper, Em, and Garrett in the war room. Tony was an excellent strategist, having done four tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as an officer—my brother was a seasoned war veteran.

Everyone started trickling in. Until we were almost all there, even Alistair and Esme, who I still wasn't really talking to, but I was trying to be civil because—like it or not, they were still family. We were all gathered in the living room talking. All of the women had a thing for Tony, they claimed he was hotter than I was—even Tanya did. All except for stripper wifey, she assured me that I'll always be number two in her heart after Jasper. See, that's all I'm asking for, a little love and reassurance.

About an hour later, there was a loud screech as a car came to an abrupt stop over some bushes. Carlisle got out of the passenger seat looking like he wanted to puke while Chelsea came bouncing out of the driver's seat with a huge smile planted on her face. She ran straight for Tony and climbed onto his lap. "Ooh, I missed your scent!"

"Are you okay, Daddy?" Bella asked.

"Someone else has to teach her to drive. I can't do it. I don't know if I can survive it."

"Why don't you send her to the driving school that Jasper sent Felix to?" I suggested.

"Yeah, I think I might have to." When I looked at Carlisle's face, he looked like he had just climbed out of a tank under heavy artillery fire rather than an Audi R8.

Chelsea and Esme were currently making small talk. Surprisingly, those two didn't have a problem with each other. Chelsea met Esme without judging her past behavior toward us. She was good like that. You just didn't want to cross her afterwards because there was no telling what she would do.

"So, Edward, would you and Mike know of any good bars that we can go to?"

"Sure, there's an awesome bar in Manhattan called Lace. Really great atmosphere, friendly clientele, you know what I mean."

Sure. Lace is a titty bar. I doubted my brother and Claude would enjoy themselves there.

Bella had a sneaky smile on her face. "I heard at school that there's a hot new bar called Vlada Lounge in Hell's Kitchen. You four should go there."

"Oh, yeah, isn't that the bar that bases it's drink menu on vodka. It sounds pretty awesome," Rose added.

"Hell yeah! Hey, let's go now! It's Friday night. Vlada sounds Russian, they probably have some really hot sweeties there," Mike mused. "Do you remember what street it's on, Bells?"

"Sure, it's on East 51st."

"I heard about that place that's a g..a..." Peter suddenly kissed Char passionately on the lips.

"Yeah, it's a great bar," Pete chuckled.

"Well, if it's so great, why don't we all go?" Jasper suggested.

"Um, it's not the type of place that women would enjoy," Bella stated.

"Now, that sounds like a great place," Garrett winked to the rest of us men.

"I agree, you don't mind if I go out with the guys, do you?" Felix asked Gianna.

"No, go right ahead."

"Now, this is nice. I'm surprised to see you all so open," Tony noted.

"Yeah, we like to keep things open and modern with our wives," Emmett stated, proudly.

A couple of minutes later, all of the men, with the exception of me and Pete, left to go to the Vlada Lounge—even Alistair went. As soon as they were out of earshot, we started cracking up.

"Those asshats think they're going to a titty bar," Pete chuckled.

"Oh, aren't they?" Esme asked.

"Nope, Rose and I just sent them all to the newest, hippest gay bar in Manhattan," Bella giggled.

"Oh...oh...ohhh! Hehehe." Esme was clutching at her sides and laughing along with the rest of us. "Well, let's go celebrate, then. We should all go to Manhattan and have some fun for once."

"That's a great idea, Esme. Isn't it guys?" Bella pinched both me and Pete on our thighs.

"Yessss," we both hissed. Neither of us liked Esme very much, but Bella was adamant that we all had to bury the hatchet because, otherwise, when we faced Maria we wouldn't be a united front.

"I know the owner of a new club in Hell's Kitchen. I just did the design for the whole place. He's been itching to get me to come in."

"Great, why don't you call him," I suggested.

Esme placed the call and an hour later, we were standing outside of Swanky Hell. The place was a mob scene and the line to get inside went around the block. The owner came out personally to greet us and we were led to the VIP seating area.

I had to admit that the design was pretty awesome. It was modern, swanky, and it could rival any nightclub in Las Vegas. We were on the second floor, it overlooked the first floor which featured the main dance area and seating for the non-VIP clientele.

"Isn't that Johnny B of the Pocket Rockets?" Bella asked me.

I peered in the direction she was looking. "Yeah, I think it is." He noticed our group and walked over to greet us...no...Pete.

"Homey!" He gave Pete a high-five. Where've you been? I haven't seen you in awhile! Speaking of which, I haven't seen Daddy C in a while."

Pete's eyes widened. "Uh, yeah, we've been hanging out in Vegas. Plus, Daddy C tied the knot."

"You're fucking with me? What money-grabbing bitch got her claws into the ultimate party machine?"

"That would be his wife, right there." Pete motioned to Chelsea.

"Wow! You're a knockout! No wonder he got hitched quick. Did you guys elope in Vegas?"

"Yes, we did."

"Trust me, it's the best way. I had a huge shindig for my first wedding, but the last four have been in Las Vegas. So, which one of you fine ladies wants to party with Johnny C?"

Tanya and Bella both snuggled into me while Rose and Char did the same with Pete. "Oooh! I love parties! Let's go!" Chelsea squealed.

"Uh, I don't mess with the married ones."

"But we're all married."

"Sorry, sweetheart."

"You're mean! Just because we're married doesn't mean we don't know how to have fun!"

"What's going on Johnny B? Are these hoes ragging on you?" An asshole rapstar with a prominent Swastika tattoo on his arms approached him.

"That's G-Twat, he's the racist, white supremacist rap star that thinks women should be used, abused, barefoot, and pregnant," Alice whispered. The women instantly donned angry faces.

"Yeah, these married sluts want to party with me just cause I'm Johnny B."

"Excuse me, please leave our table. We don't need to hear that kind of talk." Esme stood up defiantly.

"Bitch! Did I give you permission to talk to me? Fucking whore!" G-Twat said to Esme.

Peter and I stood up instantly, but not before all of the women.

"Get the hell away from this table before I fuck your shit up!" Victoria looked angry and feral. Kate was flanking Vicky with her shocking hands on the ready.

"Oooh! I'm scared," he taunted, then cackled together with Johnny B.

Chelsea's evil smile widened at that point. She looked between Johnny B and G-Twat and concentrated. Char slapped a hand over her mouth. Holy shit. I hope she didn't do what I think she did. Oh God. We're all going to hell. Meh, they probably deserve it.

Johnny B and G-Twat got horrified expressions on their faces. The two of them returned to their section and sat as far apart from each other as they could for the rest of the evening. Like I said before, Chelsea is one vampire you never want to piss off.

**Garrett's POV**

Titty bar! Boobies! Here we come! We arrived at Vlada Lounge and as soon as the bouncer out front took a look at our group, he let us in instantly. With all of the men standing out front to get inside, it was obvious what kind of a place this was. Shit! They must have some really hot women here. Mike is right, Russian chicks are hot. My wife is Russian, I should know. Now, I never touch, but I love watching beautiful women. I'm so lucky that Katie is so open and understands that we men need to hang out with just the guys sometimes.

I was actually surprised that Rex and Peter didn't come along with us. Pete said that he wanted to set up for the pool party at his house tomorrow night and Rex offered to help him since the party was in honor of his brother and his husband. Now, I don't have a problem at all with gay men as long as they understand that I'm straight and prefer women.

We were seated in a section with comfortable sofas and chairs and the waiter came to take our order. Jasper started a bottle service while Tony preferred some pink drink called a Pink Poodle. The bar was apparently vodka based so we had bottles of Stolichnaya sent to us all night.

"Hey, where are the girls?" I asked, loudly.

Right on cue, three beautiful women with huskier than usual voices came to sit with us. One of them looked surprisingly like Cher and the other one had a fruit basket on her head. The blonde girl was extremely tall, but kind of cute, she sat in between me and Jasper. I thought they were all a little flat chested. The conversation was going well until the blonde girl ran her rather large and hairy manicured hand over my thigh.

"I'm sorry if I gave off the wrong impression, I'm married, ma'am," I said.

"Oh, that's too bad. Which one of these lucky men are you married to?" Are my ears deceiving me or does her voice sound deeper than mine? That's when I noticed her Adam's apple. In fact, all of these 'women' had Adam's apples.

Riley's eyes widened. He whispered in vampire speed and tone that we were at a gay bar. Meanwhile, one of the 'women' sidled up next to him and linked her...his...arms around his. "Bella and Rose," he growled.

We all growled our sisters' names under our breaths. Now, we were in a bit of a jam. We had Rex's brother and his friend here and we couldn't just leave abruptly, otherwise we'd offend them. "We've got to suck it up guys, I'll deal with my mate when I get home," Jasper whispered.

"Don't worry, I'll get Rose," Emmett stated with a scowl. "Knowing those two, they planned this shit. They can get pretty crafty."

Claude and Tony were great, having both served in the military, their knowledge was extensive. Tony served four tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. We found out that Claude and Tony go to re-enactments too. They were really into battle planning and they were especially interested in the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. We decided that we would play some laser tag tomorrow before Pete's party.

"So, Riley, I have to admit that I thought you were gay when I met you in Las Vegas. You have such pretty skin, perfectly shaped eyebrows, and such gorgeous hair," Claude noted, running his fingers through Riley's hair. "What product do you use?"

"Oh, um, I prefer the TIGI Bedhead line for shampoo and conditioner and Bumble and Bumble Hair Creme for styling. I end it with a spritz of Aqua Net."

We all stared at Riley in horror. What the fuck was that?

"Really, Ry? I prefer the Paul Mitchell Awapuhi line, I think it's gentler on the scalp," Edward added. "I use the Bumble and Bumble Hair Creme too and Aqua Net like you do, though. What do you use Claude?"

"I like the Bain de Terre Coconut Moringa Shampoo and their Recovery Complex Conditioner. I use Nexxus Exxtra Gel Style Creation Sculptor for styling and follow up with Aqua Net."

"Excuse me, is it normal for modern men to be so attentive to their hair care needs?" Alistair asked.

The dude dressed like Cher responded, "Of course it is. Your body is your temple and that includes your hair. By the way, honey, you should really consider taking a pair of tweezers to your eyebrows. You should try to be more like this morsel over here, too bad he's straight though."

"How do you know Carlisle is straight?"

"His earring, sweetheart. It's in his left ear." We looked over at Carlisle and he looked pretty proud of himself.

"What about you, Tony?" Edward asked. "What do you use for your hair?"

"I use whatever the fuck is in the shower. I don't give a shit. Does it matter?"

I think I prefer Tony to Claude. Of course, he is drinking that pink beverage. Who knows, maybe it's good. "Hey, Tony, can I try some of your drink?" I asked to be friendly and to get off of the topic of hair products.

"Sure."

I took a sip. Surprisingly, it was good and didn't taste off to my vampire taste buds. I passed the drink around to my brothers and we all ended up ordering a round of Pink Poodles. Claude stuck with the Stolichnaya, he said the Pink Poodle was too fufu for him. I bet Claude's the man in the relationship. What exactly does a 'man' in a gay relationship do anyway?

A couple of hours later, and under Felix and Emmett's protection, we all left Vlada Lounge. We had an enjoyable time with Tony and Claude, but at the same time, we were hit on and groped several times by some overzealous human males. All I knew was that I needed to go home and suck on Katie's 34 DD's for several hours.

**Bella's POV**

I heard the front door open, then close. Claude and Tony wished Jasper a goodnight, walked straight up to their rooms, and started snoring within three minutes. I was sitting in our room reading when I suddenly became extremely tired. "Jasper." That's the last thing I remember saying.

When I came to, I was naked, blindfolded, handcuffed to the stripper pole, and extremely aroused. "Hello, my mate. Did you have a good evening?"

"Uh, yes, why?"

"That was a pretty swanky bar that you and Rose recommended to us."

"I'm glad you liked it. I thought you might enjoy something new and different." I couldn't see a thing out of this blindfold, Jasper had tied it securely around me so that I couldn't even peer out of the corner.

"Um, honey, why am I blindfolded and in handcuffs?"

"Oh, that. I thought that you might want to try something new and different since you're so much like me," he said in a dark tone. I felt my arousal pool instantly at my core as he sent wave after wave of lust to me.

"What are you doing?" I gulped while panting. "Oh...oh...oh...J...j..."

He abruptly stopped sending me lust. I felt two fingers being inserted into my pussy. "So wet."

My mate started finger fucking me, occasionally stopping to lick my clit. He'd send me strong bursts of lust, then stop just when I was about to cum. "Jasperrrr, please!" I begged, over and over again.

This cycle continued on for hours. I was frustrated, aroused, in pain from denial, and in desperate need of a release.

"I didn't enjoy being sent to a gay bar, Bella. Some...I don't know what the fuck he was...in a Carmen Miranda outfit groped me."

I started laughing. Jasper released the handcuffs and the blindfold. "You think that's funny, do you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"So do I." My mate started chuckling along with me. He carried me to our bed and we made love until the sun came up. I told him that Rose and I only meant to send Edward and Mike over to Vlada's, but everyone else decided they wanted to go along thinking that it was some sort of a strip joint.

"Well, maybe that'll teach us a lesson to not go to strip joints so often and to never, ever follow Mike's lead."

"Probably."

We took a shower together, then I went downstairs to start on breakfast for our guests. The guys all went to a laser tag center in the mid morning while we women headed to Pete and Char's to help them set up for the party.

A few hours later, the men returned. Apparently, they all got hosed by Tony who had only left the military three years ago. I had a good chuckle looking at the scowls on Jasper, Garrett, Felix, and Rex's faces.

"It was my fucking idea that he join the military to pay for college!" Rex whined.

By the time Claude and Tony finished eating the mountain of food that we prepared for them, Vicky was drunk. She made some kind of dish with a cognac cream sauce and she had been sucking on bottles of cognac throughout the day. Mind you, the entire dish took about a quarter cup of cognac and she purchased about ten different varieties.

We were dancing poolside, occasionally taking dips inside of the pool. Tony, Rex, Chelsea, and I were sitting in the third tier where the jacuzzi was and chatting. Vicky came to join us and planted herself on Tony's lap.

"You are soooo gorgeous." My drunk sister-in-law ran her hand over Tony's chest. "Is it true that you're a better dancer than Rex?"

"Probably, I can think and dance at the same time. I don't get distracted as much Rex does. You know, he had ADD as a kid."

"I'm not surprised." Vicky ran her nose over Tony's neck and inhaled. "You smell divine. You'd make such a beautiful vampire, it's too bad you're human."

Yep, she's hammered. Gone! Flipped out of her brain! Did she just lick him?

"She's really drunk," Chelsea whispered. "Wow, she really can't hold her liquor, can she?"

"Nope!" Rex stated.

"Vampires are beautiful. I wish I had all of those traits come naturally to me. Of course, I wouldn't want to be so pale."

"Really? Do you really mean it?" Vicky asked.

"Yeah, I do. You're all very pretty—especially your husband. Now, he's hot."

"That's really nice. I think Riley's pretty, too."

Tanya came to join us in the jacuzzi. She sat on Tony's other lap. "What are you doing?" she asked Vicky.

"I'm just sniffing Tony's blood, it smells divine. Kind of like Rex's blood when he was human only more...I don't know...manly."

"Hey! I smelled manly when I was human!" Rex argued.

"Let me see. Mmm...yummy," Tanya breathed.

Rex, Chelsea, and I were watching Vicky and Tanya perplexedly. You see, I know when someone smells good, but I've never had a desire to sniff them. Now, I've seen Chelsea and Char both do it, but never to the extent Vicky and Tanya did.

Tanya took one more whiff of Tony, then, suddenly, all hell broke loose.

"Aaaagggghhhh!" Chelsea and I screamed—both of us losing our composure. Jasper, Peter, and Carlisle came rushing up to the jacuzzi to help.

"Tanya, let go of him. You're going to drain him. Tanya!" I yelled. Chelsea was trying to pry Tanya's jaw open while Rex tried to talk Tanya down.

"Bella, put your shield down!"

I dropped it. Jasper knocked Tanya out and passed her to Carlisle. Rex was freaking out. "What do we do? What do we do? Holy shit. Holy shit. Bro! Oh fuck!"

"Oh my God! Tony! Honey!" Claude screamed. "I love you! You can't die! He can't die, do something!"

Jasper sunk his teeth into Tony's neck and inserted his venom into all of his pulse points. Tony started screaming immediately. Peter moved him into Jasper and my room because it was soundproofed. Claude was sobbing and inconsolable. I felt horrible for him, I couldn't imagine life without Jasper and Char said that they would be mates if they were both vampires. I made my decision at that moment.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking into Claude's eyes, then bit into his jugular and pumped my venom into his system.

"Sissy!" Rosie cried. She descended upon Claude to help me do the job just like she did with Mike. That's how Tony Fantasia and Claude whatever the fuck his last name is both became Whitlocks.

Claude was whisked upstairs by Rex while Jasper had both me and Rose in a comforting embrace. "Shh...you both did the right thing."

Emmett kneeled in front of us. "Hey, you wouldn't want them to be lonely. Think of it as keeping the love alive."

"I know, but I killed someone unnecessarily," I sobbed.

"Nah, what would be worse? Waking up as a vampire knowing that the love of your life is human and could die someday or waking up with your mate by your side knowing that you had all of eternity together?"

"He's right, you know. I've seen them both happy and grateful to you both. They wouldn't have wanted it any other way." Alice paused before speaking again. "Bella, I need you to put your shield down. We have to figure out the best way to handle this."

I did as she asked. Edward sat with us. "Okay, here's how it's going to go. Who has a house in Tennessee?"

"I do," Emmett stated.

"Okay, you, Vicky, Garrett, Rex, Carlisle, and Chelsea are driving down there with Tony and Claude. You'll take two vehicles: Jasper's Tahoe and Emmett's Hummer. Jasper, Bella, Felix, and Gianna will join you before their awakenings. Oh, ooh, oh!"

"What?" we all asked.

"Carlisle, don't let Chelsea drive your Audi anymore. Buy her an automatic shift Nissan Sentra. It's the easiest car for her to drive. Esme will teach her to drive when you get back at the end of the summer. She has the most patience and she's happy to do it. If you sign her up for the driving school that Felix went to, she'll mate her driving instructor with the State Trooper that comes to take a report when she gets into an accident while she's trying to parallel park."

"I''ll be glad to teach you how to drive, Chelsea" Esme said happily.

"Thank you. I wouldn't want to have to mate anyone unnecessarily."

"Bullshit," Char coughed.

"Oh my God! Johnny B and G-Twat are eloping in the Netherlands in two weeks. They're going to take one from Madonna's books and adopt a baby from Malawi," Alice announced.

"I didn't know that Johnny B was gay," Carlisle stated.

"Um, he is now," Chelsea smiled brilliantly. I noticed all of the women plus Rex and Peter looking anywhere, but at Carlisle.

"Chelsea, dear, did you happen to run into Johnny B when you went clubbing last night?"

"He was really mean and nasty and so was his friend!" Chelsea looked absolutely feral.

"Can we fucking get back to business?" Edward asked.

"Right, okay. Jasper, Bella, Felix, and Gianna are flying down to Las Vegas tonight to pack up Claude and Tony's house. We're not staging their deaths yet. Riley, you need to call their employers in two weeks and tell them that they're going on medical leave because they've both contracted a severe form of mononucleosis. They're fine for now because they're on vacation for thirteen more days. Jasper, you have to make sure you break open their safe—it's in their bedroom closet. It contains all of their important documents and the drawer on the far left of their kitchen island contains their bills. I know you'll want to close everything out for them. Ooh! Felix, make sure you make love to Gianna on the kitchen island at Claude and Tony's house. I promise you'll be very happy."

"Alice, really?" Edward asked.

"Right, okay, um...that's about it, you just pack everything up in boxes and a moving company will stop by to pick everything up tomorrow at two pm and deliver it here to Pete's house. I'll set that up from here. Leave their furniture, bedding, and towels behind. We'll all be using their house as a vacation home whenever we're in Las Vegas. Oh, and you'll be staying at the Mirage starting tomorrow. Jasper's going to rent a car and drive straight to their house, pack, then after the moving guys come, the four of you will move over to the Mirage because that's the only hotel that has a suite left. On Monday, you're going to the Pool Party at Bare—wow, Bella, you really have beautiful breasts. So do you, Gianna."

"Uh, go over that thought one more time, Alice," Edward requested. "I think I missed something."

"Oh, okay."

"Thank you, you can go on," Edward smirked. Jasper punched him in the jaw. When Edward recovered, Felix followed up with a second hit—this time to his nose.

"Ow!"

"Alright, the four of you fly to Nashville on the six am flight on Tuesday morning. You'll arrive at Emmett's house three hours before they wake up."

"Alice, shouldn't we be flying to Nashville on Sunday or Monday?"

"Nope, on Sunday, you're going to be stuck indoors until six pm because the sun is going to come out as soon as the moving van pulls away. It doesn't make sense to fly out on Monday because planes won't be able to land east of Chicago due to severe thunderstorms. Oh, and Esme, don't take the client coming in on Monday to see you. Her husband is going to be arrested for insider trading next month and she won't be able to pay you—ever. Just call her on Monday morning and tell her that you've come down with the flu. When she calls back to reschedule her appointment, book her for the end of next month."

"Is there any way that I could assist?" Alistair asked.

"Yes! You're extremely important. You're going to help in both Amanda and Tanya's and Edward and Mike's stores because Gianna won't be available. I'm sorry, but you have to learn how to operate a cash register and a computer—there's no way around technology. Amanda will teach you. Okay, what else? Rose, Riley, Kate, and Tanya will fly down on their days off to see their mates for the duration of the summer. Rose, you'll be staying with Pete and Char because both you and Emmett will feel safer that way. Stay in Jasper and Bella's room—it's soundproofed in there."

"Okay, that's it. Those of us remaining here keep working. Bella, put your shield back up please. I really didn't need to see that, Jasper."

Edward started laughing. "I like the red panties better."

"Stay the fuck out of my brain!"

"Bella! For the love of God, put your shield up. Your mate's addicted to having sex with you."

"That's not a bad thing is it?" I asked.

"Just wear your red lace thong panties from La Perla on Monday night. Oh my God! I just saw the price tag on it. I can't believe you spent 128 dollars on a pair of panties. Mine are three for five dollars from Walmart."

"I didn't buy them, Jasper did."

"Jasper, how could you blow money left and right like that? She's going to wear those panties for five minutes and you're going to rip them off of her."

Jasper wagged his eyebrows and smirked at Alice. "I'll buy you a pair next time I'm in there, Ali."

"Hey, thanks man." Mike shook my husband's hand.

"I'm sorry, how did we go from Tony and Claude's transformation to my panties?"

"Blame Jasper. You know, he wasn't this perverted when he was married to me."

"Well, why the fuck do you keep focusing on Jasper's future? Focus on your own husband's future."

Alice's slapped Mike across the face. "I am not going to put a blonde wig on and dress up like a school girl!"

With that, we wished each other luck and went our separate ways. I hugged Rose for the longest time. I was going to miss my sis. Felix and Gianna ran home to pack for an extended trip, we did the same.

As soon as we got on the highway, I started to cry.

"Bella, trust me when I say that you did the right thing in changing Claude. The agony in his heart nearly brought me to my knees. I felt nothing, but love coming from them. On top of that, Char says that they're mates. If you didn't change him, I would have."

With Jasper's reassurance, I was able to finally relax a little. When we got home, our home phone was ringing. Jasper answered it.

"Yeah, sure Sush, hang on a sec. Bella, it's Sushmita."

"Hello?"

"Don't dwell on what you did. Rex's brother and his mate are going to be extremely grateful to you for changing Claude as well. I miss you, Bella."

"I miss you, too, Sush."

"Call me next week to tell me how they're faring. Tell Jasper that I miss him and I love him."

"I love you, too, Sush!" Jasper called.

She ended the call quickly.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, I do."

We packed our bags, locked up the house, and headed for the airport. Felix and Gianna showed up twenty minutes later and we hopped on a flight to Las Vegas.

_**Monday afternoon...**_

**Jasper's POV**

The moving company loaded up all of Tony and Claude's possessions and set off for New Jersey. We left the furniture, bedding, and towels behind like Alice told us to. I paid off all of Tony and Claude's bills including their mortgage, credit cards, and car payments. I called a shipping company and had their vehicles shipped over to Pete's house, then the four of us locked up their house and made our way to the Mirage. They had one room available—a two bedroom suite on the twenty-sixth floor so we had no choice, but to take it. Alice wasn't kidding. The city was swarming with people. Last night, Felix and I hit the casinos and did pretty well considering we were there for only five hours. I won 1.2 million playing baccarat while Felix cleaned up in an all night poker game—his total win was a dollar short of a million dollars.

Upon check-in yesterday, the manager of the Bare Pool Lounge at the hotel caught sight of Gianna and Bella and gave us four free passes to their pool party on Monday. He said that we would be his personal guests in the VIP section. The girls really wanted to go so we agreed to it. Bella and Gianna were already there and Felix and I had just arrived right now. We showed our passes to the host manning the entrance and were led down a lavish pathway to another host. He inspected our passes, then brought us to the main pool area.

"Major, titties," Felix whispered excitedly.

"Uh-huh," I said with a smile. The majority of women had shed their bikini tops as they lounged on the daybeds sipping their drinks or frolicking in the pool.

The host motioned for us to follow him upstairs where we were led to a more exclusive section of the party where there were more titties. "This is the VIP section, you and your wives have been given use of two daybeds compliments of the manager."

"Thanks." I tipped the guy and Felix and I went to find our...fucking wives were lounging on the same daybed with their breasts bared to the world. They were both reading some smutty romance novel. Bella in English, Gianna in Italian

"What are you two doing? We're in public." I threw towels around both of them. Felix thanked me. My mate and Gianna had the nerve to fling the towels back at me.

"This is a European style beach party guys. Tops are optional," Bella explained.

"Uh, yeah. Optional for everyone else, required for you two," Felix chastised.

"Ipocrita!" Gianna yelled scathingly at Felix in Italian when he threw the towel back on her. She simply took it and put it behind her back.

"Don't start with me, Jasper Whitlock. I know you two were excited to see all of the topless women when you walked in here. What was it that we heard Felix saying? It was very profound...oh, yeah...it was, 'Major, titties.' To which you replied with a very thoughtful, 'Uh-huh.' Now, look around you, admire the pretty ladies, but know this: Gianna and I are not covering our tits just because you two are ordering us too."

With that, Bella and Gianna stood up tall and proud and made their way to the glass encased hot tub. Felix and I quickly shed our shirts and joined them. The way I figured it, all of the women were topless, none of the men were ogling them; in fact, everyone was just doing their own thing—so why shouldn't our women be allowed to go topless. Plus, I had to admit, seeing both Bella and Gianna topless and going about acting as if it was perfectly natural was hot.

A few hours later, Bella had just gotten out of the shower and threw a pair of red lace thongs on—the ones that I had picked up for her at La Perla last week. She was about to throw on a pretty black dress, but I couldn't help myself—my dick was hard from staring at titties all day. I ripped the thongs off of her, pushed her to her hands and knees, and entered her tight pussy. She started moaning right away.

I thrust into her relentlessly—hard, while using her hair as an anchor to keep me stable.

"Major, Gianna and I won't be joining you and Bella for dancing tonight." I heard Felix call out from the other room. I could hear Gianna begging him for more. Good. I didn't feel like dancing tonight.

I continued pounding into my mate. "Harder, Major! Take me the way you want to!"

Harder. Deeper. If she were human, I would have broken several bones, but my mate was not. She was a vampire. I hammered into her like there was no tomorrow wanting her to feel every inch of me. She responded by begging me for more, pleading with me not to stop.

"Majorrrr!" Her walls slammed down on my cock, milking it as she shuddered in ecstasy. I yanked her head up pulled her neck towards my mouth and quenched my desire to mark her. A few minutes later, I picked Bella up, carried her to our bed and simply made love to her for the next several hours until it was time for us to check out and head for the airport.

**Gaitlinburg, Tennessee**

"Alright, be on the ready guys. It looks like Claude is going to awaken first. Remember what Vicky taught you guys about handling newborns—no big movements and absolute silence. Let me do the talking."

Claude's rapidly beating heart came to an abrupt halt. He opened his eyes, scanned the room, and moved into a defensive crouch. He was panting heavily and scanning the room rapidly.

"Claude, do you remember what happened?"

"No." He shook his head. He looked down next to him where Tony was still changing and laid back down and snuggled into him. Instinctively, Tony put his arm around him, protectively. Huh, I've never seen that before.

Claude was still scanning the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Bella. He sat up and looked directly at her. "Mrs. Whitlock? How can I help you today? May I call the Palms Hotel and get you a room or would you prefer somewhere a little more low key? Perhaps a room at the Venetian Hotel would suit you this time. Where is Mr. Whitlock today?"

I decided to go with it, sidled my way to my wife, and put my arm around her. "Hi Claude."

"Oh, Mr. Whitlock, you're here with your wife. Should we have her pick the hotel room because, frankly speaking, she seems to make wiser choices as far as room selections are concerned."

"We won't be needing a room today, Claude. Who's that lying next to you?"

"Oh, that's my husband Tony. We got married in Boston three years ago. He's the love of my life. He suffered an injury during his fourth tour in Iraq. He was hit by unfriendly fire in the knee, fortunately, he survived. After that, we knew that we had to get married. Besides, the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy was really getting to us."

"I can see how that can bother you. What does your family think of your relationship?"

"I've been disowned by mine and Tony's family all disapprove. They say that they're uncomfortable with the situation. They're staunch Catholics, you see. His older brother Troy and his mother are okay with it. He also had a big brother that we thought was dead until...until...you were with him...you're vampires." The realization seemed to hit him. "You bit me, Bella, so that...so that I wouldn't have to be alone...so that Tony wouldn't have to be alone. Thank you."

Claude zipped over to Bella and hugged her. The force of his newborn strength toppled them both out of the window and onto the ground outside.

"Ouch!" I heard Bella moan as she hit the ground.

"Hold onto him, stay there. Sit on him if you have to," I chuckled.

I ran downstairs with Emmett and Rex and we helped Bella up. She had dislocated her shoulder. Rex popped it back into place for her while Emmett and I held onto Claude. It was during that time that I heard Tony's heart stop. "Stay with Claude, we'll take them both hunting in a minute."

Halfway up the stairs, I heard Chelsea screaming for me. I rushed into the bedroom and Tony was absolutely feral. Carlisle and Felix were both completely nude, licking their lips, and trying to make their way to Tony who had ripped his clothes off. Garrett was trying to restrain him from behind with his eyes closed.

Vicky was spouting out orders left and right. "Keep your eyes shut tight, Garrett. Let go of Tony and get the fuck out of the house! Gianna, take Felix and fuck him like you've never fucked him before. DO IT!"

I averted my eyes and yelled for Bella to bring Claude upstairs. "Just Bella and Claude! I want all males to stay downstairs!"

Bella was upstairs in seconds with Claude. I ripped his clothes off and sent him to Tony. Shit! I looked in his eyes. I want him...no...I want Bella. Where's Bella? I need Bella now. I shouted out the last of my orders. "Chelsea, find a room and fuck Carlisle. Tony's an incubus and he used his power unknowingly. Bella! Baby, I need you! Vicky, you're in charge! Sorry!"

With that, I ran into the forest with Bella, ripped her clothes off, and plowed inside of her. Over and over again, I took her. I had to or I would die. The power of seduction from an incubus is something I've never experienced before. Combined with my empathic powers, the lust became unbearable within seconds, I'm surprised I was able to churn out those last orders. Bella must have had her shield down when Tony woke up. When I was finally sated, I noticed that several trees had been felled. Bella was laying flat on her back and actually looked exhausted. "Sorry, baby."

"Glad I was there to help," she whimpered. I held my mate in my arms and checked out her mark. I, continuously, bathed her wound with my tongue in order to soothe it. "I need to hunt, Jasper."

I picked my wife up and ran deeper into the woods. I put her down for a second and brought her a mountain lion. I snapped it's neck and presented it to her. She latched on immediately. "Stay, baby," I said, as soon as she had drained it. I ran a little further and caught the scent of deer. I drained one and brought the second one back for my mate. When she was done feeding, I picked her up bridal style and went hunting for myself.

"Put me down Jasper, I smell a bear. I'll wait here. Go."

I ran towards the scent and, as soon as I spotted it, I knocked the bear out and fed from him. I spotted a cougar on the way back to Bella so I took him down too. I returned to my gorgeous mate, picked her up, and made our way back to the house. We walked in through the back, showered together, got dressed, and joined everyone else out on the front porch.

"Better, Major?" my female second-in-command asked me.

"Yeah, that was a whopper. I'd never felt the urge to claim more so than when Tony used his power on me."

"Well, you remember how Char and I were with Rex. Trust me, I know how it feels—it's actually painful until you're sated."

"That bad?" Garrett asked.

"Yes," Felix came downstairs with Gianna in tow. I thought I was going to die right then and there if I couldn't have him. Do you suppose he attracts males because of his sexual preference?"

"Probably. Rex, how long did it take for you and Tanya to get it out of your system and how the heck did Tanya teach you to control your power?"

"It took a couple of weeks. You and Bella were the only two that we could see and that's cause she had her shield up and Tanya didn't perceive her as a threat. It's different though because Tanya's a succubus. Her instinct to protect her incubus was more powerful."

"Help me, Bella! I don't think I can have sex anymore! My jaws are in pain from sucking on his cock!" Claude cried out from upstairs. Bella, Vicky, and Gianna started chuckling. We, men, donned horrified masks on our faces.

"Did I hear him correctly?" Carlisle asked as he made his way outside.

"Yeah," we all laughed.

"Alright, you women go upstairs and try to restrain Tony. We'll go and grab something for them to feed off of. Listen to Vicky."

A few minutes later, we were back with two mountain lions, a coyote, and a wolf. Gianna and Chelsea came down to grab the mountain lions. They rushed back upstairs with them so Tony and Claude could feed. They came back downstairs for the coyote and wolf and handed off the mountain lion carcasses to us.

We heard the upstairs and downstairs showers turn on. I think the women were bathing them. "No! I want to bathe Tony, Gianna!" Chelsea yelled. _Slap! Spank!_ Then, the two of them started arguing in Italian. Felix and Carlisle were howling in laughter.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked. I kept hearing the sounds of the two women slapping and spanking each other. I bet Gianna's doing the spanking. She seems to do that a lot. We've all been victims of her spank happy hand.

"Chelsea claims that she has experience with newborns so she should be allowed to scrub Tony down. Gianna, in turn, claims that since she used to be a hair stylist and beautician in Italy, she would be able to take care of his esthetic needs, gently. Now they're calling each other whore, slut, bitch, every name you can think of under the sun and..."

Felix was interrupted by the sound of Victoria yelling. "You two get the fuck downstairs and outside now! I'll take care of Tony since you both can't control yourselves around newborns! Do it NOW!"

Chelsea and Gianna both ran outside with the fear of God in their eyes.

"Geez! She's testy!" Chelsea exclaimed.

"No kidding," Gianna agreed.

Bella and Claude came outside a few minutes later. "Well, that was refreshing. I've never used Walmart brand shampoo before. Are you sure it won't dry out my scalp?"

"Positive," we all said.

"You need to protect me. My body's worn out from all that lovemaking. What's going on with Tony?"

I explained the dynamics of incubi to him. "Wait, so you're saying that he requires more sex than the usual vampire?"

"We need sex as much as blood," Rex explained. "Like, right now, I'm going crazy because I haven't had a release with Tanya for a few days. I've tested it out. I'm good for about a week, but when Tanya comes to see me on the weekend, you probably won't see me or her for the duration of her stay. Garrett will be the same way when Katie comes for a visit. She's a succubus so she needs a release just as much as we do."

"Oh, so is that why Jasper and Bella have sex often?"

"No, they're just horny. They can do without sex if they put their mind to it. They just don't like to make an effort."

"Claude! Back to work, get upstairs and fuck your mate!" Vicky called.

"I feel so cheap."

"Nah, you'll look back and laugh about it. This will only last a few days, then Tony will be able to be around us."

_**One year later...**_

The non-stop sex session for Tony and Claude lasted only three days. The bloodlust was a different issue altogether, though. While it only took Tony a couple of months to gain control, it took Claude over a year to fully get over his bloodlust. He had eight near misses and three slips in the first seven months. This was actually very typical of a newborn.

Bella and I stayed in Gaitlinburg for that year while the others returned home to their lives in New York City metro area. As their sires, we felt it was our responsibility to make sure they came through it okay. Bella and I were able to finish our university classes online and I graduated from Columbia University at the top of my class; Bella was somewhere in the middle. She vowed never to attend school with me again.

Tony and Claude kept apologizing to us for disrupting our lives. We joked that we ended theirs so we could call it even. It wasn't a problem at all. We got along well with those two, and with the vast woods surrounding Emmett's property, I was able to train all three of them for the upcoming fight with Maria. Claude was strong as hell and a scrappy fighter. We found out he held a black belt in karate. That made Laurent happy. He often flew down to spar with him.

You would think we'd get lonely living in such seclusion, but we didn't have the chance to be. Everyone took turns to come and see us. Bella and I were even able to take a bit of a break and go on vacation in Paris for a week when Rose and Emmett flew down and took over for us. Tony and Claude were both envious so I promised them that if Claude worked hard on his bloodlust, we'd all go on vacation in Paris and, as an added incentive, we'd do a week in London on top of it.

Claude worked harder than hell to gain control after that. True to my word, we vacationed in Paris and in London after I was sure his bloodlust was at bay. We had a blast in Europe. Bella and I even went to a gay bar with them and partied. I stuck close to my mate's side, though.

After our return, we gave Claude and Tony a choice of residences. They ended up moving in with Peter and Charlotte, just as Alice predicted. They preferred a more suburban neighborhood and they were in love with their swimming pool. We didn't mind because, frankly, Bella and I needed a bit of a break—some alone time, if you will. I also needed to do a check on all of my properties. Everything seemed to be okay, but the property in Dallas suffered extensive structural damage from a recent windstorm in Texas so it had to be torn down and rebuilt. I was a bit sad because this was my boyhood home. The property originally sat on two acres, but I bought out all of the neighbors as they passed on and now I owned roughly ten acres of surrounding my home. It was beautiful and secluded.

My human mother had always dreamt of living in a grand mansion rather than the simple farmhouse that we grew up in; so, in a tribute to her, we were having a house built in the Greek-revival style which was typical of mansions in the Antebellum. Construction was set to begin in three weeks after all necessary permits were obtained.

Currently, Bella and I were in Charleston, South Carolina with Felix and Gianna. He had just taken us on a grand tour of the city he grew up in. We were able to tour the plantation he had grown up on, it had been turned into a museum. It was gorgeous. It was one of those homes that my mother dreamt of while growing up—large, airy, with high ceilings and balconies overlooking the property.

Felix and I were talking and it occurred to us, then, that none of this really mattered. Both of us were changed and had to start our lives over again. We both fought in the Civil War for different reasons. I joined because I wanted the South to be free from Northern oppression. He joined for the same reason except he also thought he was fighting for the rights of the slaves working on his plantation and others. His family was very generous to their slaves, they had ample living space and they kept families together. They ate the same meals as the family except they just ate at the dining room at their house. I saw the slave quarters too, they were more lavish than the little farmhouse that I grew up in as a boy. They were never flogged or punished, in fact; there was no need to because no one ever wanted to leave. They were all taught to read and write and even given a little stipend. He knew that slaves from other plantations were uneducated, had brutal living and working conditions, and that the women were often raped. Felix wanted to change all of that and he thought that by fighting in the war, he could change their lives.

Felix, Gianna, Bella, and I had just checked out of our inn in Charleston and were headed south to historic Savannah, Georgia in our rental car. It was only a two hour drive and still dark out, but we wanted to get on the road before the sun came up. It was kind of nice because there were barely any cars on the road. I was driving southbound on Highway 17 when I had to do a double take—so did Felix, Gianna, and Bella. Alice was running alongside our car wearing high heels and her blue Walmart vest waving frantically at us. I immediately put the vehicle in park. Felix opened the door and pulled Alice inside. She started whimpering into his chest.

I was only about fifteen minutes away from the hotel so I decided that our best bet was to get there before the sun comes up, check in, and deal with it in the confines of our room.

"Jasper, stop!" Bella ordered.

For the second time in the evening, I stopped the car on the middle of the highway. Felix and Gianna opened their door and so did Bella. This time, Mike climbed into the back while Edward loaded himself up in the front seat, throwing my wife on his lap.

"Alice! I didn't know where you went. You didn't come home after work and I found your car abandoned in the Walmart parking lot. I felt an incredible tug to my chest so I followed it. Edward was with me so he came along. What's wrong?"

Alice was incoherent and wasn't speaking. I pulled up to the hotel and checked us into the Mansion at Forsythe Park. I got us four rooms because I wasn't sure what the fuck was going on and who was staying for how long. We all gathered in Mike and Alice's room to find out what was up.

"It's Maria, she's coming. We have thirty months to prepare," my ex-wife sobbed uncontrollably.

Fuck.

**Rex got to go on a nostalgic visit home with Bella and was able to see his ailing mother and get a glimpse of his brother Troy's family. Tony and Claude's visit was interesting. Do you like how Bella and Rose convinced the guys to go clubbing with our favorite gay pair? Garrett is naive, but adorable, isn't he? Oh, and what's with Riley and Edward and their hair? Those two are pretty high maintenance if you ask me. So, are you happy that Tony and Claude are in the family forever? We have a family concierge and a bonus incubus too. Oh, and Maria's coming. Let me know what you think of the events that transpired in this chapter. I promise to write back. :) XOXO mama4dukes**

_**P.S. I posted a little one shot called "As You Wish..." I'd be honored if you could read it and let me know your thoughts. I had a ton of fun writing it. **_


	54. Chapter 54

**Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your reviews, faves, and alerts. I truly appreciate it and I'm so excited that you're all enjoying this story so much. We'll start this chapter off where we ended the last chapter. I have to warn you that the story takes a bit of a serious turn from this point on.**

**By popular demand, here's an image of Tony: www (dot) viva (dot) org (dot) uk/celebs/josef_interview (dot) html**

**Here's Rex the Sex: www (dot) all-pictures (dot) org/celebrities/v/models/male/Nathan+Kamp/Nathan+Kamp+e1 (dot) jpg (dot)html**

**For Claude, google Gerard Butler. Keep in mind that Claude and Tony are older than everyone else.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**A/N: We no longer have the ability to respond to reviews unless your Private Messaging system is turned on. If you would like a response and your ability to receive messages is turned off, please click on "Account," then "Settings," and "enable" your Private Messaging capabilities. :)**

**Alice's POV**

Oh God! Oh no! I had just gotten off of work and was about to get into my car when I was hit with a vision. Jasper, I needed Jasper. No, I needed the Major. I started running as fast as I could. Where is he? Okay, I can catch him while he's driving to Savannah in about five hours. I ran as fast as my legs could take me. The pain in my chest became increasingly stronger, the further I got from my mate.

Jasper pulled over as soon as he spotted me, and Felix held me until Mike and Edward caught up tom the vehicle. Apparently, they had been following me. They were both very fast so I'm not surprised they were able to make up for the difference in time.

We had settled into our hotel room and I finally gained enough composure to whisper, "It's Maria, she's coming. We have thirty months to prepare." Then, I burst out sobbing into Mike's arms.

"Bella put your shield down," Jasper ordered.

As soon as she did, I was hit with another vision. Edward, who was reading my mind, looked horrified. I nodded to him to go ahead and translate because I couldn't talk.

"She's coming three January's from now. She's on vacation at Disneyland in California, I think. She's with two men, one named Manuel and the other Rodrigo. I can tell because the three of them are wearing Mickey Mouse ears with their names embroidered on them. They're moving on to Guatemala tomorrow, after they feed. She's decided to search for some guy named Michael Edwards and she plans on having a woman named Lolita Barrientos go and check up on Jasper, Peter, and James in Amherst because she asked Amber Putain and she refused to go out of fear of Victoria."

I slipped into another vision a different one and spoke as the vision came in. "Oh God! She's on the phone with Amber Putain and she's checking up on our family dynamics. Amber's told her that James is definitely still alive and with Victoria. She wants me and Edward, too. She plans to kill Charlotte first in order to get Peter, then Victoria to get James. She doesn't know about Riley. Maria wants all of the succubus sisters too. She wants to make them slaves to serve her newborns sexually. Everyone else is of no consequence because Amber assured her that there were no other vampires with powers in the house. She's asked Amber to go to California and look for Michael Edwards, but I can't get a read on him."

"That's because Emmett, Pete, Vicky, and I made up Michael Edwards. He doesn't exist," Jasper said. "How many casualties on our side?"

"I can't see that far ahead. She's still in the planning stages. If you, me, Mike, Edward, Amanda, Charlotte, and Pete go to Amherst in a month along with Vicky and Emmett. You can throw her plans off considerably. Lolita Barrientos will be by to confirm that Amber's story is true. Vicky is going to say that James is away on business in Italy. Maria's not going to want to check there. Bella, you need to stay put with Claude, Tony, and Rose in New Jersey. Mike you need to tap into Lolita Barrientos' essence because you'll need it to track her later. Jasper, you need to flirt with Lolita Barrientos—make it seem like you're interested, but you have your 'companion' living with you at home. Lolita Barrientos will call Maria and report her findings. Maria will, then, continue on with her vacation for eighteen months. Then, she'll put her plans into motion."

I paused for a bit. "So far, her plan is to take Edward, me, Jasper, Peter, and James only. She doesn't want to be burdened with weak vampires. She doesn't think Bella is Jasper's mate because he didn't protect her from Amber. Lolita will confirm that by saying that you called Bella a companion rather than a mate. That's the biggest plus we have going for us. On top of that, she has no knowledge that we have former Volturi fighters with us. The other one is time, we have thirty months to train and prepare. It's July now so we have this coming January, the one after that, and we'll face her in the January following that one. She'll have five hundred newborns ready for you, Peter, and James to train. I still have no idea what her reaction will be when she finds out that you killed James, Jasper."

"Fuck me! Five hundred?" Felix asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Okay, Major, I would say that you and me lead the tactical training and have Peter and Tony assist. Frankly, sir, Tony is the most experienced in terms of warfare is concerned. He spent more than half of his military career in a warzone and you know as well as I do that he has a phenomenal brain when it comes to strategical maneuvers. We also need to train everyone in the use of grenades when dealing with vampires. We'll be able to wipe out a good chunk of them with that. The key is for our team to stay safe."

"I agree with you Felix." Jasper looked at all of us, determinedly. "Don't worry. If we combine our whole family, we're stronger than the Volturi. Remember that most of us have gifts and those of us that don't have proven to be resourceful. We can take Maria."

I was terrified, but I had no choice, but to believe in Jasper's words. It was the only thing that would keep me going for the next thirty months.

_**One week later...**_

**Jasper's POV**

"Major, I think you and Felix are going about this the wrong way," Tony stated flatly. "You need to be thinking about what Maria's goal is after she procures you and Peter."

"I've told you, it's territory. Feeding grounds along the Mexican Border."

"Yes, I know, but say she has you and Peter and you've gotten her newborns battle ready, who does she plan on fighting next? He or she is the one we need to eradicate first, then work on Maria. We need to take care of it without her knowledge."

Fuck me. Why I didn't think about this, I have no idea. I was more concerned with keeping everyone safe during the fight with Maria. I didn't look at the entire scenario as a whole.

"Peter, use your fucking gift."

"I don't have a gift, Major."

"You have a fucking gift! You're a goddamned clairvoyant and it's high time that you admit it. If you don't, I'll beat you to shreds and rip you up into eighty pieces until you admit that you have one and use the fucking thing. Is that understood, boy?" Eleazar looked pissed off and had a deranged look upon his face. He had flown down to New York as soon as he heard about Alice's vision.

Peter started cackling. "Okay, I'll admit that I'm a clairvoyant. I just wanted to see if you were really going to go off on me and call me 'boy'."

Eleazar stood up and ripped Peter's arm off. "You can have it back after the meeting."

"Owwwwwww!"

"So, where were we? Peter use your gift." This wasn't a fucking time for jokes. I agreed with Eleazar's actions.

Eleazar started instructing Peter, "Clear your mind and concentrate on Maria and her territory. What is her ultimate goal?"

"I can't clear my mind, I need my arm back. The pain is prohibiting me from thinking."

"Fine!" Eleazar slapped Pete across the face with the detached arm before reattaching it. He didn't like people fucking around when we were trying to be serious. How the fuck he was able to make it to the rank of Captain in the US Navy is beyond my comprehension. I mean, that's right before Rear Admiral. By the look on Tony's face, he appeared to be thinking the same thing.

This meeting was only being attend by myself, Felix, Tony, Peter, and Eleazar. Not even Rex and Garrett were here. This meeting was about strategizing and planning; Rex and Garrett did not have any experience with newborns and, while Tony didn't either, he had more on field military experience as an officer than any of us.

We had turned one of the rooms in Peter's house into a soundproofed board room. We had computer equipment, whiteboards, a board table—everything we needed to strategize for the upcoming battle.

Peter, who had his eyes shut tight in concentration, suddenly, opened them and spoke, "The key is Victoria. We need her up here and we need every bit of information that she can give us about her last days with Maria."

"Call her."

Tony spoke into the intercom, "Victoria, we need you."

She was upstairs in an instant. "How can I help you, Major?"

"I need to know if there were any vampires encroaching on Maria's territory just before you left?"

She thought for a minute. "Well, there were two: Ignacio Toledo and V...v...ito G...g...guerra."

This is odd. Vicky never loses her composure, but that second name seemed to frighten her immensely.

"Ignacio Toledo no longer exists, sir. The Volturi wiped him out and seized his territory. Chelsea was part of the team that took care of him," Felix informed me.

"Get Chelsea up here."

Tony called Chelsea. I asked her immediately what she knew of Ignacio Toledo.

"He controlled territory bordering Mexico in Southern California. We were able to wipe him out in one go using grenades, we didn't even have to fight. The Volturi seized the territory and sold it off to a bunch of hotel developers. This was roughly thirty years ago."

"So, the Volturi no longer have an interest in that region?"

"No, they got involved because Toledo couldn't handle his newborns and they were becoming careless."

"Vicky, what parts did Vito Guerra control?"

"The southern portion of New Mexico bordering Mexico. He was trying to expand into Texas as well as Arizona. He might have done so by now. I'm surprised you don't remember Vito Guerra. Maria is his sire and he was around when you and the captain were there. He's brutal and sadistic, sir."

"Are you talking about the trout-skinned douchefuck?"

"Yes." Victoria looked like she was thinking about something painful from her past.

"Huh, I didn't know he had a name. He was Maria's favorite torture expert."

"Yeah, well, I'd like a piece of him," Victoria growled.

"Okay, we're going to need to scout his territory."

"I'll go," Chelsea volunteered. Felix and I can go in wearing Volturi cloaks and crests. They'll think the Volturi are checking up on them. We can also check on Maria."

"I don't mind, but I don't have a cloak or a crest," Felix stated.

"I can sew a cloak and the crest can be replicated. Any jeweler will do it for a price," Vicky pointed out. She seemed determined to get her claws into the douchefuck.

"That's not a bad idea. How many guard members do the Volturi generally send?"

"Four," Felix and Chelsea replied at the same time.

"Okay, then we send..."

"It'll have to be someone who speaks flawless Italian; Tanya is out—she sounds like a Russian general belting out orders when she speaks Italian. It'll have to be either Katrina, Edward, Irina, Carlisle, me, or Carmen," Eleazar interrupted.

"In most cases, a scouting committee consists of two men and two women. If the situation is bad, they send out three men and one woman. Generally, Jane is among the group because of her ability to inflict pain."

"Edward and Kate, then. Kate can inflict pain and with Edward, we have the added bonus of him understanding Spanish and being able to read minds."

"What the hell is a trout-skinned douchefuck?" Tony asked.

"Hell if I know, one of the newborns made up the name and it stuck. He's a fucking asshole. Alright, call Edward and Kate. When should we do this Pete?"

"Sometime next week, first we need to get some covert recording devices. Also, Chelsea does all of the talking. Chelsea, Felix, Kate, and Edward need to feed off of humans. It'll look suspicious if they went down with golden eyes."

"That's a good point." Felix stated.

I called Kate and Edward and explained the situation. They were more than happy to assist. Edward even knew of a company that dealt with spy equipment. "We can have recording devices implanted into the Volturi crest and in the lining of the cloaks."

"Chelsea, can you get the cloak over to Vicky so she can start sewing and the crest over to me so I can have it copied?

"No problem."

"Alright, you four go hunting so you can get reacquainted with human blood." They left right away.

Alice walked inside as they were leaving. "Jasper, you're going to be purchasing property in Cheboygan County, Michigan. 2,545 acres for 1.78 million dollars, do it in Bella's maiden name. You two will be moving there by the end of the year along with Claude, Tony, Garrett, Kate, Felix, Chelsea, and Carlisle. The rest of us will follow by the beginning of next summer. It'll give us an opportunity to quit our jobs and close our businesses. Newton's will expand and take over the space occupied by Amanda and Tanya's store and Laurent's studio. They'll hire a trustworthy manager that'll manage the store and go back and forth between Cheboygan and Connecticut, Oregon, and Washington."

"Where the heck is Cheboygan County and why are we moving there?"

"It's about an hour from Sault Ste. Marie and four hours from Detroit. We're going there to train and because that's where Maria is going to come for you."

"Peter?" I asked for confirmation. He nodded his head, but had an odd, pained expression on his face.

"Alright, let's make this happen."

_**Three weeks later...**_

Felix, Chelsea, Edward, and Kate returned from their scouting trip a week ago. The four of them found out that Vito Guerra had been pretty complacent these last few years. Maria had been inactive and he saw no need to regroup until there was activity on her part. He had become wealthy and reclusive from all of the property he had seized in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Lousiana. Essentially, he had built a ring around Maria. She still had most of Texas and Northern Mexico, though.

With this information in mind, and after watching the live feed of Chelsea interrogating him and his six minions plus his companion, we were able to find out that there were only eight of them in total and he had no newborns. Edward read his mind and was able to find out that his important documents were locked in a safe located in the basement of the home they interrogated him at.

Edward also said that his past was twisted, sordid, and sadistic. I knew that Maria used him to torture female newborns; he also took it upon himself to rape them-frequently. Fortunately, Char was under my protection so he couldn't approach her. Victoria wasn't so lucky, she had been raped repeatedly by him. In fact, Edward said he was sickened by some of the things he did to our sister and to his companion. The companion was a good person, the only thing that she wanted was death. She had seen and witnessed too much and she had been used as Vito Guerra's personal sex slave for nearly a century. She just wanted to die.

The next day, Pete, Felix, Chelsea, Victoria, and I flew down to New Mexico and took all eight of them out. I took mercy on the companion and took her out immediately and painlessly, knocking her out before killing her. After that, it was a matter of just taking his minions out. We saved Vito Guerra for last so that he couldn't run from us. He begged us for mercy. I ordered him to transfer all of his assets to my name if he wanted his life spared. He did so quickly. Then, I handed him over to Victoria who looked into his eyes and told him that she didn't promise him jack shit. She took him apart piece by piece and made him watch Chelsea burn each of his body parts starting with his dick. We returned to New York after that.

Vito Guerra's assets were being sold off and used to fund any and all costs associated with the campaign against Maria. It was worth an estimated 2.8 billion dollars. This fund is what I used to purchase the property in Michigan. Anything left over after the fight would be divided equally between each mated couple with about a hundred million held in reserve in case we encountered another situation like this. In a couple of days, Bella and I were flying up there to check out the property and meet with builders so we could have housing all set by December.

Today, we were at the Amherst house, waiting for Lolita Barrientos to show up. Esme had left the downstairs furnished so it was just a matter of all of us trimming overgrown shrubs and mowing the lawn so it looked like the house was lived in. We arrived in three separate vehicles and purposely parked them outside so it appeared as if we were coming and going like a normal functioning household. It was, then, that I noticed the Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York State license plates on our cars. Edward, the fastest runner, quickly ran to one of our neighbor's mansions, broke into his covered garage, and borrowed three New Hampshire state license plates fully intending to return them afterwards.

At precisely four pm, the doorbell rang. Lolita Barrientos arrived. She was a friend of Maria's. Although she never served in her army, she did provide some of us, mainly the males, with some valuable services for a fee. She also served as a spy for Maria. She fed her information about opposing covens, also for a fee.

"Majorrrr," Lolita purred. "It's so good to see you."

I remembered what Alice said about me needing to flirt. "My, my Lola, it's been ages. How did you find me?" I ran my hand down her arm.

"Oh, I ran into a friend of yours—Amber. She said that you were now living here with your new family." She batted her eyelashes at me.

"Of course, let me introduce everyone to you. You know Peter and Charlotte already. Do you know Victoria?"

"Yes, yes, James' mate, correct?"

"That's right," Vicky stated. "He's actually on a business trip in Southeast Asia right now. He'll be sorry that he missed you."

"Oh, well, please tell him that I send my best wishes. What does he do?"

"James?" she asked. We weren't prepared for that question.

Emmett piped in, "He and I run a small business making computer chips. We're not that big yet. He's in Southeast Asia seeing if we can have one of the factories over there manufacture a chip for us."

"Oh, wow. I didn't realize that he was so talented. Who are you, by the way?" she asked Emmett, seductively.

"I'm sorry, babe...ahem...Lola, I'm such a bad host. This is Emmett, the beautiful brunette over there is Alice and her husband Mike. Right here is my brother Edward and his gorgeous wife, Amanda."

"Well, so good to meet you all. Major, perhaps we can step outside for a few minutes to...um...talk?" Lolita suggested.

"What time is it, Edward?"

"It's about 4:20."

"Sure, I have about ten minutes until...well...I have ten minutes."

"Ten minutes until what?" Lolita asked.

"Ten minutes until his wife returns from work," Edward guffawed, then blew a kiss at Lolita.

"Oh." Her face fell, but she soon got excited at the sight of Edward and licked her lips. Perfect, we didn't want her taking Amanda so we needed her to appear weak and insignificant.

"Let's sit outside and talk." I walked outside and sat on the porch swing in front of the house. Lolita followed. "So, what really brings you here, Lola?" I ran my fingers through her hair.

"I missed you Major. I was hoping to spend some time with you, but seeing that you have a wife..."

"Oh, her. Yeah, I guess I do have a wife." Dear God, I'm going to hell. I'm sorry Bella, I love you so much, but I have to do this. I kissed Lolita on the lips. Alice told me that I absolutely had to in order to reinforce Amber's information to Maria that Bella was a non-entity in my life.

"Oh, Major, how I missed you." Lolita kissed me and ran her hand up my thigh and onto my cock. I'm positive that it's receding into my abdomen. "I might just have to give you one for free." Shit. I need to get out of this quick. Where's the decoy?

Right on cue. An Audi R8 screeched into the driveway-the brunette driver having donned sunglasses to disguise herself.

"Who's that?" Lolita asked.

"My wife," I stated.

"Well, it really was wonderful to see you. I have to get going now. Call me when you're no longer married. She gave me a lingering kiss on the lips, then smirked at the driver who put her hands over her mouth in abject horror and started bawling. She, then, got out of the vehicle and silently took off after Lolita into the woods with Felix and Mike on her heels.

I walked back into the house. "Did Chelsea come through?"

"Yep, she was perfect. Felix's hiding spot in the tree was perfect, too. I couldn't detect a scent from either of them. Edward we need more of that Scent Away. How many come in a case?"

"Twelve."

"Okay, we need two hundred cases. Will that be a problem?"

"No, the company will be delighted."

"Okay, let's head home. I miss Bella."

We arrived at Peter's house by 9pm. I got to test out Carlisle's Audi R8. Damn! I'm really liking this car. Hmm...I wonder what Bella would say if I picked one up for myself...but, then again, we are moving to fucking backwoods Michigan by December. Bella was pissed off. She didn't like being told where she had to live, but, more importantly, it annoyed her to all hell that Sault Ste. Marie was the closest city to us. She liked being close to a major metropolitan area. She understood the necessity for seclusion, but the fact that Maria was the one uprooting her rankled her nerves.

Bella, Rose, Gianna, Claude, and Tony were watching a movie when we got home. It looked like the four of them were having some sort of beauty day. All four of them had bits of tin foil in their hair and they had some pasty green shit on their face.

"Ooh! Highlight my hair, too!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Alright, go change into a ratty t-shirt just in case this stuff spills onto you," Claude advised.

Charlotte stripped out of her clothes and plopped down on the floor in front of Claude. "I'm ready."

Pete rolled his eyes. He didn't feel threatened by Claude nor Tony. None of us really did. How could we? They thought we were hot, not our women. Emmett, Pete, and I were soon sitting on the living room floor with green crap on our faces and tin foil in our hair. Ever since Claude joined our family, this kind of shit has been happening a lot. He and Gianna were thinking of opening their own beauty salon after they both attend beauty school. This would, of course, be after we get rid of Maria. In the meantime, we were all their test pilots. Even Alistair had no reprieve. His sandy blonde hair was currently a platinum blonde and poor Vicky was sporting blonde locks that looked like shit on her. They had to wait six weeks to color it back to her normal red so they didn't damage her hair. You see, I shouldn't even know this shit.

We hung around waiting for Chelsea, Felix, and Mike to report back to us. Edward, Amanda, and Alice were back in Connecticut. Carlisle popped in around midnight to wait with us. He didn't seem too worried about Chelsea, the fact is, she could take care of herself. After witnessing her interrogation of Vito Guerra, I agreed. She was all business and she knew exactly when and how to intimidate and the precise moment to use Felix's strength and Kate's power. Thank God, she was on our side.

Forty-eight hours later, Chelsea, Felix, and Mike finally walked inside Peter's front door.

"We got her," Chelsea stated flatly. "Lolita met up with Maria on the balcony of her hotel in New Orleans so we had a clear view. Neither of them detected our scents with the Scent Away. Lolita confirmed Amber's story to Maria that Bella was weak and insignificant. She told her that Bella was just a companion—if that; and that you're sowing your oats everywhere. She assured Maria that Bella wasn't worth the effort. She said that neither the mind reader or the seer used their powers, but that she would take them just because of their powers. She added that she might want to take Emmett because he appeared manly and mouthwatering."

Rose and Bella both growled at hearing that news. Emmett pulled them both onto his lap to comfort them.

Felix, then, took over for Chelsea. "The good news is that she told Maria not to bother with Mike or Amanda because they were weak like Bella and that Emmett appeared to have no mate. That should keep Rose under the radar."

"Phew," Emmett breathed a sigh of relief.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"Lolita said that she missed James because he was on a business trip, but she was positive that he was in the house because his scent was still lingering." We went to Yankee Candle and found some scented candles that replicated James' scent. We kept those burning in the house until just before Lolita's visit so that she would notice his scent in the air.

"Did Maria say anything?"

"Not really, she thanked her and handed her a thick envelope and Lolita went on her way. She, then, called her two companions, Manuel and Rodrigo and had them service her on the balcony. One of them whined about wanting to go on another cruise, she promised them that they would and held him to her bosom which he sucked on while the other one ate her out. It was mind boggling," Chelsea stated.

"Anyway, Lolita ran to Lea, New Mexico where Vito Guerra's compound was when she realized that he was nowhere to be found. We followed her, of course. She grabbed her cell phone to place a call—that's when Chelsea, Mike, and I nabbed her. Chelsea interrogated her. We found out that she had been working as a double agent for both Maria and Vito. She admitted that she was about to hand over information about us and Maria to Vito Guerra. We informed her that Vito was dead and that it would be in her best interest if she provided us with information about what's been going on before we handed her over to our master's in Italy. Chelsea broke her down and she started talking. Maria, apparently, only holds a small portion of Texas from El Paso to Del Rio now because Catalina Cuevas and Regina Bower overtook her about twenty years ago. They know that Maria's planning on regrouping with you, the Captain, and James. They want your heads. They have a moderate-sized newborn army of about fifty that they refresh yearly always on alert in Brownsville."

"Fuck. This is all we need. Okay, what did you do with Lolita?"

"First, we had her place a call to Catalina Cuevas and Regina Bower and inform her that she followed Maria's lead and that the Major, the Captain, and James are dead by Vito Guerra's hands. They were pissed off that they didn't get the chance to take you out. She, then, informed them that Vito Guerra was now dead at the hands of Victoria. That may have been an error on our part because if there's anyone they hate more than you, Peter, and James—it's Victoria. They asked her where Victoria is. Lolita said that she didn't know, but she could look for her for a fee. They offered her a million dollars for Vicky's whereabouts. She accepted the offer then told them to wait for her call. After she ended the phone call, Chelsea took her out and turned her to ash."

"Excellent job. I think we need to pay a visit to Catalina Cuevas and Regina Bower. With them out of the way, that'll just leave us with Maria. I want you, Chelsea, Peter, Charlotte, Eleazar, Victoria, and me to handle this."

"Excuse me for overstepping my boundaries Major, but I disagree. Fifty newborns plus two experienced fighters is nothing. This will provide everyone else with the opportunity to fight a newborn. I think we should go, but let everyone else handle the fighting."

"Felix is right, we'll never be battle ready unless we get to fight real newborns. You have to let us go," Tony agreed.

I sighed, Tony had a good point. "Okay, we'll all go. Bella and Rose, you two stay here and man headquarters."

"What?" they both burst out simultaneously.

"Uh, Major, they need to be battle ready too, especially Bella—and if Bella needs to be battle ready so does Rose."

Fuck it all to hell! Pete's right. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! "Alright we all go—all of us. Experienced fighters stay on the sidelines ready to jump in. I don't want any casualties. We plan this week and execute on Saturday."

"One more thing, Major." Chelsea held up a rather, large Louis Vuitton handbag. "This was in Lolita Barrientos' possession when we destroyed her. Her iPhone is in here, as well as, her laptop, wallet, a change of clothes, make-up, Rabbit, and other items."

"Okay, Emmett see what you can find on her laptop and iPhone. Go through her wallet and see what you can find as far as banking information is concerned. Is that the envelope from Maria?"

"Looks like it. Whoa. There's about two hundred thousand dollars in here."

Bella started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Well, those bitches in Brownsville offered Lolita a million dollars for Victoria's whereabouts, you, Peter, and James were only worth two hundred thousand dollars combined."

"They must really hate Vicky," Rose noted.

We all had a good laugh. It's true. Vicky must have been ruthless with them for them to want to shell out a million big ones for her head.

"Okay, can I throw out the Rabbit, her make up, and her change of clothes?" Emmett asked.

"No." Chelsea said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Her scent is all over those items. We might need them."

"Good point. Put them in a large ziploc bag and store them," Tony ordered. "I'll go find one."

"Okay, then, I guess, throw out the purse," I said.

"Jasper! That's Louis Vuitton's newest design. You don't just throw it out. You worship it. Now give it to me, I'll use it!" Gianna looked feral and she was about to spank me. I handed the purse over to her immediately. Gianna was scary when she was angry and her spankings were painful.

_**One week later...**_

**Brownsville, Texas**

"I can't believe you have me smelling like that whore Lolita. How the fuck can you do that to me?" Vicky moaned.

"Hey, with her sunglasses on, you can pass for her—especially in those clothes. Besides, you and Rose were the only two tall enough to pass for her and you're the only one with the fucked up blonde dye job like she has."

"That is a quality hair coloring job, I just over-processed it, that's all!" Claude complained.

"Fine, whatever. Why the hell are you sitting next to me, Vicky?"

"If I have to smell like a hundred percent pure eau de whore, you're gonna absorb some of this shit."

"Get the fuck off of me!" Vicky had climbed onto my lap and had me in a bear hug.

"Fine!" She climbed onto Peter this time.

"How the hell were you two able to fuck that?" Charlotte asked, sniffing Lolita's used Rabbit. "Pew!"

"Char, why are you carrying around Lolita's Rabbit?" I had to ask.

"You'll see," she chuckled.

We were in a caravan heading towards Heroica Matamaros, Mexico. From there, we planned on running the twenty miles or so to Brownsville. We were staying about three hours away in Monterrey Mexico. This was the best way to approach the compound. Catalina and Regina wouldn't be expecting us. Peter and Felix had run up to the compound to scout it. Lolita's information was accurate. There were fifty newborns plus the two whores.

We arrived at about one am and had everyone hide in trees. The compound was quiet. Everyone seemed to be housed in one enormous building-an old, rundown school building ensconced by trees and bushes. Vicky knocked on the door. A newborn, probably about eight months old answered the door.

"Diga a sus amos que Lolita Barrientos están aquí verlos." Vicky told the newborn to tell his mistresses that Lolita was here to see them.

"Espera aqui," he told her to wait where she was. The newborn came back outside a minute later and asked her to come inside. She told him that she'd rather conduct business outside.

Catalina came to the door a minute later, fuming that Lolita refused to come inside. She always did have a temper. It doesn't compare to Gianna's. I mean, she spanks when she's angry. I've actually seen her bend Felix over her lap and start spanking him. Of course, Chelsea thought it was a game and started spanking Felix, too. As soon as that happened, Gianna threw Chelsea over her lap and spanked her.

Vicky removed her sunglasses. "Hello pet. I heard you were looking for me." She smiled maliciously at the two whores.

Catalina started shaking on the spot. Regina came out with a worried look on her face. "Catalina, darling, are you okay?"

"They're mates," Charlotte whispered seeing their bond.

"Aww...two pets for the price of one. Today's my lucky day. Lolita said that you've both been very bad. She said you were messing with my James, is that true."

"No...we swear it. We haven't seen James in twenty-eight years."

"What about the Major and the Captain?"

"What interest do you have in them?" Regina asked. She did a double take. "Did you do something to your hair."

_Slap! _"Shut the fuck up. This is a quality coloring job. Now what do you want from me?"

Catalina suddenly got a burst of confidence and sounded out an alarm to her newborns instructing them to attack.

"Chelsea! Break their bond!" I ordered.

She nodded and did so immediately. Catalina and Regina stared at each other dumbfounded. That gave Vicky just enough time to run out into the clearing we had found. Peter, Char, Chelsea, Felix, Eleazar, and I joined her there just as the newborns started coming into sight. I gave my family the go ahead and they came barreling out from behind bushes and jumping down from trees.

Bella and Rex both jumped down from a tree on top of newborns and decapitated them instantly before running to find more newborns.

Catalina and Regina came thundering into the clearing shouting out orders. They stopped abruptly when they saw us.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Catalina shouted at Peter.

"Sorry, sweetheart. It takes a lot more than Vito Guerra to take down me and the Major."

The two women snarled and started attacking our group. Charlotte shoved Lolita's Rabbit into Regina's mouth and duct taped it shut. There really wasn't much of a fight. It was six against two and we were all stronger than these two bitches. We took out a loyal newborn who came to save his mistresses. We charred the three bodies, then turned our attention to the melee surrounding us.

Esme was having a lot of trouble, but she was determined. Alistair had her back. He was an extremely strong fighter. Carlisle was, well, he was shitty. Chelsea jumped in to help him. Rose was doing fine as was Emmett. Actually, everyone else was fine. Laurent was an ass-kicker combining his karate with the techniques we taught him. He and Claude partnered up for the fighting and they were ripping apart newborns left and right. Then, there was Tony, okay, the guy can't fight. He can strategize, but dang it—he was only a little better than Carlisle, which means he sucks. Fortunately, Amanda was ripping apart newborns for him. Riley, Mike, and Edward were fast and I mean, really fast. None of the newborns could keep up with them and by the time they realized what was happening, they were in pieces.

Bella and Rex. What can I say? They partnered well together. I was kind of jealous. The two of them were quick and lethal and they, instinctively, knew what the other was going to do. It was like dancing to them, I think. Rex suddenly dipped Bella. What the fuck? She reached down grabbed a newborn's legs and held it in a locked position while Rex took his free arm and ripped his head off. Fuck me. How the hell did they figure that out?

The rest of us jumped in to help them. We wanted this done and over with. We still had to search the compound and we had about twelve newborns left. We easily shredded the newborns, Felix and I taking out over half of them. Then, we made sure that we collected all of the body parts and burned them. Carlisle and Riley checked everyone over for injuries. Esme had her leg half ripped off, but other than that—everyone was fine. Her leg was easily reattached.

I knew one thing, we were able to evaluate everyone and we now knew that we needed to double up on training for some or leave them out of the fray altogether. Carlisle, Esme, Tony, and Tanya were the four that most likely wouldn't survive in a fight against Maria's newborns without more training. My mate was fine, Vicky and Irina had trained her from the time she was human and she was a force to be reckoned with.

We scoured the compound and couldn't really find anything until Mike sniffed out a hidden office underground. Bingo! The office was chock full of information that was of value—there were two laptops plus a desktop, as well as, maps and blueprints of all of Maria's territories. We boxed up the entire office, Chelsea was excited because she found a DVD copy of the eighties sleeper hit 'Valley Girl'. Pete was equally excited because when he opened a recently delivered package from Amazon, it contained Lauren's latest DVD, 'Ashlay Bendover: MILF Extraodinaire'. Apparently, motherhood didn't stop her. He had become Lauren's biggest fan. She was a gracious star, she even sent Peter a silicone mold of her pussy—which he had professionally encased in a glass frame. It was now hanging prominently on his living room wall next to the family portrait of him, Bella, and Riley.

After everyone left the compound, Felix and Tony torched it and made sure it burned to the ground. They, then, ran to our hotel in Monterrey to meet us. We checked out in the morning and everyone made their way back home. Bella and I flew to Sault Ste. Marie so we could tour Cheboygan, Michigan.

Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario and in Michigan were connected by The International Bridge. Both cities were cities on a much smaller scale than New York or Boston. Okay, they were tiny. I tried using the term smaller scale to appease Bella who was not happy at all. The major industries in the areas are fishing and logging on the US side and steel on the Canadian side. After about an hour drive, we arrived in Cheboygan to our land.

The realtor and the groundskeeper for the previous owner showed us around the property. It was extremely secluded with tons of trails throughout the property, as well as, numerous creeks, streams, and ponds to swim in. It was abundant with wildlife, both in the water and out. I could smell that it was teeming with bears, deer, coyotes, and is that turkey? We definitely wouldn't starve out here. The realtor showed us around the main hunting lodge—I guess the previous owners, odd millionaire types according to the groundskeeper, used it as a summer and winter vacation home. They had left behind two snowmobiles, as well as, cross country skis and a brand new Weber grill. What the fuck are we supposed to do with a fucking grill? Oh well, it'll be good for maintaining a human facade, though, I planned on gating up the area to restrict public access to it.

After touring the grounds, the groundskeeper handed me his resume and offered to stay on. I felt bad for the guy he was losing his job. I told him that, unfortunately, I had no real need for one, but I'd like to compensate him for maintaining the land between the time I purchased the land and now—which was roughly a month. I wrote him a check for five hundred thousand dollars. Yeah, I know it was a bit much, but I needed the guy away from my land. He took the check without any hesitation, thanked me, and got into his truck. I heard him calling his wife saying that they could finally retire in Florida. Good.

The realtor gave us a tour of the city of Cheboygan. He told us that we could have flown into the airport there, it was only fifteen minutes away and US Airways operates multiple flights going in and out of the city. This is how much research, I actually hadn't done. Generally, I don't buy property sight unseen, but in this case, I really had no choice. I had Jenks check on the realtor to make sure he was on the up and up, though.

Cheboygan, Michigan had a population of roughly five thousand people. It was slightly larger than Forks, but not by much. As far as shopping was concerned, there was a Walmart Supercenter, a Kmart, an auto parts store, and smaller mom and pop operations throughout the city as well as numerous car dealerships, a hospital, schools, and banks. One thing was for sure, anyone without a truck or SUV would have to put their vehicle into storage. They wouldn't make it on the rough terrain of our grounds. The realtor ended his tour at his office and told me to call him if we needed help with anything and we went our separate ways.

"Okay, Bella, you haven't said a word all day. Aren't you going to say something?" She had been giving me and Alice the silent treatment. Alice for coming up with the vision of Cheboygan, Michigan and me for going along with it. This was the type of place that Bella liked the least. Bella? I shuddered to think of Rose's reaction to the area.

"Come on, babe, I already told you that this isn't my first choice as far as location is concerned. It's too secluded. This is only temporary. We'll be here for two years, then we can move to wherever you want except for Cambridge and New York. Bella?"

"Jasper, just let me pout and be spoiled for once, okay. I know I'm being immature. I just hate this place. It reminds me of Forks except there's no Daddy here. Oh, and I'm not living in that hunting lodge. There are heads in there Jasper—heads."

She was referring to the several animal heads mounted on the wall by the previous owners. Frankly, they creeped me out too. I planned on using the lodge as headquarters anyway.

After touring the area, Bella and I decided to call a company that specializes in luxury modular homes in Cheboygan and have them put sixteen up on our property. We met with the owner that day and told him that he had six months to do it. He asked me how I would be financing this. I told him cash—half up front, half on delivery. The guy gave me a hug. He said that this project alone would boost the economy of the county giving about a hundred unemployed workers jobs. We, then, checked out the property and customized each house—I told him that we didn't need a large kitchen in any of them, but to make up for it by installing a show shower and a jacuzzi tub in each one. He asked me what a show shower was so I brought up the website of the company that specialized in them.

The homes, itself, were kits and were two-storey, 1500 square feet with three bedrooms, a wrap around deck, and a loft. We reworked it so the second floor contained one large master bedroom and a spa bathroom with the show shower. Since the homes came 90 percent pre-assembled, it would only cost us 150,000 dollars to build each one plus the cost of permits. I wrote him a check for 1.2 million dollars as a down payment and told him to get to work. After that, Bella and I drove back to Sault Ste. Marie and headed to the airport and left the area. She still wasn't talking to me.

When we got home to Manhattan, my pissed off wife slammed the door to our room shut and locked it. A few minutes later, Bella came downstairs with a packed bag. "Jasper, I'm going away for a week or two to think. I'll call you as soon as I get to where I'm going." Clearly, I wasn't invited to go along.

"Okay," I said. What else was I supposed to say? No? You're not allowed to be pissed off. I knew that relocating to Cheboygan wasn't what was on her mind. It was the upcoming fight with Maria. Everyone had basically told her, "It's on you, Bella. You're our only hope." That was a ton of stress for her to have to shoulder.

She left without even hugging me and I was alone again, the pain in my chest increasing as the distance between us grew.

Three quarters of an hour later, a worried looking Rose came barreling into the house with Emmett, Pete, Char, Claude, and Tony on her heels. "Bella! Bella!" she screamed, then ran upstairs to check all of the rooms in the house. "What happened? What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her, Bella just saw where we'd be living next and she wasn't happy."

"Is she still not talking to you? It's been over a week."

"She wants me to let her pout until she gets it out of her system. I think this bullshit with Maria is getting to her. Alice, Sush, and Peter have all basically said that the whole thing is on her and she's scared and she's pissed off about having the responsibility. Edward told me that she's terrified. On top of that, she loves living in Manhattan and she's being forced to relocate to a town that's just slightly bigger than Forks, and even worse, the property we'll be living on is even more secluded than Carlisle's house in Forks. She snapped as soon as she saw Cheboygan."

"Shit!" Peter groaned. "Where the hell is she going? Why aren't you following her?"

"I'm not following her because it'll do more harm than good. She needs to think this through for herself. She said that she'd call as soon as she reached her destination."

We all sat down and waited, that's all we could do really. Alice came rushing over with Riley, Edward, and Vicky a few hours later. "Her shield is down. Edward can read everyone's minds and I can see into the future. She'll need a week, Jasper. Then, we have to make sure that we don't stress her out so much over the Maria thing. She's pissed off that Peter, you, and I basically have been telling her what to do without consulting her. She hates all three of us right now."

"Beautiful, just fucking great! Any idea where she's going?"

"Nope, she hasn't made a decision yet. She's running."

Three hours more and Alice fell into a vision. Edward relayed the vision to us. "She's at Charlie's grave. She's talking to him. She's saying that she'd rather be dead than have to face Maria, but she'll do it if it means keeping the family safe. She's willing to die for all of us. She wants to know why she has to be the one to shoulder all of this, though? Now she's sobbing."

Bella sobbed for about an hour at Charlie's grave, then she kissed the grave, got up, and started running again. As soon as she got to the airport in Seattle, she threw her shield back up. Twenty-four hours later, everyone was gathered in my living room. Those who worked had come directly from their jobs. Those that didn't work sat waiting for Bella's phone call. Twenty minutes later, my phone finally rang. "Bella?"

"I'm in Athens, Greece." _Click._

"Athens, Greece?" everyone yelled out at once.

**Bella's POV**

I needed to get away so I could think. My husband wasn't giving me a moment to myself—everything was about the upcoming battle with Maria. He was consumed with it. So was everyone else. Apparently, it was all going to come down to me. Why? No one had any idea. Everyone was depending on me to come through so they were encouraging me to "train for the fight, train for the fight, train for the fight." When I wasn't training, it was, "mentally, you have to be battle ready" over and over again. This has pretty much been going on for the last year. Sure, we had breaks during which we would go on vacation, but increasingly it's been the Jasper, Alice, and Peter show. It's been all about what Alice and Peter see in the future and how Jasper interprets it. It's been "Bella, you have to do it this way, you can't do it that way" the entire time. Well, fuck, if I'm supposedly their savior, shouldn't I be the one to figure shit out on my own? I know I don't have experience in battle, but I'm not an idiot and I can think for myself.

I decided to put my shield down so the fucking pixie could have a vision. I imagined Jasper, Alice, and Peter fucking donkeys on the steps of the Parthenon with me dressed in a toga, giving them the finger, and telling them to fuck off and leave me the hell alone. I'm sure Alice has seen it by now.

I checked into the Westin Athens Astir Palace Beach Resort—just a standard room; I didn't need to stay in a suite. I decided on this hotel because it was beachfront and every room had a view of the gorgeous, blue Mediterranean Sea. I left my shield down for the most part because I wanted to relax and it was draining whenever I was under stress. Besides, this way, Alice could see what I was doing and let everyone know I was safe.

I spent most of the days sightseeing and wandering the streets of Athens. I was in love with the city. Oh my God, it was so beautiful! Unfortunately, it was super sunny here so I had to purchase an abaya to wear to shield myself from the sun so that I wouldn't sparkle.

As soon as it was twilight, I would throw on my bikini and hit the beach. I relished in the feeling of the sand in between my toes and more so in the feeling of freedom and independence. That feeling would always be shortlived, though. I knew that I had to return home to prepare for the upcoming fight with Maria. I knew that my family meant more to me than anything, I was prepared to die for them—that much was for sure.

A week passed and I knew it was time for me to go home. I put my shield up, packed my bags, and flew home to New York City. I walked inside of the house. Jasper was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

"Hey, babe, did you have a good trip?"

"Yeah, I'm going to take a shower now, okay?"

"Okay."

I showered, got dressed, and climbed up to my rooftop oasis to think.

"I love you, Bella." Jasper wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you, too."

"Did you get a lot of thinking done?"

"Yeah."

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we can go to Greece together sometime?"

"Maybe." I'd have to think about that. Greece was my special place. I didn't want anyone, not even Jasper, coming with me.

I moved to a lounge chair and watched the sun go down, then come up again. It was around that time, that Jasper finally spoke again, "Say something to me, Bella, please. Don't shut yourself off from me."

"I'm not, Jasper. I'm just preparing myself mentally for what's coming. You're the one that said that I have to be ready mentally and physically."

"Let me help you."

"No, because all visions point to the fact that I'm going to be the one helping you. I have to do this on my own, Jasper."

"Try me, Bella."

"Okay, then I think that moving to Cheboygan is a bad idea. I think we're safer here. Maria's not going to come into an area as populated as Manhattan."

"I disagree, Alice said..."

"Alice said...hmm...are you sure her visions are reliable? Because if Maria's been in touch with Amber, then surely she knows how to get around your ex-wife's visions."

"Bella, I have a lot more experience with battles than you do. Why don't you just let me do the planning with Tony, Felix, Peter, and Eleazar? Their experience combined with Peter and Alice's visions will help you defeat Maria."

"Well, then, I guess there's nothing more for me to say. This is your show, why don't you just run it however the fuck you want to without listening to my opinion."

"Come on, Bella, you're being ridiculous. You know that what I'm saying is true."

"Truly, Jasper, I have nothing more to say to you. If you're not going to at least take what I have to say into consideration, then why should I even tell you how I feel?"

"Bella, please!"

"I'm sorry, Jasper," I said, simply. It was true, he wasn't going to bother with even hearing me out. Besides, all of the preparation in the world wasn't going to get me ready for Maria so I might as well just live life and enjoy it while I can. I had a little over two years before I had to face the bitch and the outcome is going to be either I die or she dies. Maria was obviously vacationing and rebooting her brain in the process. Jasper always said she was a smart woman. Why not take a page out of her book and do the same?

_**One year later...**_

**Cheboygan, Michigan**

Nothing's changed really, Jasper, Peter, and Alice are still running the show and I'm going stir crazy. I tried to talk to Jasper about my feelings. I told him that I felt overworked and that no amount of preparation can prepare me for meeting Maria. All he said was, "Bella, preparation is the key to success." It's his new mantra.

My new mantra is a quote from Jane Austen, "Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations."

He just disregards me and I do the same with him. I barely talk to him anymore and I'm definitely not on speaking terms with Peter and Alice.

Sex is another issue. He can follow me around looking like a lost puppy all he wants, he's not getting any. I have no desire to sleep with him when he's unwilling to at least hear me out. Everything out of my mouth has been shrugged off. I suggested that we bring in Rex and Tony's powers as incubi to destabilize Maria and her minions. He disagreed that it would work, and actually told me to stay out of business that doesn't concern me.

Pfft. Right. Sure it doesn't concern me. I'm just going to be saving your ass, but apparently my opinion doesn't matter. Maybe I should just side with Maria and forget about his ass, Peter's, and Alice's.

"Bella! I can't believe you could even consider that!" Alice said. "She's considering letting Maria have us instead of saving us."

Fucking snitch! I should have burnt you to a crisp when I kicked your head off that one time. I've been ordered to keep my shield down so that Alice could "see."

"Bella!" Alice screeched.

"Fuck you," I stated flatly and left.

Jasper followed me out. "Bella! That's it! We're all under stress here and you're making it worse! You want to know what it's like to be under Maria's control. Here!"

Jasper sent me pain and frustration—loads of it, but I didn't feel it. Not because I had my shield up because I didn't. It was because I was feeling the same pain and frustration that he just sent from him, Alice, and Peter on a daily basis.

"Put your fucking shield down!"

"It is down. Now you know how I've been feeling with you three asswipes controlling the Cheboygan Prison Camp!"

"Bella!" Jasper yelled and grabbed my arm when I tried to return to my house. Rex came outside and punched him in the face. I just ran home and hibernated in our room, away from all of the bullshit.

**Rex's POV**

"Leave her the fuck alone! She's been trying to talk to you, but you've been so reliant on whatever Alice and Peter see that you're not even giving her the time of day!"

"Who the hell made you an expert on my wife?" Jasper had his hands on his hips and looked furious.

"Fuck you, man, I've been hearing her out and listening to her. This has become the listen to Alice and Peter's visions and then follow the orders of Jasper, Tony, Felix, and Eleazar show. We all need a break man! We still have eighteen months until the whore shows up which means you have eighteen months to rebuild your relationship with Bella. Char! Tell him what you've been seeing in their bond!" I ordered.

I'll be damned if I allow Jasper to boss Bella around anymore. She was taking the brunt of it from all three of the fucking dictators. Jasper and Peter felt they were 'all that' because they have experience with newborns and Alice and Peter felt they 'knew it all' because of their gifts. What neither of the three assfucks plus Tony, Felix, and Eleazar failed to take into consideration is the fact that we weren't a newborn army. We were vampires with lives, families, and jobs that we had put on hold all so we could save Jasper, Peter, and Victoria from Maria. They were running the show as if it were some sort of military boot camp—no, prison camp. Jasper, Peter, and Alice kept stressing to Bella that it was all going to come down to her, oh, but please stay out of it because we'll figure this shit all out so you know what to do. Bella kept stressing that we can't plan for the unknown or unplanned. We can only be mentally and physically prepared, but overworking us was going to do more harm than good. Peter and Alice kept insisting that they'll know and Jasper agreed with them, so did Felix, Tony, and Eleazar.

"What do you see, Char?" Jasper questioned..

"Your bond is still strong, Jasper. Bella's...well...Bella's is...weakening...by the day."

"What do you mean by weakening, Charlotte?"

"Well, at this point, she's still your mate, but not nearly as strong as it was around this time last year. Each time you, Peter, or Alice shout out an order or you don't listen to her—and you don't, Jasper; the bond gets weaker. It really plummets whenever the three of you demean her or any of us."

"I don't demean her or any of you!" Peter yelled.

"Yes, you do Peter. All three of you do. Whenever you brush off our opinions, you demean us. Bella's made some very good points, but do you listen to her. NO! You never do! You think she's naïve, but she's not. Oh, and by the way, she doesn't have a familial bond with you anymore, Peter Piper. Nope! With me, yes; but with you, no. And you Alice, whatever the fuck you built up with her is gone. She plain doesn't give a fuck about you anymore and Peter and Jasper are headed for the same fate. I guarantee to you that she's going to snap like she did last year and this time, it's going to take a hell of a lot more than her unwinding in Greece to bring her back. So, you three fuckers better pull your goddamned heads out of your asses and bring some humanity back into whatever fucked up show you're running because Bella ain't gonna be saving your asses anytime soon. Oh, and Peter—I've had it up to here with your shenanigans, you're no longer invited in my bed!"

"By the way, Jasper, if you burn in hell, Bella's not going down with you," Chelsea added. "I'll break her bond with you before I let her feel the pain of a dead mate; but, then again, you're doing a damn good job breaking the bond yourself!"

"I'm sorry, didn't Sushmita say that everyone's bonds had to be strong and secure in order for us to survive the fight—especially with Bella?" Rose pointed out with a smirk. "Oops, looks like you three are dead. Chelsea maybe you should break their bonds with their mates now so they don't have to suffer on account of these arrogant pricks. I'm sorry, Alice, you don't have a prick—I keep forgetting."

Jasper had a stunned expression on his face. So did Alice and Peter. They just had their asses handed to them from Charlotte, Chelsea, and Rose. Well, Peter and Jasper had their asses handed to them, Alice had no ass to hand to her. Peter and Alice's expressions soon turned from stunned to dismayed to angry.

Bella walked out of her house with two packed bags. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Alice asked.

"Answer her, Bella!" Peter ordered.

She put her bags down and relieved both Alice and Peter of their heads within seconds. "Sorry, Mike, Charlotte."

"No skin off of my back, I don't like the fucker," Charlotte clearly stated.

Bella picked up her bags and started walking away from the prison camp, I mean from our property. We were, suddenly, all brought to our knees with an enormous amount of pain radiating from Jasper. "Bella! Bella! You can't leave me! Bella! Please!" The great Major of the South was groveling. He caught up to his wife and got down on his knees in front of her, begging her not to leave him. She stopped.

"Why, Jasper?"

"If you go, what's going to happen to us? You're the one that's supposed to be saving us."

"That's my decision, isn't it?"

Alice's head, which no one had bothered to pick up yet, reacted to what Bella said. The eyes turned wide as saucers and it was attempting to say something, but couldn't because the vocal cords had been severed.

"If the only reason that you want me to stay is because I'm supposedly your fucking savior, then I'm making the right decision. I won't be far, I've rented an apartment in Cheboygan. My family can visit me, you and your minions may not. Don't worry, I'll be at training everyday, Major Whitlock."

With that, Isabella Marie Swan walked away from Major Jasper Whitlock. She didn't even bother looking back.

**So, are you surprised at the turn of events? Jasper, Peter, and Alice have become a little full of themselves, don't you think? The sad part is that Jasper is well aware of the amount of stress on Bella's shoulders, but he's just adding to it. We do know, however, that our group of vampires can handle themselves as exemplified by the way they dealt with Lolita Barrientos and with the two female vampires in Brownsville. Speaking of which, did you enjoy Char's creative use of a slightly used Rabbit? The prison camp leaders just need to let up a little bit. Now, I know you don't like it when Jasper and Bella are apart, but do you think she was justified in her actions? He's not the only one without a mate, Charlotte has cut Peter off, too. Let me know your feelings about this chapter. I will always respond to your reviews. :) XOXO**


	55. Chapter 55

**Wow! The majority are ready to hurl daggers at Jasper, Peter, and Alice while a handful of you want to hang Bella. I won't make you wait long to find out about the aftermath of their argument. We'll start with Jasper's POV. Thank you so much for the passionate responses to this chapter, I truly enjoyed reading your opinions. One Major Jasper Whitlock for each of you! For my male readers, I give you Rose and Bella on a beach in bikinis.**

**Warning: If I had a title for this chapter, it would either be called, "Sex" or "Lots of Sex."**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

_******A/N: We no longer have the ability to respond to reviews unless your Private Messaging system is turned on. If you would like a response and your ability to receive messages is turned off, please click on "Account," then "Settings," and "Enable" your Private Messaging capabilities. :)**_

_******P.S. Jasper's Girl 4life your review reply is on it's way. I'll explain in more detail later.**_

**Jasper's POV**

She walked away from me without even looking back. I went to retrieve Peter and Alice's heads. No one, not even their mates, bothered to pick them up and reattach them. Charlotte and Mike just turned and walked away. Felix, Eleazar, and Tony helped me fuse them back on.

As soon as Alice was composed enough, she spoke. "It's over, most of us are dead. There's just no way to win without Bella."

My cell phone buzzed just then. Thinking it was my wife, I answered it. "Bella?"

"Are you fucking insane? What did I say that we had to do in order to survive? I said that our souls must be free and clear for us to survive and that we must function as a family. You and Peter have been treating everyone worse than the dirt on the soles of your shoes! As for Alice, well, why would you rely on someone whose visions are decisions based? You still have time to salvage this although I'm not sure if Bella and your mating will survive. Why, Jasper? Why? Why did you take all that was beautiful that you built up with your mate and push it aside? She is hurting and you must fix this. Cancel all training until I get there in two days and for God's sake, keep Alice's fucking mouth shut! Why you fucking fused her head back on, I have no idea!" Sushmita hung up the phone angrily.

I walked back into my empty house, unable to face anyone. My wife was gone. Oh, hell, my life was gone and I had only myself to blame.

There was a knock on my door and I answered it. Esme walked inside asking if we could talk. I waited for her to start the conversation.

"Jasper, I'm here to intervene. You need to do something about your attitude, or you're going to lose Bella permanently."

"Esme, I highly doubt..."

"Just listen to me. Listen. You haven't been doing enough of that lately. Just listen. I know that you want to defeat Maria for good. We all do, but what's the purpose in that if you lose your mate in the process? I know that you love Bella more than your existence, but, frankly, you're pushing her away each time you don't listen to her, each time you demean her. I can see the hurt in her eyes. Recently, though, the hurt has been turning into indifference. Bella's getting to the point where she just doesn't care anymore. That's what happened to Carlisle. I pushed him away. I didn't listen to him, I didn't hear him out. He wanted to try something other than medicine, but I was so worried about myself that I didn't stop to listen to him. You know what happened to us. I just wanted to talk to you before the same thing happens to you and Bella."

"Esme, you can't compare Carlisle and your situation with Bella and mine."

"Are you sure, Jasper? In the end, you may defeat Maria; but if you lose Bella—and with her gone, you're already halfway there; you may find that you were the one that lost the most."

She looked at me pointedly, hugged me, and pecked me on the cheek. "Well, I'll leave you to your thoughts. I'm still proud of you, son. I'll always be proud of you."

I sat and pondered what Esme had to say for the longest time. She was right. I could defeat Maria, but, without Bella, there would be no reason for me to go on. I walked upstairs to our room and put my mate's pillow over my head and inhaled her scent. I missed her. I've been missing her for months now. We'd been living in the same house, but we may as well have been living apart. Bella tried to talk to me countless times, but I just shrugged her off. I was so caught up in winning this fight that I forgot about how to be a husband. This situation was unacceptable and it was my fault.

I thought about all of the points that Bella had brought up, she had made some very valid ones. I just didn't take the time to consider any of them. She was right, all of the planning in the world wouldn't matter if Maria changed her mind and Alice's vision didn't come to fruition. Maria knew enough about Alice through Amber to know that her visions were decision based. Bella's right, you can't really plan for the unknown, you just have to hope that we were all in a good place mentally and physically to defeat the enemy.

When I was in the Civil War, I had no idea what I was going to encounter whenever there was a skirmish. I had to always expect the unexpected; we all did. I dismissed my wife's opinions as mere ramblings from an inexperienced woman. I demeaned her. I valued Alice's visions above all, but in reality, her visions were not a hundred percent fail-proof. In actuality, by depending on Alice's visions, I was depending on Maria to decide what Alice had seen so far.

I'm an idiot. I need to fix this. I need to apologize to everyone and right my wrongs. I need to save my relationship with my mate. I need to find my mate first.

I knocked on Rex and Tanya's door. Tanya answered.

"Would you happen to know where Bella is living?"

"Why? So you can yell at her some more? Fuck off, Major." She slammed the door in my face.

Have I been that bad? Oh shit, I have. I've been belittling her in front of everyone. Fuck! What happened? How could I let this happen? Bella's my wife—not an army recruit. None of these people are army recruits and this isn't boot camp. This is my family and I've been treating them like mud on the bottom of my shoes. Sush was right.

I knocked again on Tanya's door pleading with her to talk to me for just one minute saying that I needed to apologize to Bella. She didn't believe me, though. My shoulders slumped in defeat and I made my way over to Pete's. Char wasn't there. She, apparently, had moved in with Rose and Emmett. She told Pete that she'd be back once he gave birth to his head which she felt was currently lodged somewhere in his anal cavity.

"Hey, Pete."

"Major," he acknowledged. He looked worn, haggard, and defeated. Not only had he lost his wife, but also his great-granddaughter. Neither of them wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

"We need to fix this, Peter. We're losing everyone. We're going to turn into a plain ol' army and lose our family."

"Yeah, I know. Char didn't even help me fuse my head back on. It's going to take a lot for us to fix things—especially with Bella. She's at Mulligan's with Rex. Go get her."

I ran to the center of town to Mulligan's. I peered through the window and I saw them—dancing. Rex was twirling Bella, her eyes lit up in joy. Joy that she never had for me anymore. Joy that she found in the solace of another man's arms. I honed into their feelings. They were purely platonic. Rex was there for my wife, doing his best to keep her happy, to keep her sane, listening to her. I felt like a turd. I decided to go home and wallow in my own self-pity—downing a case of Jack Daniels on my own. I figured that since I was going down anyway, I might as well do a good job of it.

I cancelled training for the next week and sent a text message to everyone stating that Sushmita was coming for a visit to help fix things. Two days later, I picked Sush and Amrita up at Sault Ste. Marie airport. I was greeted with reverberating slaps across my face by my Indian sisters.

"You have no one to blame, but yourself. Now, take me to Bella!"

"I don't know where she lives and no one will tell me."

"Are you a fucking vampire or not? We have heightened olfactory senses or did you forget?"

We scented Bella out to a modern looking townhouse complex. Each townhouse had a designated covered garage. We knocked on the door, but she wasn't home. We were just getting into the Tahoe when a brand new, red Ferrari pulled into one of the covered garages. Okay, it didn't exactly pull into the garage, it kind of jerked in, stalling out a couple of times. Clearly the driver had no idea how to drive a stick shift. Bella hopped out, shut the garage door, and proceeded to open her front door. The three of us ran to her door to talk to her.

"You and Amrita can come in. He can't. I don't want his scent in here."

"Stop it, right this second, Bella! Jasper is your mate and you two are going to fix this even if I have to strap you both naked to St. Andrew's crosses and flog you both into submission!" Amrita yelled.

That doesn't sound particularly pleasing. Apparently, Bella didn't think so either because the next thing out of her mouth was, "Fine. He can come inside."

"Good, you sit here next to your mate, now talk," Sush ordered.

"Bella?" I started.

No response.

"Bella?"

No reaction.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I was a jerk of the worst kind. I belittled you, I demeaned you, I didn't listen to you, I wasn't there for you. I treated you like a new army recruit instead of hearing you out, listening to your suggestions. I acted like a dictator when I should have been acting like your husband."

"I know."

"Alice's visions are subjective. They're based on decisions that people make and I was depending on them to come to fruition when, in reality, we can only take her visions with a grain of salt."

"What about everyone else? You treated them all like peons. We're not prisoners or army recruits, Jasper. We're your family and you've taken us all for granted. I think you owe everyone an apology. So do Peter and Alice."

"I know. I'll do whatever it takes to fix this. I fucked up. How can I make things better between us?"

No answer. I tried a different approach.

"Esme talked to me. She said that destroying Maria will mean nothing if I destroy our relationship in the process. She's right. I did a damn good job of fucking things up, didn't I? Do you want to leave me? Do you want Chelsea to break our bond?"

"No."

"What do you want then?"

"I'm not sure. I just know that I want you. I'm not so sure that it'll work anymore, though. How many times do we have to do this?"

"I don't know, there's an old Spanish proverb that I once heard, 'Two great talkers will not travel far together'. I talked and talked, Bella, without taking the time to listen to you. I don't know how, or why, or even when that started happening. I guess I was so caught up in Maria that I forgot what's important in life and to me. Nothing in life matters if I don't have you."

She nodded her head, indicating that she understood what I was saying, then she finally spoke more heartfelt words to me than she had in months. "Without you, nothing matters. I know that you're not perfect and neither am I—far from it, but I know we're perfect for each other. It's just making it work that's so hard sometimes. It takes so much work, time, and effort to make 'us' work. Sometimes I wonder if fighting for it is worth it, but then I remember something from the poet, Robert Browning, 'Take away love and our earth is a tomb'. He's right, without love, we might as well be dead. I'll fight for our love, Jasper."

It was a start. We were talking and we made some headway. She didn't want the bond to break either. She was willing to fight to make love work. It occurred to me that nothing else mattered, Maria, the newborns, even the family—the only thing that mattered was us—me and my mate. This is what we were fighting for and this is what Maria was trying to take away from us.

_**One month later...**_

Bella was still living in her townhouse away from me. I saw her everyday, but we still hadn't slept together yet. It's been five months since the last time we had sex. Bella didn't want to rush anything. I didn't want to either, but I was reaching the point of desperation. I was sexually frustrated and sick of jerking off in the shower by myself. Right now, I was taking a walk alone and thinking. Living without Bella was lonely for me, I spent many hours walking and thinking everyday.

My Indian sisters were still with us. They were living in the two houses that I had built for each of them when I had bought this place. Sush had lectured me, Peter, Alice, Felix, Eleazar, and Tony explaining to us that this was about keeping the family together. Training has been scaled back to every other day for two hours only. Anything further than that was going over the top. Everyone was encouraged to pursue their own interests in order to become mentally prepared. A clear, happy mind would do greater good than a frustrated one during battle.

Everyone had their own hobby that they pursued to keep them going. After Peter apologized, he and Rose started working on souping up everyone's cars since they couldn't open up their own garage until after the battle. They were allowed to touch any car except for Bella's brand new, red Ferrarri. She wouldn't allow anyone near it. I asked her why she bought it and she explained that as a matter of fact, there's a chance that she could die during the fight with Maria. She just wanted to drive her dream car in case that became reality. She just had to figure out how to drive a stick shift smoothly. Rose tried to teach her, but quickly lost patience with her. Carlisle was doing his duty as Daddy and teaching her now, but he said she was worse than Chelsea.

Esme spent her time decorating her house. It kept her mind off of things. Alistair joined Garrett, Rex, Tony, Felix and I in coming up with Civil and Revolutionary War battle plans. Others took classes at the community centers in Cheboygan or Sault Ste. Marie to take their mind off of things. The rest of the time, they spent making love to their mates. Everyone, that is, except for me.

I soon found myself in front of Bella's townhouse. I peered through her window, Bella was reading a romance book and laughing aloud. I missed her so much. She was my life. My heart and my soul. I saw her everyday for a couple of hours, but I'd have to leave by midnight because that's how she wanted things to be for now. I just wanted to hold her in my arms. I wanted to feel her, to touch her. I knocked on her door.

Bella opened it. "Jasper?"

"I forgot something when I left this afternoon."

"Sure, come inside. What did you forget?"

"My heart."

I reached out and tilted her chin up with one hand. Then, I kissed her. Her lips felt warm to me and was a welcome respite for my tired soul. Bella responded by wrapping her arms around my neck and moving in closer to me. I picked her up and sat on the sofa with her on my lap. We soon found ourselves in a frenzied passion desperate to have more of each other.

Bella ripped my clothes off of me and started planting kisses all over my body. When she took my cock into her mouth, I exploded. It didn't take me long to cum. It had been five months and I no longer had the will to hold out.

"Bed." Bella pointed towards her bedroom. I picked her up, shredding her clothes between the living room and her bedroom and plowed into her pussy just as I was laying her down on the bed. I thrust inside of her, hard, over and over again. Bella flipped me over and started riding me. Her perfect tits were bouncing up and down each time she slammed down onto my cock. I sat up and nuzzled my face into them, licking her nipples, making her scream in delight for more. I moved my hand down to her sensitive nub and started stroking it. She was squirming, moaning in ecstasy, then, finally, she was pulsating onto my cock, crying out my name in ecstasy. I shot my load deep into her core and sunk my teeth into that fleshy part of her neck which was beckoning me to bite down for a taste. I vowed never to let it go this long again without my mate.

After a few minutes of cuddling, I decided to voice my opinion. "We need to talk, Bella."

"Hm?"

"I can't live apart from you anymore. You're too far from me. I spend my nights wandering the woods and the town waiting for the moment I can see you again. Can you honestly say that you're not lonely here by yourself?"

"I'm scared, Jasper. What if we move back in together and it all goes wrong again? What if you take me for granted again? What if I shut myself off from you again?"

"Bella, you're my mate and my wife. It's a chance we're gonna have to take. Marriage takes work, especially if the couple knows each other intrinsically like you and I do. That's why I took you for granted, I figured that you would understand why I did what I did. And, you shut yourself off from me thinking that I would know why you did. Our marriage wasn't all bad, we hit a huge bump in the road, but now we know better."

She closed her eyes so she could think. I leaned down and started running my tongue over the mating mark on her neck. I couldn't help, but purr into her. I could feel her becoming increasing aroused by the second. A minute later, she moved her hand down to her pussy and started stroking it. I continued licking her mark and purring. I watched intently; she looked so beautiful pleasuring herself in front of me. I moved my hand down to help her, inserting two fingers into her dripping wet pussy. With each stroke of her hand and thrust of my fingers, her passion was building. The intensity and heat of the moment was making my cock hard. This was her time, though.

Bella, suddenly, arched her back and started screaming my name in a fit of passion. I continued licking her mark as she came, but this time I climbed on top of her and plunged my dick straight into Bella's core. She was still in the middle of her orgasm and her walls clenched down on me, making her feel tighter than she usually was. I was in a heated frenzy from watching her masturbate in front of me. I, also, was a little jealous and needed to show her that I could make her feel that way too.

I beat against her core like a drummer in a solo. With each thrust, I questioned her. I needed her to make me feel like she wanted me, needed me.

"Who makes you feel this way, Bella?"

"You do."

"Who do you think of when you want to cum, Bella?"

"You!"

"Who does your pussy belong to, Bella?"

"You, only you! Oh, God! Please!"

"Who do you belong to, Bella?"

You, Jasper! Only you, Jasper! It's always been you! Always you!"

"You're mine, Bella. Remember that!" With that, I came harder than I'd cum in months. I claimed my mate again. This time, biting harder, pumping more venom into her, making her cry my name out in pleasure and in pain. I needed to chain her to me. She was the one woman that could bring me to my knees and make me soar like an eagle at the same time. I needed Bella more than blood and venom. I needed her to need me the same way I needed her.

"Bella, you say that you're scared, but part of the problem is that you try to do everything yourself. I'm here for you, Bella. No matter what happens, I'll always be your mate. You can depend on me. I want you to depend on me. I need you to depend on me, just like I depend on you."

She broke down and sobbed into my chest. I held her to me and rubbed her back soothingly. She relaxed into me, but, after awhile, she flinched and grabbed the mark that I just gave her. She was dripping venom from it. I mentally chastised myself for forgetting to care for her wound and started bathing it with my tongue until I could only feel a minimal amount of pain from her.

I needed to take her for a quick hunt. I dressed her in a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. I realized that I had nothing to wear since Bella ripped my clothes off. I borrowed the roomiest pair that she had. Damn, I guess pink Hello Kitty pajama pants will have to do.

Bella started chuckling at the sight of me. I grabbed her keys, picked her up bridal style, and climbed into her Ferrari. I drove south to the edge of the Atlanta State Forest Area, parked, and started running with her on my back. I spotted a bear, snapped it's neck, and brought it to my mate.

"Share with me, Jasper." She requested, so I did. It was a show of faith and it meant the world to me that after all that's happened between us, my mate still believed in the power of our love. We finished the bear and I quickly buried it. I checked under her eyes and still saw dark circles. She needed more. She hadn't been feeding regularly, that much was for sure. I placed her on my back again until I spotted a moose. We fed from it together again then buried it. Bella looked much more refreshed after that feed, but still needed more. I chased down a cougar and presented his snapped neck to her. She dove into it immediately.

After I took care of the carcass, I questioned her. "How long has it been since you hunted, Bella?"

She didn't answer me. She looked down.

I pulled her chin up so her eyes met mine. "Bella?"

"Three..."

"Three weeks? Are you insane?"

"...months."

Fuck me. If I had gone three months without feeding, I would have devoured the entire town of Cheboygan, Michigan by now. There would have been no citizens left.

"Why, Bella?"

"I don't know this area well and, um, I don't like hunting alone. Everyone usually hunts with their mates and you always went alone so I guess I just forgot to go."

Shit! Again my foolishness brought me to this point. Bella has never been responsible about feeding either. She penciled it in like Riley, but she also had a habit of not looking in her planner.

I picked her up and cradled her to my body. "It won't happen again, baby. I'll never let you go for so long without a hunt, but you've got to start taking responsibility for it yourself too."

After finding another bear and having Bella feed from him alone, I carried her back to her Ferrari and drove us back to the townhouse. I also mentally thanked God for creating such a smooth machine like the Ferrari. The two of us showered off all of the grime from the hunt together. In the morning, Bella ran to the store to grab an outfit for me. As soon as she got back, she sat down and stated, "Alright, let's talk."

I nodded my head indicating that I was listening.

"Clearly, I need you to keep me in line. I mean, not feeding for three months is completely irresponsible. Part of it is this area, I'm just not comfortable here, but most of it is my own lack of responsibility in that area. Second, I agree that enough is enough. We need to live together again as husband and wife. I love you with everything I have in me and being afraid of running into problems is not a good enough excuse for us to not live together."

Phew. What a relief, I couldn't picture myself being without my mate anymore. "Okay, Bella. Let's start packing your things."

"I'm not moving back in with you. You're moving in with me, Jasper."

Huh? "Baby, we have a perfectly good house that's all paid for. We don't need to be paying rent."

"Yeah, well, as you can see, this townhouse gives us more privacy. There aren't any annoying family members to disturb us. I'm comfortable here, Jasper."

She actually had a really good point. People just walked into our house without knocking anymore, it's almost as if they've completely forgotten about our right to some privacy.

"Jasper, I think it'll be healthier for us to live away from the training grounds. It'll keep our minds off of what's to come and alleviate some of the stress."

"Okay, Bella. You've made your point. We'll live here."

She smiled her first real smile for me in months. She jumped up into my arms and started kissing me. Two hours later, she was off to purchase yet another outfit for me since my new one lasted all of five minutes before she tore it off of me. While I waited, I peered into the bedroom and realized that we'd have to go shopping for a new bed. The one she had in here was lying in a crumpled heap on the carpet. Oh, well, I guess I'll start clearing out the pieces while I wait for her.

_**Two months later...**_

We were all in India. The whole lot of us. Everyone needed to get away from Cheboygan and we needed to train along with our Indian family. On top of that, Amar needed help harvesting tea so we all volunteered to help. Privately, he phoned to say that he was terrified that Amrita was coming home to torture his dick again so would we please stay with him? Definitely, even I knew that an intervention was necessary there.

Bella and Rose were currently out hunting. I had confided in my sister about my wife not hunting for three months. She was helping me keep Bella in line in that department. It was easier in India, Bella loved tigers and there was an overabundance of them in this country so it kept her happy and, above all, well fed.

Our relationship was improving on a daily basis. I, myself, made the decision to savor my days with Bella. I have no idea what's going to happen to us and I'll be damned if my last days are going to be spent training for Maria's appearance. Besides, we couldn't exactly train anymore. Even Carlisle, who was our worst, could hold his own now. At this point, we were as prepared as we could ever hope to be and we could only hope for the best. Sushmita still insisted that she saw us all surviving; especially now that Bella worked on improving her relationship with both Peter and Alice. She still kept both of them at a distance. This hurt them both immensely, but, for this, there was no one to blame but themselves.

"Hey, Jasper." Emmett sauntered onto my perch on the balcony overlooking the jungle. "Do you realize that our mates have been hunting for over twenty-four hours now? I'm getting kind of worried."

"Really? That long? They're usually only gone for about eight hours at the most. Have you tried calling them?"

"Yeah, their phones are out of range."

"Maybe we should have Mike track them."

"Are you kidding me? If Mike tracks them, that means Alice goes with him. I'm not dealing with Rose or Bella's wrath if she shows up to wherever they are. You know how they feel about the pixie."

True. Alice was back at the bottom shelf as far as Bella and Rose were concerned. They were kind, courteous, and polite to her; but that's as far as it went. They both loved Mike to pieces, but Alice was back on their shit list—especially on Rose's. Rose was downright rude to her. It was no secret that she couldn't stand Alice and that, after the fight with Maria was over, she would be moving as far away as possible from our resident seer. In fact, she reminded her of the fact to her face every single day. Even Bella was nicer to Alice.

Charlotte was a different story. She was now extra close with Bella and Rose, much to the chagrin of Peter who wanted back in Bella's good graces, especially. Rose and Peter were still fine, they had their shared love of cars binding them together. Bella, however, was still hurt by the way Peter treated her in Cheboygan. Like Alice, he was held at a distance by her. Even Esme was closer to Bella than Peter and Alice, which is saying a lot because my wife isn't too crazed about my mother at all.

Emmett and I decided to track Rose and Bella ourselves. It hadn't rained in a few days so we should be fine. We ran at vampire speed for about eight hours and ended up in the state of Goa, India. It was absolutely gorgeous here. Surrounded by water, unspoiled beaches, and lush, green forest; I could see why Bella and Rose didn't want to come home. We went for a quick hunt, taking down a tiger each, then scented out Bella and Rose. It was twilight and the two of them were lounging on the beach in their bikinis with a bevy of human admirers. And by bevy, I mean about one hundred men circling around them like vultures vying for their attention. The two of them were ignoring the men and reading. Rose was reading "Hot Rod Magazine" while Bella engrossed herself in some trashy vampire novel called, "The Undead Next Door."

I sent their admirers a dose of fear and they all went barreling in different directions away from our mates.

"Hi Jasper."

"Hello Emmett."

Both girls spoke simultaneously without looking up from their reading materials.

"Hey, do you two realize that you've been gone for over thirty hours now? We were worried about you." Emmett was pacing back and forth in front of them.

"We left you messages on your phones. Did you bother checking?" Rose stated with a raised eyebrow.

Oops. I knew I forgot to do something. I dug my phone out of my pocket and sure enough there was a text message from Bella stating that she and Rose found a beautiful beach in Goa that they couldn't bear to leave so they were going to spend a couple of days relaxing in the sun. It also said that Em and I should run down so we could hang out with them. I looked over at Emmett and he was intently listening to a voicemail message from Rose that said roughly the same thing.

We both smiled at our mates sheepishly. Okay, so we might have forgotten to check our messages, but damn, we just loved them so much that we both had a tendency to lose our heads and start panicking when it came to them.

"It's okay," Bella said. "It was an honest mistake."

"Sorry, baby."

I plopped down on the sand next to Bella and enjoyed the view. She went back to reading her book. A bit later, she put the book down and tapped Rose on the shoulder. "Shouldn't we try to get a hotel room? Or should we stay in the youth hostel again?"

"Fuck no. No more youth hostels, I don't know how you put up with staying in those places when you traveled through Europe."

"Hey, don't knock them, Rosie. They're cheap, safe, and they're a place to sleep and shower."

"I swear to God, Bella, sometimes you can be so fucking cheap. This is Goa, India. Some of the best hotels in the world are here. We're staying in one of them."

I agreed with my sister on both counts. There was no way in hell I was staying in a youth hostel. We're staying in a fucking beachfront hotel where I can make love to my mate on the beach in the middle of the night, damn it!

"I'm okay with whatever we do, Rosie," Bella said with a smile.

"How about you let me handle the hotel, Rose," I suggested.

"Good idea, bro."

We ended up staying at the Cidade de Goa Beach Resort. It wasn't as luxurious as I had in mind, but they had rooms that led directly out to Vainguinim Beach which was my main goal. After an evening hanging around playing beach volleyball with some human couples, we went back to the hotel and bid Emmett and Rose goodnight. Quicker than lightening, those two were off to their hotel room which was at the furthest end away from us. I was about to do the same with Bella when I noticed a sign in the lobby: Gold Finger Casino.

Casino? Casino? Oh, fuck yeah! I've been itching for some action. I haven't been to Vegas since Claude and Tony were changed. I approached the casino and noticed that they were open twenty-four hours. Hmm...I can make love to Bella quickly, play a bit of baccarat, run...what the fuck am I thinking? My woman is standing there in her bikini top looking hot as sin with eyes gleaming with lust and I'm thinking about gambling? Sex now, gamble when it's sunny. That's what I'll do. At least things are back to normal in our marriage. I was no longer walking on eggshells around my mate and neither was she around me.

I picked Bella up and ran to our room. I had her bikini shredded in seconds and did a head dive straight into her pussy. My tongue was lapping up her folds greedily as if every dripping morsel was manna from heaven. She was squirming into my face, her core vibrating onto my tongue. She was crying my name out, panting desperately, and I wouldn't relent. I kept tonguing her as if she were my last meal. I wouldn't stop, I couldn't stop, I had to give my mate her release. That was the thought at the forefront of my mind when she suddenly got down on her knees, undid my shorts, and took me into her warm, welcoming mouth. She sucked and licked my cock gluttonously, grasping the base with her fingers, occasionally stopping to suck on my balls. With every flick of her tongue and every moan of pleasure from her throat, I had to force myself not to cum.

I had a sudden urge to be deep inside of her pussy. I pulled Bella up so that she was standing, facing me. I picked her up so that she was straddling me and she, immediately, plunged down onto my cock. Holy shit, it feels good inside of her. With Bella still straddling me, I opened up the sliding glass door leading to the beach, and ran towards the water. I collapsed onto the sand with her still riding my cock and let her fuck me in earnest. I had a glorious view of her tits bouncing up and down with each rise and fall of her beautiful body. She was everything to me, she was mine. All mine. Only mine.

I needed to claim her, now. I flipped her onto her back and took charge. I wanted her to feel my cock as I entered her sweet pussy. I held her hands over her head and relentlessly thrust into her. The feeling of my dick submerged inside of her drove both of us over the edge and we were soon screaming out each other's names in ecstasy as we were blanketed by the soothing waves of the ocean coming onto shore. I sunk my teeth into my one and only's neck, marking her, showing her, proving to her that she was mine for all eternity.

_**Three months later...**_

We were back in Cheboygan awaiting Maria. Alice confirmed that Maria would still be arriving in Michigan a year from now. Our Indian brothers and sisters plus Carmen and Eleazar would come for a short visit in June, then arriving at Christmas time for the fight. Until then, we were back to our twice weekly training sessions. Bella, Claude, Rex, and Riley took daily yoga classes to stay relaxed. Emmett, Rose, and I went with them once and decided against going considering that we wanted to hang the instructor by her neck by the time class was over. I can't understand how manipulating your body into ungodly positions can be considered relaxing.

Additionally, Bella was taking weekly hula dancing lessons with Tony in Sault Ste. Marie which pissed Rex off to no end. He would bitch and moan while they were gone; so much so, that Tanya took to learning how to work on cars from Pete and Rose on those days.

Emmett and I were online daily scoping out Maria on Facebook. She was building up her army, that was for sure. She messaged Michael Edwards stating that she went to California to look for him, but he wasn't there. We messaged her back stating that we were currently backpacking through Europe, then we posted some doctored up photos of Michael Edwards hanging out in Florence, Italy. We knew that she wouldn't seek him out there. She was adamant that she wanted him to contact her as soon as he returned to the States.

We had Tony playing World of Warcraft in the same realm as Maria. He stated that she never really changed her strategy for taking over territory. It was always the same with her, surprise attacks with a large army. We were learning a lot about Maria through this online game. Tony, or Captain Delicioso—Bella named him, was Sergeant Slayer's new enemy. She still hasn't been able to take him down. Captain Delicioso was always one step ahead of her.

Alice and Peter's relationship with Bella was improving everyday. Alice only looked into her visions when requested at this point. She no longer wanted to use her gift and was content with Bella keeping a physical shield on her. She always returned to that bad place where she became full of herself whenever she used her gift constantly.

As for Great Grandaddy Piper, Riley stepped in telling Bella that like it or not, Peter is their grandfather and that she has to make amends with him. The three of them took day trips outside of Michigan once a week. They were almost back to the way they were now and Peter was extra careful not to tell Bella what to do.

Last week, the three of them ran to Forks and got drunk with the wolves at the Mill Creek Bar. They bumped into Lauren Mallory who was visiting her parents, she got drunk right along with them. She told Peter that she would officially sanction his Ashlay Bendover fan club. That made him super happy. The very first members were the Quileute Wolves who were all in awe of the porn queen. In fact, Peter made Jacob Black vice president of his fan club. Meanwhile, Riley and Quil supposedly mowed everyone down during a beer pong tournament that they happened to be having. They were both now proud owners of brand new Mill Creek Bar t-shirts. As for Bella, she put her billiard skills into play and came home with a thousand extra bucks in her pocket from taking down some local pool sharks in Forks.

We were in the middle of training. Bella was late. Extremely late. We were already halfway through, in fact. I had sent her a text, but she hadn't responded. I called her cell phone repeatedly, but it was turned off. We were all on edge because we were seriously worried about her. If she didn't show up in five minutes, I planned on having Mike track her.

A couple of minutes later, Bella walked into the clearing dragging a body with it's head slung callously by the hair over her shoulder.

"Look what I found lurking around town." She flung the head and body unceremoniously onto the forest ground. Amber Putain's eyes looked up at me pleadingly.

"Bella, where did you find her?"

"She was hanging around downtown Cheboygan so I trailed her. She was following the elementary school librarian. I think she was going to feed off of her. Anyway, I couldn't allow that to happen so I nabbed her. I ran back here as fast as I could, but it wasn't easy running through the streets with a decapitated body and a head. I didn't burn her cause I thought you'd want to question her."

"Thanks, babe." I kissed my wife deeply on the lips. "Felix, Peter, Emmett, and Garrett; go run a perimeter check. Mike, hone in on Amber's scent and follow it to it's origin. Alistair, go with him. I want you in pairs at all times. Call me if you find anything. Vicky, Char; put Amber back together then relieve her of her limbs so she can't run. Someone get her something to replace her venom with. I need her coherent."

"Oh, hold on a second," Vicky stated with a brilliant smile. She ran back to her house then ran back with her purse. She smiled sweetly at Amber. "Guess what I have? Your pinky. Let me put it back on your hand for you."

Vicky spit her venom onto the dried out, decrepit looking pinky and replaced it onto Amber's hand. It was the weirdest thing. Amber's body started shaking as if it were in immense pain, but she couldn't voice anything because her head was not attached to it. I could feel her physical pain vibrate through my body, though.

"Oh, Char. We're going to have so much fun."

Chelsea walked up to them with a sinister smirk. "I want to play, too. I know a lot of exciting games."

"I, so, love play dates, don't you, pet?" Vicky asked Amber. "Aww, poor thing, you can't talk. Charlotte will reattach your head to your body in a second."

"How long do we have, Major?" Char asked.

"We meet at headquarters in two hours. Is that enough time for you to play with her or do you need more time."

"Oh, no, two hours is ample. We should be able to accomplish a lot in two hours."

I grabbed Bella and started running to our house on the property. As soon as we got inside, I started checking her over for injuries. I peeled her clothes off of her and ran my hands over her body and closely inspected her. After that, I wrapped my arms tightly around her naked body without any intention of ever letting go.

"Jasper, I'm okay. I swear it." Bella brushed my hair back with her hands.

"Babe, why didn't you call or at least text me?" I continued checking her body over for injuries. I could smell Amber's scent on her from their struggle. No, not good. I need to replace it with my own scent.

"I didn't want to alert her to my presence."

I was losing control. Quickly, too. Jasper was receding into the back of my mind and the Major was coming to the forefront. My mate placed herself in deliberate danger. Amber was an older, more experienced vampire. She could have killed her. Bella didn't call me for help. She didn't depend on me. She's supposed to depend on me. She's my mate, for God's sake. Half of me knew that she could handle herself, but the other half of me knew that it was my duty to protect my mate.

"Jasper? Jasper?" I could hear the concern in my mate's voice. "Jasper? Please, what's wrong, tell me."

**Bella's POV**

His eyes were as black as coal and he was more intimidating than I'd ever seen him before. He bore into me with his eyes and sent me a dose of fear so strong that if I were human I would have peed my pants. This wasn't Jasper. This was the Major. My not calling him when I was in danger triggered him to come out and for the first time ever, in our nearly fifteen years of marriage, I was witnessing the Major come to surface in earnest. I had heard about him, of course, from Peter and Charlotte, especially; but never once thought I'd see him. Everyone warned me that I should fear him if he ever surfaces. For some reason, even though he sent me copious amounts of fear, I wasn't scared. I was completely entranced by the commanding man who stood before me.

I did my best to not let the fear he was sending affect me. Underneath the surface of this intimidating man lay Jasper Whitlock, my husband. I was positive that he wouldn't hurt me. In fact, as the Major, he would protect me even more. I peered into his eyes, positive that he wouldn't harm me. If the Major is as self-assured as everyone says he is, he would know the difference between friend and foe. I stroked his cheek with the back of my hand.

The Major buried his nose into my neck and inhaled my scent. "Mate," he hissed.

"That's right, mate."

He inhaled again—he sniffed every inch of my body. When he got to my hands and arms he became angry, "Who touched you, my mate?"

"Focus, Major. You know that it was Amber that I took apart. I was safe. You trained me well."

"You put yourself in harm's way without contacting me. Why didn't you alert me to her presence."

"Had I done that Major, it would have put me in even more danger."

The Major was projecting feelings of insecurity, fierce protectiveness, and anger. He sprawled my nude body out onto the dining table and started licking my hands and arms. Wherever he detected Amber's scent, he replaced it with his own. I was soon coated in the Major's scent. I kissed his lips with a sudden desire to feel them on mine. He responded by kissing me passionately and springing his cock free from the confines of his jeans. He was inside of me in seconds.

He made love to me with an intense fervor that I'd never experienced before. He had every part of my body covered with his own and he sent feelings of lust, desire, passion, worry, and love. Love. Copious amounts of love.

"I can't lose you, my mate."

"You're not going to lose me. I promise. You won't ever lose me," I reassured.

He plunged into me continuously; urgently. Never stopping, even as the dining table collapsed to the floor. I felt all of him inside of me and I was insane with desire for him. He was making love to me as if it were the last time he'd ever get the chance to do so and I was ravenously devouring every inch of him. Every touch had a purpose, every kiss was full of meaning. Every thrust was meant to claim me.

We looked into each other's eyes as we climaxed together. The Major sent me every morsel of love he had for me before his mouth descended over my heart and he sunk his teeth in to mark me. I screamed in agony. The pain was absolutely excruciating; it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Suddenly, as his venom flowed through my veins, I felt my bond to my mate increase at a rapid pace. It was an incredible feeling of elation and security mixed with pain, so different from when he marks my neck. The Major finally unfastened his teeth from my heart.

I reached up to kiss him, but he swiftly moved my head to the side, exposed my neck, and quickly sunk his teeth into the place that Jasper calls his own. I winced at the pain and cried out in pleasure as his venom coursed through my system. He finally released his hold on my neck and started caring for my wounds. He sealed the wound over my heart and on my neck with his venom then slid his tongue over my body, scenting me for the second time in less than an hour. When his tongue slipped between my folds, I relaxed into my mate. With each stroke of his velvet tongue I was transported to heaven. The blissful feeling of his tongue on my clit shot straight to my core and soon the frenzy started taking over as my body demanded a release.

"Majorrrr!" I couldn't help, but scream when my orgasm exploded straight onto his tongue. He continued caressing me, then all of a sudden, I felt the bite.

"Aaaghhh!" I cried out in both agony and in ecstasy as my mate marked me for the second time today in an area foreign to me. This time he clamped his teeth to my inner upper thigh, inches away from where his tongue had just given me untold pleasures. I was feeling more pain than pleasure at this point, my other marks were still throbbing, especially the one over my heart. I had to bring my Jasper back.

"Jasper, baby, come back to me," I whispered desperately.

"Please, Jasper, you're hurting me. Let go of my thigh, honey." I stroked his hair with my fingers. He didn't stop and now the pain was bordering on torture.

"Please stop, Jasper. You're really hurting me," I begged. And finally, "Major! You're scaring me!"

Something finally clicked. My mate immediately detached his teeth from my thigh. There was venom seeping from the wound. I cringed in pain as he bathed the wound with his venom.

I wasn't sure if he was Jasper or the Major at the moment, but I knew for sure that he was my mate. He started inspecting my body as if it were fine porcelain. I could see the pain in his eyes as he saw the two new marks he had made on my body. He carefully placed his shirt on me, threw his pants back on, and started running into the woods cradling me in his arms. He shifted me into his right arm and with the left he grabbed a lynx and presented his neck to me. I bit down immediately, allowing the blood to soothe my depleted veins. As soon as I was done feeding, he dropped the carcass. I snuggled into his chest and again felt him cradling me to his body. He sunk down on the forest floor with me in his arms. I turned my face up towards him. He looked sad, broken, disappointed with himself. I had to fix this, it was up to me.

"I love you, Jasper," I reassured.

"I never wanted you to see that side of me. I was trying to protect you from him."

"The Major is part of who you are. Don't be ashamed of something that is such an intrinsic part of your nature."

"Bella, I hurt you."

"Not on purpose. You were marking your territory, staking your claim. My heart belongs to you, my entire body does, actually. The Major knows this. You know this, too, Jasper. I told you once before that neither of us are perfect, but we're perfect for each other. I meant what I said."

"I don't deserve you, Bella. I'm a monster."

"Oh, now you sound like Edward did in the past. Stop brooding, Jasper—it doesn't become you. What's done is done. I'm not angry at all. I'm actually kind of turned on by the fact that you let your primordial instincts take control. You are Major Jasper Whitlock, my husband, my mate, my lover, my best friend, and nothing is ever going to change that. You're going to have to find a way to accept the Major into your heart, Jasper. If it makes it any easier, I already have. And I can tell you already, I need both of you."

"I don't know if I'm strong enough to be both the Major and Jasper at the same time."

"I know you can do it, and if not, I'll be strong enough for you."

"You're too good to me, Bella."

"I can say the same thing about you, Jasper."

"I love you, Bella."

"And I love you."

"Now put your Major face on. Don't you have someone to interrogate?"

"I do. Promise me something?"

"What?"

"I want you to stay in the house with Rosie. I'll tell you everything afterwards, just do this one thing for me, please."

"Okay, I promise." I wanted to be there, but I knew it was more important to show my mate that I had faith in him.

Jasper carried me back home. I kept his shirt on and threw on a pair of pajama pants. Rose stopped in a few minutes later. We sat on the sofa and talked. I showed her the new mating marks that Jasper gave me. My sister showed me one of her own on her inner thigh. She told me that it was a fairly normal spot for a male vampire to mark their mate. She had never seen a mark over the heart, though. We both agreed that it was a personal and intimate spot to place a mark. After that, Rosie held me the way only she knew how. She was my sister and my best friend in every way and I knew that she'd always be there for me no matter what happened in the future.

**Chelsea's POV**

"What the fuck happened here? How come Amber is incoherent? How come her hair looks like she's a member Poison?" the Major asked.

"It's possible, sir, that Amanda, Gianna, and Claude may have gone a little too far with her during playtime," Victoria answered nonchalantly. "Frankly, it was a bit boring for me, Charlotte, and Chelsea. We haven't had a chance to play with her yet."

Amber Putain was slumped up against the wall, her limbs were currently being cared for by Amanda who was painstakingly painting her finger and toenails neon orange. Afterwards, she was planning on drawing tattoos onto her arms using Sharpie's. Amber had just gotten her head reattached after Claude and Gianna gave her hair an eighties style perm.

"Well, did you at least go through her belongings and feed her?"

"Like I said, we haven't had a chance to. Amanda, Gianna, and Claude were playing with her."

The Major slapped his forehead. "Well, feed her. She's probably lost most of her venom. How long ago did you reattach her head?"

"Um, about three minutes ago. Claude finished her perm and even styled it for her. Doesn't she look bitchin'?" Vicky, Char, and I grinned at the totally nonplussed Major. He arched one eyebrow and stared the three of us down. I'm telling you, even in the Volturi, there was no one as intimidating as him. I became frightened just looking at him.

The three of us grabbed Amber, ran into the forest, and had her feed on a couple of deer. After her eyes appeared a bit more focused, we brought her back to headquarters and placed her on the floor. By then, Amanda had brought back her limbs. She had drawn on tattoos on her arms using Sharpies. One read 'Betty Sue' and the other read 'I love Hannah Montana'. Her finger and toenails were painted flaming orange and neon green. They actually matched the eye make-up that Claude had put on her. She started howling in pain as we reattached her limbs to her body using our combined venom.

"Help me, Jasper," she begged.

He bore straight into her eyes. "You attacked my mate."

"No, no, I didn't even know she was there. She attacked me without provocation."

"You were about to kill an upstanding member of the community."

"I wasn't...I..."

"Don't lie to me. You know that I can feel when you're lying."

"I...aaaagggghhhh!" Amber started howling in pain. The Major was using his gift full force on her. She stared at Jasper in stunned silence. I think she thought that he'd save her.

I'd heard about this whore from Vicky and Charlotte. She was evil and no good and she had already been the catalyst for causing two years of strife in Jasper and Bella's marriage at one point. I planned on fucking her up my own way. The Major must have sensed this because, with an evil glint in his eye, he turned to me and drawled, "Why don't you loosen up her tongue for me, Chelsea? I'll be back in twenty minutes."

The door closed with a decided click as the Major left headquarters. It was just me, Vicky, and Charlotte in an empty building alone with Amber. The slut rose to her feet and got into a crouched position. Really? She's going to fight the three of us? She's either brave or stupid or both."

I motioned to Char and Vicky to stand down. "Come and get me," I urged lazily. Amber lunged at me with all of her might, but she was no match for me. I had her in pieces in seconds. We reconstructed her battered body.

Vicky suddenly dug her fingers deep into her master's bite. "Oh, pet, I think you need a reminder of who exactly you belong to." She removed her fingers from the mark and replaced them with her teeth. Her scream shattered two of the windows in headquarters as Vicky pumped her painful venom into her. She was Vicky's bitch through and through now, but I had one more trick up my sleeve.

I unleashed my gift on her. My plan was to make her so loyal to the three of us that she'd serve us in any capacity we asked. This is the way the three fucktoads in Volterra were able to keep their power. Almost every vampire there was made loyal to them by me. Of course, now they're only loyal to their mates so everything is fucked up there, but I digress.

The Major walked inside and faced Amber, I created another tie between her and him so that she would be loyal to him in every way, shape, and form. She dropped to her knees in front of him. "Excellent job, Chelsea," he noted proudly before turning to Amber. "Why were you in Cheboygan?"

"I was hunting in the Sault Ste. Marie area when I detected vampire scents. I tracked them to Cheboygan."

"Did Maria send you here?"

"No, sir, I only do odd jobs for Maria. I haven't heard from her personally in about six months. I do keep in touch with her via Facebook, though"

"What do you know of Maria's plans?"

"She's creating an army, sir. She has roughly three hundred newborns so far. Her goal is five hundred. She wants you, Peter, and James to train them."

Five hundred newborns? Oh my lord!

"Is she working alone or with anyone else?"

"One of her newborns has the ability to neutralize most powers. She is powerless against shields, though."

"How do you know that she is defenseless against shields?"

"Maria's acquired a mental shield to protect her from your seer. Her shield is limited, though. She can only shield one person at a time."

Damn it! Bella was spot on! She told us that the accuracy of Alice's visions were dependent on many factors and that if Maria knew about it, she would find a way around it. Jasper's face fell. I think he realized that by discounting his wife's opinions, he may have caused more damage than he realized.

"When did she acquire this shield?"

"About fifteen months ago."

"How is she collecting all of these talented vampires?"

"She gets to know them on her travels, then she connects with them online. She also has me, Violetta Fisher, and Jeanine Ratson recruiting around the world. We get five thousand dollars for a standard newborn, ten thousand if the newborn is gifted."

"Do you know how to contact the two women?" Vicky asked.

"Yes, mistress. The three of us stay in touch."

"Major, I want first dibs on both of them. I have a score to settle with them."

"Tell me what you know about them, Lieutenant," the Major ordered Vicky.

"They were former lovers of James's. Both of them were turned by him and both of them are vicious. Jeanine Ratson, especially, can rival me in a fight."

"You forgot to mention that they're both gorgeous and that they'll spread their legs for anyone for a few bucks," Amber added helpfully. Good to see that my gift is working. Amber was completely on our side now.

"And how is that different from you?" I couldn't help, but ask.

"Oh, I never have sex for money. That would be immoral," she replied. Okay, so the girl is just a hoe of the non-hooker variety. I suppose we have to respect that.

"Amber, wait here for your orders please," the Major then turned to the three of us. "I'd like to see you ladies in the conference room please."

We followed him to the soundproofed conference room where Peter, Felix, Alice, and Tony were waiting. Claude and Edward were guarding the room that Amber was holed up in. I doubted she would even attempt to escape. I rigged it so that her loyalties lay firmly with us.

We all sat down around the oversized conference table with Jasper sitting at the head. "First of all, Chelsea, excellent job in manipulating Amber's loyalty. She'll make an effective double agent for us."

"Captain."

"Yes," Peter and Tony both responded.

"Uh, Pete, did you and your crew find anything?"

"No, it was only Amber's scent that we detected. There were no other vampire scents in the vicinity."

"I went through her belongings and I detected another vampire's scent on some of her clothing. I can't identify it, though," Alice passed around a shirt, a bra, and a pair of panties.

"I am not sniffing her panties," I protested.

"Well, that's where the scent is most concentrated."

We all took a whiff of the clothes, but none of us could identify the foreign scent.

"Alice, go and see if Carlisle, Garrett, or Laurent have run into these scents before." She left immediately.

She returned a minute later with my mate in tow. "The scent belongs to a nomad named Randall. He's a friend of mine. I can't see him being involved in this mess with Maria. And please don't make me sniff her panties again, that was just cruel and unusual punishment."

Jasper chuckled, "Chelsea, go and question Amber about Randall. Take Edward with you. Have him read her mind."

I left the room and went to Amber with Edward in tow. "I have a question for you."

"Yes, mistress," Amber responded.

"What do you know of Randall?"

"He's an occasional lover of mine. He's a nomad."

"Is he your mate?"

"God, no. He's fabulous in bed, though. Would you like to sample him? I have his cell phone number."

"Uh, no, thank you."

"How about you, sir?" She turned to Edward. "He goes both ways."

I had to do my best not to laugh. Edward looked mortified. "No!"

"Your loss."

I went back to business. "Does Randall have any involvement with this Maria business?"

"No, not at all. He likes to avoid conflict."

"Thank you, Amber. We'll get back to you."

Edward and I left the room. "Do I really look gay?" he asked me.

"Yes," I answered honestly. "Did you get anything about Randall from her mind."

"Only some new sexual positions. He's only her lover. He has nothing to do with this Maria business. She was being totally honest. Her last rendezvous with him was in Montreal, Canada about a week ago."

"Thanks, Edward." I smiled and kissed him on his cheek. He winked at me. I really do love my family.

I reported my findings back to the Major. At least we were able to eliminate Randall as a possible ally to Maria. Now, we had to deal with the business of Violetta Fisher and Jeanine Ratson finding new recruits for Maria. We also had to figure out a way around her mental shield and the newborn with the ability to neutralize all powers.

I think it dawned upon all of us that Bella had just become our number one asset. She was not only a mental shield, but a physical one as well. She was capable of shielding some or all of us and, on top of everything else, her mental shield could cover us over large distances. I could be in Las Vegas and she could shield me mentally from New York City, for example.

"What do we do with Amber, Major?" Victoria asked.

"Hmm...that's a tough one. Chelsea, can you manipulate her bonds so that she's loyal to everyone in our family?"

"That's easy to do."

"Alright, then, it's a risk, but we send Amber on her way. I need a secure cell phone to contact her with. She's not to mention us to Maria and she's to report any and all of Maria's activities to us directly. I need Emmett to keep tabs on her phone, email, and social networking accounts too. Chelsea, how long will it take for you to realign her loyalties?"

"If you send people into the room with me two at a time, it can be done quickly and easily."

"Okay, let's do this. After she's gone, I want a group sent out to question Violetta Fisher and Jeanine Ratson. We'll deal with that tomorrow, though."

With that, the meeting concluded. Victoria threw the clothes in Amber's bag in the washing machine to get rid of our scents. She sprayed everything else in the bag down with Lysol. Meanwhile, I worked on manipulating her bond to our family. When I was sufficiently satisfied with the outcome, I let her take a shower and gave her a fresh outfit to wear since hers was destroyed. I didn't do this out of the kindness of my heart. I actually did this so she could wash our scents off of her. We had to tread carefully at this point. Vicky repacked her bag and we, again, doused it with Lysol before allowing her to take it. With the Major's instructions committed to memory, Amber bid us farewell and went on her way.

As she left the property, I couldn't help, but think that this was only the beginning. More fuckery was headed our way and we would soon be facing the venomous bitch called Maria. I hope to God that we all survive because to be honest, even in the Volturi we've never had to deal with five hundred newborns, a power hungry warlord, and a vampire who could neutralize powers. For the first time in my life, I was terrified. Oh my God!

**Jasper and Bella both got the kick in the pants they needed to bring their relationship back to a good place. Are you satisfied with the way Jasper realized the error in his ways? Bella also admitted to mistakes on her part. I think she's come a long way. Jasper's reaction to Bella and Amber's scuffle was for the Major to come out in earnest-not the Major that they had been playing with in bed. Now, what did you think of Bella's reaction to the Major? What about Jasper's reaction to the Major coming out? What did you think of Amber? Last of all, Chelsea is terrified, should we all be scared, too? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I will always respond to your reviews. XOXO**


	56. Chapter 56

**Hi Everyone! Thank you for all of your fabulous reviews and messages. I enjoyed reading them all. A bit of horseback riding with our favorite couple for all of you!**

**This story is AU/OOC**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

_**Three months later...**_

**Mike's POV**

We had received a phone call from Amber Putain stating that Jeanine Ratson and Violetta Fisher were heading to Chicago following a lead on a potential newborn. She also stated that Maria's newborn count was building up again.

Edward, Vicky, Jasper, Felix, Alice, and I were in Chicago ready to intercept them. Bella had her shield down so that Alice could use her gift. My wife was being very careful about using her gift. She realized that she had a tendency to become consumed by it and develop a god complex whenever she used it constantly. It had already destroyed her relationship with Bella and Rose and she was regretting the fact that she had let it get to her head.

"I hear them, they're in the area," Edward stated at the same time that I pointed out that I smelled vampires in the vicinity. We were all on red alert.

The two women walked by the alley we were in and didn't even detect our scents because we were doused from head to toe in Scent Away. Jasper knocked them out using his gift. We loaded both of them up into Jasper's Tahoe and made our way back to Cheboygan. Jasper kept them both knocked out for the ride home.

As soon as we arrived in Cheboygan, Jasper woke up the girl identified as Violetta Fisher. She saw Vicky's face and started shrieking, "How did you find me? What do you want from me? I swear, I haven't had a thing to do with James in years!"

"What do you know about Maria?" Vicky asked, getting right down to business.

"M..M...Maria? Nothing. I know nothing."

_Slap! _"Don't lie to me, you know how much I hate liars!"

"Oh, God! Oh, God! James! James! Help me! Please!" she started screaming.

"James isn't going to help you. Why would you even consider crying out for him when you know he's mine. Only I can help you, girl."

"Please, please, I'll tell you anything. Please."

"You're not going to tell me, you're going to tell my friend. Oh, Majorrrr!"

Jasper came out of the shadows looking scary as fuck, and when I say scary, I mean scary. I felt like pissing my pants and I have no piss to piss. I really felt for Bella at that point, I know the Major made an appearance when we caught Amber, and Bella was marked continuously by him. I didn't mean to overhear the conversation between her and Rosalie, I just happened to be walking by Bella's house when they were talking. Bella told Rose that she had never been more frightened or turned on in her life.

Violetta Fisher's eyes widened in fear. She started shaking continuously.

"Tell me everything you know about Maria."

"Sh...Sh...She's f...forming an army to take most of the southwest. Sh...I...I...I'm supposed to call her if I ever run into you."

"Are you recruiting for her?"

"Y...y...yes."

"How many newborns have you recruited for her?"

Violetta Fisher suddenly fell silent.

"How many newborns have you recruited for her?"

More silence.

"Vicky, loosen her tongue up for me a bit, will ya?"

"My pleasure." Vicky bit her over and over again on her arms. Violetta Fisher was howling in agony. My sister ended with a bite to her neck. "I thought you needed a bit of a reminder of who exactly you belong to Violetta."

I'm not so sure I could ever be that sinister. Vicky's like Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter series on steroids. I can't believe they let her around school children. Shit, I mean, if any of the teachers at Forks High were like her, I would have gotten straight A's cause I would have been scared shitless to make a mistake in front of her.

Violetta Fisher started talking. She didn't tell us anything different from what Amber Putain said. She did say, however, that Maria was getting closer to her goal of five hundred newborns. The Major asked her how she was staying in control of so many newborns. Violetta Fisher said that she had no idea, but they were the most controlled newborns that she had ever encountered. She added that Maria has moved bases to Hinsdale County, Colorado—one of the most remote parts of the United States. When there was no more information to be gained from her, Vicky took her into the woods, ripped her apart, and charred her.

Next up was Jeanine Ratson. This one was a different ballgame altogether. She was strong and fast and she kept offering to do Jasper for cash.

"I doubt his mate would appreciate it, Ratson," Vicky scoffed.

"I heard about his mate. She's weak and pathetic. Maria said that she's probably only his companion. Can I meet the wimp?"

"No," Vicky scowled just as Chelsea walked in to inflict her brand of terror. She was clad in her Volturi robe with the crest standing prominently on her chest.

"You're working with the Volturi?" Ratson asked Vicky, terrified. She regained her composure and spoke to Chelsea, "How can I help you, mistress?"

Chelsea smacked her a few times across her face then kicked Ratson in the gut. You see, now, if Vicky is Bellatrix Lestrange on steroids, then Chelsea is Voldemort on crack. I mean, this girl appears sweet, innocent, and cheerful, but when push comes to shove she's an absolute terror.

Jasper sent Ratson a dose of pain and fear just so she was clear as to who ran the show here. She started talking, confirming everything that Violetta Fisher said. She even gave us the exact GPS coordinates of Maria's camp. Maria's newborns all fed on animals. Hinsdale County was abundant with wildlife so she took a page out of the Cullens book and decided to have them feed on animals. This way, they were more controlled because they had constant access to blood. They also didn't attract much attention because there were no mass killings of humans. She asked Chelsea how it was that the Volturi found out about her?

Chelsea slapped Ratson across the face, "I'm the one asking questions, not you. Are we done here Major?"

"Yes."

Ratson was dragged off into the woods by Vicky and Chelsea.

**Bella's POV **

"I've got her Chelsea," Vicky stated. "I've got a bone to pick with this bitch."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, yeah."

Chelsea nodded her head and took off back to headquarters. I was walking around in the woods to take a breather. I was so worried about Jasper that I needed to clear my head. I knew that he was back, but I still hadn't seen him yet.

It happened in a split second. One moment, Vicky and the female vampire were facing off against each other, and the next, Vicky was lying in pieces on the forest floor. Agony, despair, pain—that's what I felt, as I saw Vicky in sheer pain and me unable to do anything. The bitch that took her apart was digging through her pockets for something, probably a lighter. She found nothing. Muttering a curse, she started running. The almost unbearable pain in my heart morphed into pure rage. I took off after her. There was no way that I was letting her get away with ripping apart the woman who raised me. I was angry and running on pure adrenalin.

I caught up with the bitch and jumped on her back. Remembering everything that I was taught, I took the witch by surprise. She shrugged me off of her back hurling me into a tree, but I took one of her arms with her. The woman was feral, she was growling like a grizzly bear, but I had to win this one. No one fucks with my family. The woman came running for me at full force, but I used one of Riley's defensive maneuvers and managed to avoid her and sent her barreling into a pond. She came back out looking scary as fuck, I didn't let it bother me, though. She got into a crouched position, I backed myself into a tree. I was trapped. Fuck. I suddenly remembered the karate move that I used to take off Alice's head all those years ago. With all of my might, I kicked the bitch's head and it tumbled off and rolled onto the forest floor, her body crumpled to the ground immediately after.

Jasper came thundering into the forest followed by Rose and Rex. He immediately pulled me into his arms and started checking me over for injuries. I heard the pounding of more feet running. My entire family was here to help me.

"She took Vicky apart," I cried. "I had to do something."

"Okay, baby, everything's gonna be alright. Where's Vicky?"

"Right where Chelsea left her. About eight miles back."

Chelsea ran to Vicky with half of the family. Irina and Laurent approached me and hugged me. Laurent looked absolutely terrified. He cradled both me and Irina in his arms, whispering about how he wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to either of us. Peter and Rex looked as if they were about to cry. I reassured everyone that I was okay; that it was sheer chance that I happened upon them, and that I was more worried about Vicky than I was about myself.

Jasper picked me up after that and carried me to where Vicky was. I nearly lost it then. She had been beheaded and her limbs were all scattered around the forest floor in at least twelve pieces.

"Is she going to be okay?" I sobbed.

"She'll be fine, we'll put her back together, baby girl," Daddy and Riley grabbed her body parts and brought her back to headquarters. "I need plasma and human blood. Rose, kitten, go get some from the storage unit in the basement."

Amanda and Emmett walked up to us with the woman's head, torso, and arm.

"What do we do with these?" Amanda asked Jasper.

"Drop them here. Rex, take Bells back to the house and stay with her. Kate, Chelsea, Charlotte, Peter; we have work to do," an angry Major growled.

"I'm staying too," an angry Irina seethed. I was pretty sure that this bitch was going to die a most painful death and a well deserved one, too. The Major may be scary, but a pissed off Irina was the scariest vampire of all.

Rex cradled me in his arms and walked into my house. "You know that you scared the fuck out of all of us, don't you, wifey?"

"Sorry, Rex. I don't know what came over me. I saw Vicky lying there in pieces and I got pissed off, then the bitch started running. I didn't want to lose her so I took off after her."

"Just what the fuck were you doing in the forest alone anyway? I would have gone with you!"

"I was thinking. Clearing my mind, if you will. I'm scared Rexy, all this shit's raining down on us and I feel like it's getting worse by the second. Why the fuck was our family dealt such a raw deal?"

"I don't know, wifey. I really don't, all I know is that I was scared. Terrified. I felt it in my chest, you know. I knew you were in trouble. So did Rose. She and I both doubled over along with Jasper and we went running into the forest looking for you. I've never felt that way before. It really hurt."

Okay, well, this is news. I'm going to have to have Char look at our bond again. I know Rex isn't my mate, but maybe he's like Rose is to me. We were really close. Sometimes closer than Rose and I were. We had a different kind of friendship.

I snuggled into Rex's chest and let him hold me. Jasper came walking inside of the house a few minutes later. "Thanks, brother," he said to Rex who stood up, kissed the top of my head, and went on his way. He looked extremely stressed.

My husband knelt down in front of me and cradled my face in his hands. He kissed my lips sending me all the love he had in the world to me. "I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too, Jasper." He continued eyeing me with an odd expression on his face. It was as if he were trying to stay in control. "What's wrong, babe?"

"Nothing, I'm just relieved you're okay. By all accounts Jeanine Ratson is a strong fighter. Just look at what she did to Vicky. I'm so proud of you, Bella. I really am. You kept your head together when you were in danger."

"Don't lie to me, Jasper. Something's bugging you, what is it?"

"Nothing."

"Jasper, tell me."

"It's Rex, okay. I'm jealous! I'm fucking jealous! Why am I not enough for you, Bella? Why? What does Rex have that I don't."

"Jasper, you're being ridiculous."

"I know I am! It's just that the two of you are so close and sometimes you talk to him about things that you can't discuss with me. I just get so jealous sometimes! You even fight better with him."

"Stop, Jasper! Stop this, right now. How is my friendship with Rex different from your friendship with Vicky? I know that the two of you get along well. I know that the two of you talk about stuff you can't discuss with me or Riley and I'm okay with it. I'm glad that you have someone that you can turn to when you can't talk to me. What do you feel from me?" I asked my mate.

He inhaled a deep breath and donned an intense look of concentration. "Love," he sighed.

"And who do you think that love is for?"

"Me."

"That's right. I can talk to Rex until I'm blue in the face, but I'll always, without fail, come home to you because my heart belongs to you."

Jasper tore my shirt down the middle and exposed my heart where the Major left his mark. He placed his hand on my heart and I instantly felt warmth and security running through my body. I know what made him feel this way, he had a big scare. Not only was I in danger, but his favorite sister was hurt terribly by an evil, psychotic vampire.

I pulled his lips up towards me and kissed him. He picked me up and carried me to our bedroom. We made love, each of us showing one another how much we meant to one another. He claimed me. I claimed him. In the end, there was no doubt left of our love for each other. We were strong again. Jasper and Bella were back.

A few hours later, we went to check on Vicky. She was lying on her bed looking terrible. Riley was shielding her body protectively.

"It's okay, babe, it's just Bella and Jasper," Vicky rasped to Riley. "Come here, Bella."

I slowly approached the woman who had helped to shape me into the person I was today. "I heard what you did. I'm so proud of you."

"I saw what she did to you, Vicky. She got you when you looked away. I was so horrified. I just couldn't let her get away with it."

"Let that be a lesson to you, baby girl. Never, ever take your eyes off of the enemy."

"That was the very first lesson that you taught me, Vicky."

"That's right, I just wanted to prove my point. Now, be a good girl and take Riley hunting. I need to talk to Jasper."

"I'm not leaving you, Vicky," Riley said adamantly.

"Come on, Rye. Vicky has stuff that she needs to get off of her chest."

"She'll be fine, Riley. I'll guard her with my life. You know I will," Jasper promised.

Riley nodded his head and put his arm around me. The two of us left the house and went for a hunt.

"I wasn't there to protect her, sis. My own wife," Riley sobbed into my arms. "I wasn't there to protect you. How did this happen? I vowed on Daddy's grave that I would protect you and Vicky with my life and I wasn't there for either of you."

"Riley, you can't be everywhere all of the time. No one can. It wasn't your fault. It happened in a split second. Besides, I don't know what Vicky was doing out in the woods alone with her anyway. She sent Chelsea away. I just happened to be there when it happened that's why I was able to get the ruthless bitch."

"What the fuck were you doing out in the woods alone, Bells?" Oh, shit. I was hoping that he wouldn't catch that part.

"Um, thinking."

"Bella!" Riley looked mad as hell. Alright, I give, I probably shouldn't have been out in the woods alone. Scratch that, I know that I shouldn't have been out in the woods alone.

"I swear Bella! The next time you pull a stunt like that I'm gonna bend you over my knee and spank you. I can't lose you, sis! I can't lose you, Vicky, or Peter; you three are my reason for my existing."

Speak of the devil, Peter appeared out of nowhere. "What the fuck were you thinking walking out into the woods alone, Bella? You can't do shit like that. Not now, not when Maria is coming for us. Bella, you and Riley are all that's left of my bloodline. You two have to stay safe. Promise me, promise me that you'll stay safe. Promise me that you'll stay together. Promise me, Bella."

I looked into my great-grandfather's eyes and saw that he had genuine fear written in his eyes. I snuggled up into his chest and whispered, "I promise."

He pulled Riley in for a hug, too, and the three of us just held onto each other, just in case this was the last chance we had to do it.

**Jasper's POV**

"I fucked up, Major," Vicky rasped. "The only reason why I'm not dead is because we took her lighter from her before interrogating her. Had she checked my pocket, she would have found my Zippo and I would have been ash."

"So, you fucked up this time, just don't do it next time."

"She was strong, stronger than I remember. Bella was lucky that she wasn't killed."

"You trained her well, Vicky—you and Irina both. Bella is smart and resourceful. Somehow, she managed to rip her arm and her head off."

"I'm scared, Jasper. I really am. I don't know if I can face Maria again." Vicky had venom tears brimming her eyes. She was shaking and wracked in fear. I sent her a dose of calm so she'd settle down.

"Vicky, I'll keep you safe. I promise. I won't let Maria hurt you. You're a strong woman, you're smarter than she is. Look at how far you've come. You've overcome tragedy and adversity and you're living life to the fullest now. You raised Bella. You taught her to become strong and independent. You're a school teacher. You're a wife. You've got too much to live for to let that venomous bitch hurt you."

"Jasper, promise me that you'll look after Riley and Bella if anything were to happen to me."

"I promise, Vicky, but nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it."

She broke down and started crying tearlessly. I held her until she was all cried out, then I fed her some human blood through a straw and rubbed human plasma onto her fresh wounds like a salve. She needed both to heal. She was in horrific shape and by all accounts, she should have been dead. Afterwards, I used my gift to put her to sleep because she really needed to rest in order to recover. The injuries that she sustained would put her out of commission for the better part of the week, which is long for a vampire.

As I watched Victoria rest, I couldn't help, but let my mind wander to thoughts of my wife. When I felt the pull hit my chest, I was terrified. Instinctually, I knew that something was terribly wrong. That fact was confirmed when Rose buckled over in pain and started running. Then, I saw Rex do the same thing. That's when I lost it. I became terrified, angry, and jealous all at the same time, but I knew that I had to reign in my feelings because there was no way in hell that Rex was Bella's mate. I'd never felt anything, but platonic feelings for each other between the two of them. They were just incredibly close friends.

Bella had a point though. Vicky and I shared a friendship much like Rex and Bella did. There were things that I just couldn't delve into with Bella. For example, she would never understand what it was truly like to be controlled by Maria, but Vicky did. She also wouldn't understand what it was like to be manipulated sexually by someone like Maria, but Vicky understood. She was controlled in a similar way by James.

I also understood that there was a generational gap between me and Bella that Rex could fill in. They were of the same generation. Tanya was over a thousand years older than Rex while I was over a hundred and fifty years older than Bella. Those two needed each other because there were certain things that neither Tanya nor I would ever understand about them.

Riley walked inside and took over watching his mate. I gave him a hug and told him that everything would be okay, then I sent Vicky an extra heavy dose of lethargy to keep her knocked out for a few hours. My brother-in-law thanked me as I left his house.

"Are you ready to go?" Bella asked. She was waiting outside on their front step.

"Yeah, baby, let's go."

She threw me the keys to her Ferrari. Bella decided that she'd had it with learning how to drive a stick shift and preferred being a passenger instead. I turned the key and the engine purred to life, I decided that a little drive was in order to clear my mind. That's how Bella and I ended up in Lexington, Kentucky the next morning with the sun threatening to blare out and expose us.

"Um, Jasper, you've got to find a hotel pronto asap."

"No, shit. Do you know of any good ones?"

"Jasper! Pull into any fucking hotel with an underground garage. This isn't the time to be picky!" she scolded.

I spotted a Hyatt Regency so I pulled into the garage and parked the Ferrari. The two of us got out and took the elevator directly up to the lobby and requested a room. Well, I requested a suite, but my wife insisted that we only needed a room.

We checked into the hotel room and plopped down onto the bed. "How the fuck did we end up here?" I asked.

"Hell if I know. I was just enjoying the ride," my mate replied.

Well, hell, we have a hotel room all bought and paid for, I might as well make love to my wife. I think she had the same idea because the next thing I knew, she was lying naked on the bed next to me.

"Careful with your clothes, baby. We didn't bring any with us," she warned.

"Can I just make a comment here, Bella. This kind of reminds me of sex with Alice. She always took her clothes off and hung them neatly on a hanger before sex."

Bella started giggling as she straddled me. "I don't know if you noticed, but my clothes are lying in a pile on the floor and my bra is...where is my bra?"

I scanned the room. There was an oblong dresser with an oversized mirror and a lamp directly in front of the bed. Ah, there's her bra. "It's hanging on that lamp over there."

"Oh, thank you. Why don't you let me help you with your clothes?" She slowly undid my jeans at human speed, then slid the zipper down with her teeth. That action alone had me moaning her name. She took off my cowboy boots one at a time, then my socks, then she slipped my jeans down over my hips and off before she dropped them on the floor. I helped by taking my t-shirt off.

Bella threw my cowboy boots on her feet before she descended onto my cock facing the mirror on the dresser. Oh, hell, yeah—reverse cowgirl with a full view of my beautiful mate. She arched her back as she rode my cock at human speed. I reached up to stroke her clit. The look of pleasure on her face as it reflected in the mirror was gorgeous. I increased the pressure of my two fingers pleasuring her mound. She reacted by speeding up her pace causing both of us to suddenly explode in passion onto each other. I sat up, brushed her hair away from her neck, and watched myself as I sunk my teeth into her neck. The initial look of pain, then of pleasure on my mate's face as I marked her was one of the most erotic sights I've ever beheld. With each pump of my venom in her system, Bella winced then relaxed into a look of untold ecstasy.

My cock didn't even have a chance to go down, I flipped my wife over onto her hands and knees, and watched myself take her doggie style. The look of sheer pleasure on her face as I thrust into her longing pussy drove me over the edge and I was soon ordering my wife to keep her eyes open and watch in the mirror as I blasted my load straight into her core and marked her. "Mine, all mine," I whispered into her ear and sent shivers throughout her body.

I nestled my woman into my body and held her to my chest murmuring words of love to her. I vowed to keep her mine and safe for all of eternity. Mentally, I told myself that I'm such a selfish bastard that if I were ever to leave this earth, I was taking her with me.

_**A few hours later...**_

I was lying naked in bed with Bella snuggled up to me reading a brochure with information on Lexington, Kentucky. The sun was still shining high and bright in the afternoon sky. Neither of us had ever been to Kentucky so we knew nothing about the place.

"Other than the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Fried Chicken, what else do they have here?"

"Hell, I don't know. Other than it being of strategical importance to both the North and the South during the War of Northern Agression, I know nothing else about this state. Well, there was a famous whorehouse in Bowling Green that soldiers from both the North and the South stopped in. Three dollars a screw was the going rate back then."

"By a screw, did that mean you could only cum once? What if you had more in you and you had to go for round two?"

"Then you had to pay three more dollars. Well, actually, you had to go downstairs and buy another token from the madam, then you got your second screw. You couldn't just fuck her twice in a row unless you had two tokens already."

My wife started howling in laughter. I can't believe that you and Felix used to stop at these places! Weren't you worried about sexually transmitted diseases?"

"Bella, I didn't go to them that often."

"Yeah, but it only takes once."

"I know that now, but back then I didn't. We were seriously uninformed and sex wasn't discussed out in the open like it is now."

She was still giggling. I pulled her over my lap and gave her a love tap on her ass.

"So, other than Colonel Sanders, the Kentucky Derby, and three dollar screws, what else is in Kentucky?"

"Well, it says here that there's a Victorian Square that's supposed to be pretty cool and it also says that Lexington is known as 'Thoroughbred City' and the 'Horse Capital of the World'. Let's walk around a bit when the sun goes down before we head home," I suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

A few hours later, Bella and I decided to venture out and explore the city. The city was a mix of modern and traditional and gee whiz, there were a lot of horses here. It brought me back to the good ol' days when horses were the only mode of transportation available.

"Have you ever been on a horse, Bella?"

"I went on a pony ride when I was a kid, but never a big horse."

"Well, that's going to change, baby. Come on."

I took Bella's hand and pulled her along with me to a stable offering horseback riding by the hour. I walked inside and chose a quarter horse for Bella to ride and an Arabian for me. I also paid for a horseback riding lesson for Bella because after trying to teach her how to drive the Ferrari unsuccessfully, I knew that shit like this had to be left to the professionals.

I watched as the instructor led the horse with Bella on it for the first fifteen minutes, then she gradually started letting my wife go on her own. By the end of the hour, Bella was trotting along next to the instructor. On the other hand, I was a natural when I jumped back into the saddle. I was jumping fences and putting the Arabian through it's paces. Riding as a vampire was much different from riding as a human. I noticed that I was taking more risks than I did as a human. One thing was for sure, after the shitstorm with Maria was done and over with, I was going horseback riding more. Maybe I'll even buy a little stable and keep a couple of horses. I wonder if Felix would go riding with me?

After our hour was up, I tipped Bella's instructor and told her that we'd be back in a few months for a longer stay at which time she could give my wife more lessons. She gave us her card and we went on our way to the Victorian Square. Bella and I picked up some clothes to change into at a little boutique. We were about to head out when I spotted a pretty ring at a jewelry store. It was a perfect sapphire ring interspersed with diamonds. I dragged my wife inside and had her try it on.

"They call it an eternity band," the salesperson informed us. Well, that's kind of fitting considering she's mine for all of eternity.

It looked beautiful on her. I think she thought so too because, for once, she let me purchase it for her without any protest.

"Thank you, Jasper," she purred into my ear and kissed me, making me instantly hard.

Okay, enough of this touring shit, time to go back to the hotel, make love to my mate, then head on home.

A few hours later, while we were driving home when Bella's cell phone rang.

"Where the fuck are you?" a pissed off Rose asked.

"Um, somewhere near Toledo, Ohio. Why?"

"Because Rex is going nuts. Something's wrong with his mother and he won't say a word to Tony or Tanya. He keeps mumbling your name."

I took the phone from Bella. "Rosie, keep him calm. I think I can make it home in about three and a half hours."

"So, you're driving then?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause Bella should never be allowed behind the wheel of any vehicle, especially a Ferrari, that's why."

I chuckled at Rose's blatant honesty and put the pedal to the metal, hoping there were no cops along the way.

Two and a half hours and one mind-blowing session of road head at a hundred and ninety miles per hour from my wife later, we arrived in Cheboygan. Hell yeah! I shaved the driving time in half and got a blow job. Toledo, at human speed, is roughly five hours away. That had to be the ride of my life.

We rushed into Tanya and Rex's house. As soon as he caught sight of Bella, he pulled her into his arms and started sobbing. Tony and Tanya were both standing worriedly by his side.

I pulled Tony aside and asked him if he called the nursing home.

"I did, there's been no change in her really. There was nothing that they could tell me that would be of concern. I think the stress of the impending fight is getting to him. I saw a lot of this when I was in the army. The build-up and the hype combined with all of the training can really take a toll on a soldier. Listen, Jasper, I need to talk to you. Let's go for a run."

Tony and I went running into the woods. He had a serious expression on his face as we arrived. "Major, I think the stress is getting to everyone, not just Rex. Some of us, like you, me, Felix, and Garrett don't feel it because we're seasoned war veterans."

"Yeah, well, so is Rex," I pointed out.

"I know he's a war veteran. The thing about Rex is that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving his tours in Iraq. He couldn't handle the carnage and the stress of warfare. That's why he never made it past enlisted status when he was in the Marines."

I plopped down on the forest floor and dropped my face into my hands. During the War of Northern Aggression, I dealt with this type of thing a lot. Of course, back then, there was no clinical diagnosis for it, but it was all the same.

"There's more, Jasper," Tony continued. "I have a feeling that Peter is suffering from the same thing. I don't know if you noticed, but he's overly stressed and he's..."

"You're right, I interrupted. He is suffering. Riley actually diagnosed him with PTSD years ago. I think we'll need him to intervene, but Riley's not doing so hot himself right now."

"Jasper, I think what's needed is a furlough, if you will. I think everyone needs to take a break for two weeks and do their own thing. They need to unwind. I think it'll do more harm than good to continue on in this fashion and, frankly, you look like you could use a break, too. I know that I sure can."

"Let's make it happen, and Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for noticing."

"You're welcome and you should thank Claude. He's the perceptive one."

Claude is perceptive, unbelievably so. This led me to a thought. "Tony, I think Claude might have a gift of sorts. Not a concrete one like I have or Bella has, but more like Victoria's. You know how she has the ability to escape from tight situations for the most part? I mean, when you think about it, even if she was ripped apart the other day, she wasn't turned to ash because Jeanine Ratson didn't have a lighter to finish her off. Claude might have a sixth sense of sorts. Even when he was human, he kind of knew what we needed."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know if you noticed, but he's able to finish our sentences before even we do sometimes. He can also guess what's on our mind."

"We can have Eleazar look into it more when he comes in June. How are you holding up, Tony?"

"I'm used to this sort of thing. I've always had the ability to adapt to whatever situation I was dealt. My human life wasn't that easy either. I came from a huge family, we were poor, and we had to work hard for everything. So, I realize that in life, sometimes we face challenges and we have to work through them. Rex has a tendency to carry everything on his shoulders then let it blow up. He holds everything in. He always has. I'm different in that sense, I'll bitch and moan to Claude until I get it all off of my chest. You know, I think Bella taking off to fight that Ratson bitch by herself scared the shit out of my brother. He cares about her as much as he does Tanya. How do you deal with it?"

"I just do. I have no choice. Sure I get jealous sometimes, but they need each other. You know, Bella and I are together because of Rex."

"How?"

"I met Bella at Climax, you know the club in Boston where Rex was headlining. We were having Edward's bachelor's party there. Bella, who was still human back then, and her friends were there celebrating a friend's bachelorette party. She and her friends were there to see Rex. That's the night Bella and I met again and hooked up. We've been together ever since, except for a couple of snags in our relationship. So, in a roundabout sort of way, it was Rex that brought us together."

"And it was Bella that brought me to Rex, so I guess we have the two of them to thank for our insane happiness."

"I suppose that's true," I chuckled. "So where are you and Claude going to unwind."

"Beats me, I guess home."

"Home in Las Vegas, home in Boston, or home in Dallas?"

"Honestly, home to me is wherever Claude is."

It was incredible. His one simple sentence summed up how I felt about Bella. To me, she was home. It didn't matter where we were as long as we were together.

We walked back to the house to check on Rex. Bella was cradling his head on her lap and he was noticeably calmer. My wife winked at me and Tony as we approached. It was just the four of us in the house.

"Hey, bro. Are you feeling better?" Tony inquired.

"How would you like to go on vacation?" I questioned.

"Are you sending me away?" Rex asked worriedly.

"No, not just you. I think we can all use a break. I know for sure that I need one. Maybe it's time you and Tanya went on a honeymoon."

Rex clutched onto Bella tightly. "Hey, Rexy, I think Jasper has a good idea. You've always wanted to go skydiving, why don't you give that a whirl?"

"I don't want to skydive without you. Tanya might fall flat on her face."

"Okay, we'll have to do that another time. Hey, I know, what if you have Tanya take you on a tour of Russia? You've been wanting to do that for a long time."

"Do you think she'd be willing?" he asked my mate.

Tanya must have been listening from outside because she zipped inside of the door and knelt down so that she was eye-level with him. "I'd love to take you to Russia. I can show you the town where I grew up. Of course, it was completely barren back then, but the tree that I used to climb as a little girl still stands and it's grown tall and mighty now. Oh, and I'd rather you go skydiving with Bella. I refuse to jump out of a plane. I'm glad you have her for your crazy antics."

Bella slowly sidled away from Rex and let Tanya take over comforting her mate. She thanked Bella with a nod of her head. Tony, Bella, and I left the couple to themselves. The three of us made a quick stop at each house and told everyone that we were going on a two-week furlough beginning tomorrow so that everyone can unwind. Never, in my entire existence, did I feel as much excitement and relief coming from everybody than when I told them about our little break. Almost everyone started making plans immediately, everyone was going away on their own as couples.

Among the couples staying in the States, Peter and Charlotte were going to their home in Montana, Mike and Alice were headed to Forks while Edward and Amanda were off to Chicago. Garrett and Katie were going to Alaska, Laurent and Irina were returning to Boston, Felix and Gianna were going to Charleston, and Emmett and Rose were spending a week in Rochester and a week in Gaitlinsburg.

Those traveling internationally included Carlisle and Chelsea who were traveling to Kenya, Alistair and Esme who were off to England, Riley and Vicky who were heading to New Zealand, and Tony and Claude who were going to Amsterdam.

_**Three a.m...**_

"Hey, baby, we still haven't decided where we're going," I said to Bella.

"Do you trust me, Jasper?"

"Of course I do."

"Good, then let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?"

"No idea."

"Okay, so we're winging it?"

"Yep," she replied as she threw our passports into a Ziploc bag, then into a backpack and locked the front door. She grabbed my hand and we started running. We ran south to Flint then east. Five hours later we were in the seaside province of Prince Edward Island, Canada.

I was about to ask her if she wanted to stay here when she dove into the ocean and started swimming. I jumped in after her. A few hours later, we made landfall and climbed out of the water.

"Where the fuck are we?" I asked.

"I have no idea, maybe we should ask someone."

"Good idea." Wherever the hell we were, it was desolate. Bella and I started running. Along the way to civilization, we each took down bears to replenish the venom we had spent getting to...where the hell are we?

We knew we were approaching a town when we heard humans speaking. "Hey, Jasper, can you understand what they're saying?"

"Not really. Oh, hey, there's a sign in English."

We both stopped to read the sign that read, "Welcome to Reykjavic" in prominent letters.

"Honey, I believe we're in Iceland," I said.

"I believe you're right. What's in Iceland?"

"Let's find out." I took a look at Bella. Her hair was sopping wet, her clothes were disheveled, ripped in some places, and in generally bad shape. I looked down at myself. My clothes looked like shit too. "Maybe we should buy something to change into," I suggested.

"Why? The last time I played nomad with Rose, I went for a month without changing my clothes."

"Um, baby, we ain't playing nomad and there's no way in hell we're walking around looking like shit. My standards may not be that high, but I draw the line at you looking like a swamp creature. I mean, for God's sake, I can't tell which one's your hair and which one's the seaweed." I started picking out the seaweed from her hair and clothes.

"Okay, maybe you have a point," she said as I dropped a huge wad of seaweed to the ground.

I winked and chuckled at my wife as she rung out her hair. We walked into a department store, quickly purchased a change of clothes, and checked into a hotel. We immediately dove under the shower and scrubbed the grunge from the ocean off of us. I picked my naked wife up and threw her on the bed. I planted my head in between her legs and started feasting on her piece of heaven. My woman started writhing, shivering, shaking as she succumbed to the pleasure I was giving her. She wrapped her legs around my head, pulling me in closer to her pussy.

"Don't stop, Jasper," she moaned. I had no intention of stopping. She tasted like ambrosia and I was a greedy fucker.

As she shuddered to her orgasm I caught sight of the mark the Major left of her inner thigh. A sudden protective feeling overcame me and I couldn't help myself, I had to claim her there again. I ground my teeth into her thigh and pumped my venom into her veins.

"Yesss," she hissed, causing my cock to turn into a granite homing device whose objective was to find it's way to my mate's pussy. I flipped my mate onto her hands and knees and took her from behind. I grasped onto her long locks and lassoed her to me.

"You're mine, Bella! Do you hear me? Mine!" I reiterated with each thrust of my cock.

"Yours!" she screamed and met my thrusts by backing her core straight onto my cock.

"Mine!"

"Mark me, Major, right the fuck now! Make me yours!" my mate ordered as I exploded into her pussy. I sunk my teeth in deep into her neck and pumped as much of my venom as I could into her. As soon as I detached my teeth, she turned on her knees to face me and bit down into my neck to mark me.

I relished in the feeling of pleasure and pain that she so infrequently bestows upon me. Bella rarely marks me, she always feels guilty afterwards for causing physical pain so it was rare that she gave into her vampire senses. This time, though, I felt absolutely no guilt from her as she bathed my wound with her gorgeous tongue. All I felt coming from her was a sense of peace, security, and above all—love.

"Yours, baby, I'm only yours," I reassured her while I wrapped my arms around her.

_**Later...**_

"So, baby, what made you swim to Iceland?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly aiming for any particular place, I just felt like diving into the water. It was so blue and peaceful. Then, once we were in there, I became curious as to how long it would take us to reach land and that's how we ended up in Iceland."

"Okay, so where is our next great adventure going to take us?"

"I was thinking Hawaii, only we should probably fly there."

"Hawaii?"

"Bella, it's sunny there."

"So, we make love during the day and at twilight we venture out of our room and explore the islands. Besides, I've always wanted to go there," she pouted.

Oh man, I can't resist it when my mate looks into my eyes with her puppy dog eyes. "Hawaii it is, then."

_**The next day...**_

We ended up chartering a flight from Reykjavic to Honolulu. This way, we were able to arrive at nine pm, well after the sun went down. We ended up renting a beachfront house overlooking Diamond Head. The property was completely walled in and secluded so Bella and I would be able to sparkle all we want in the sunlight without worrying about exposing ourselves.

In the evenings, we'd walk along Waikiki Beach and enjoy the nightlife, catch a movie, or even do some shopping. Bella even purchased authentic hula costumes for herself and for Tony for their class in Sault Ste. Marie. We even got to go to a luau and watched some hula and Tahitian dancing. Man alive they were cute, swinging their hips and shaking their boobies in front of everyone. All I know was that at the end of two weeks, neither she nor I wanted to leave and it was with a heavy heart that we flew back to Cheboygan, Michigan.

We were the last to return to Cheboygan. Everyone looked like they had a heavy weight lifted off of their shoulders and they were visibly relaxed.

"Where the hell did you two go and what's with the matching Hawaiian shirts? You two look like you OD'd on Jimmy Buffett"

"Iceland for a day, then Hawaii," I replied to Peter's inquiring mind. "How was your vacation?"

"Calm, peaceful, relaxing."

"Good."

"Hawaii? How did you manage that?" Alice asked. "It's sunny there all day."

"We rented a private house on the beach. Trust me, it was worth it. We've never felt so relaxed in our existence."

"We brought you all souvenirs," Bella added with a smile.

She opened up her suitcase and dug out a bevy of t-shirts and Hawaiian shirts for everyone. They all thanked us as we chatted about our different holidays and exchanged souvenirs. Bella's favorite gift was actually from Alistair and Esme. They purchased a t-shirt for her that read, "Obstinate, Headstrong Girl," which was a quote from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice.

"Alistair picked it out for you," Esme pointed out.

My wife walked up to Alistair and kissed him on the cheek. I think he would have blushed a hundred different shades of red were he human.

The next morning, Bella and I drove to the cell phone store to pick up new iPhones. Ours were destroyed when we swam to Iceland and it was imperative that they be replaced immediately. Bella was pensive on the drive home, she was counting on her fingers, obviously trying to calculate something in her brain.

We were currently in a Walmart picking up shampoo, soap, and what not for our townhouse. She picked up a notepad and a pen and started jotting some numbers down while she walked.

"Bella, honey, if you need help with some calculations, I can help," I stated.

"No, no, I can do this."

"What are you trying to figure out? I just went over our accounts last night, everything is fine."

"Dates," Bella answered.

I cashed us out of Walmart and drove us back to our townhouse. "Holy shit!" Bella cried out, an hour later.

"What? What is it?"

"Okay, hear me out. Three and a half months ago, Amber Putain stated that Maria acquired a shield and a power neutralizer roughly fifteen months prior. She also said that she had three hundred newborns ready to go the last time she saw her which had been six months prior. It was nine and a half months ago when you first spoke to Amber. When you talked to her a couple of weeks ago, Amber stated that Maria had upped her newborn count even more. The thing is, if we went by the way you, Peter, and Vicky described things, Maria should be culling newborns when they reach a year old. Jasper, I don't think Maria is forming an army exclusively of newborns, I think she's creating an army of vampires that are on the younger side, but not necessarily less than a year old. I think she's training them to specialize in one or two things, kind of like Felix was a sniper in the Confederate Army. Think about it, Jasper, the majority of the people she's been staking out on Facebook and Twitter have military backgrounds or show prowess in World of Warcraft. Jasper, she's trying to create an army using experienced soldiers. And some of them are close to two years old and most likely fully trained."

Holy shit. It dawned upon me that my wife was correct in her assessment. There was no way in hell she could train and create over three hundred newborns in one year. This has been going on for a while and if she acquired her shield eighteen months ago, that means that Alice's visions have been inaccurate for that long.

I picked Bella up bridal style, left the apartment, and fired up the Tahoe with her on my lap. I needed my mate close to me right now. When we arrived at the property, I called everyone to a meeting and explained my mate's discovery.

Alice looked like she had been impaled by a mack truck. "This is my fault. If I hadn't succumbed to my visions, none of this would have happened."

"It's not your fault, Alice. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," I stated.

"Actually, it's the fault of everyone who was strategizing. Bella was the only one that was thinking rationally and looking at the whole picture," Pete said. "We should have taken her opinions more seriously from the beginning."

With that, Pete, Tony, Felix, and I started planning. This time, we looked at everything from all angles. The conclusion that we came to was that no matter what happens, our group of vampires was physically prepared to face newborns and experienced vampires. At this point, we were waiting for Maria to spring the unexpected and we were as prepared as we ever could be for it. Bella had been right from the beginning, any more planning was useless and unnecessary. We all knew what we had to do in case we were separated. At this point, we were as prepared as can be.

_**Three months later...**_

Summer had arrived, which meant we had approximately six months until Maria's arrival. Carmen and Eleazar and our Indian brothers and sisters were here for a short visit. It was Saturday and we were all doing our own thing. Rose had taken off for Detroit to pick up a part for my Tahoe. Something was wrong with the steering column. Bella and Rex had flown to Boston last night to do their monthly incognito check on Rex's mother, they were due back later this evening. Claude, Amanda, Esme, Chelsea, Gianna, Sush, Amrita, Carmen, and Kate were shopping two hours south at an outlet mall in West Branch. Riley, Laurent, and Mike were in Grand Rapids catching an arena football game. The rest of us were just hanging out at our homes minding our own business.

Suddenly, Pete's desperate voice came ringing through with clarity, "Red alert, Major! Red alert, the bitch...aaaagggghhhh!"

Fuck.

**What did you think of the chapter? I'd love to hear your thoughts. As always, I will respond to your reviews. XOXO**


	57. Chapter 57

**"No! Don't stop there!" Your resounding cries were heard, but, honestly, did you really think that I'd end it there? Thank you for your awesome reviews. I truly appreciate your taking the time to chime in with your thoughts. Bella will buy ice cream cones for all of you.**

**A/N: There are many point of views in this chapter, but I wanted you to get a little insight into what some of the vamps were feeling.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Rex's POV**

Bella and I were visiting my mother at the nursing home. She wasn't doing well at all. She had aged considerably and her cognitive skills were almost nil. I wanted to make sure that I saw my mother as much as possible before the impending fight. I was worried to death about it and I didn't want to lose anyone, especially Tanya, Tony, or Bella. They were the most important people in my life. Each one supported me in their own way. Right now, it was Bella that was with me. For some reason, it was her that I needed the most whenever I went to see my mother. Tanya had been without her mother for so long that she didn't really understand what I was going through. Bella understood, though. She had to witness her own father dying in front of her. She knew the pain and agony of what I was going through. The only difference was that in my case, my mother was dying slowly in front of my eyes and the kicker was that she wasn't even aware that I was watching her die.

We had just finished sponging my mother off and were now sitting by her bedside simply watching her. I had wifey sitting on my lap. I needed to feel her close to me because the thought of my mother not even remembering my name was killing me. I knew that it was the Alzheimer's Disease causing her not to remember and I also knew that it was probably a good thing that she didn't recognize me considering that the last thing she knew about me was that I had died in a car accident.

My mother's breathing was becoming shallow. Bella flashed a look of concern my way.

"Ma! Ma!" I called, desperately. She was going to die in front of me. "Ma! Ma, please!"

My mother suddenly opened her eyes. "Rex?"

"Yeah, Ma, it's me."

"Oh, it's so good to see you. Your wife is so pretty. What's your name, honey?"

"Bella," wifey answered.

"You're so sweet to my son. I can tell that he loves you,"

"How?"

"By the way he looks at you whenever you two come to see me. I appreciate everything you do, Bella. You take care of my son. You keep him happy. You keep him safe. You mean the world to him and, therefore, to me. Promise me that you'll always keep him safe. Promise me."

"Of course, I will."

"You're the daughter I've always wanted."

"Thank you, mom," Bella said and brought a smile to my mother's face.

I didn't want to tell my mom that Bella wasn't really my wife. She didn't need to hear all of our strange family dynamics. I wanted to cherish my time with her while she was coherent.

"Rex, come closer," my mother rasped. Her breathing was becoming shallow again.

"Such a good boy. You've always worked hard and you've made me so proud. You were the first one in our family to graduate from college and you did it all by yourself without your father or me helping you. You were always my favorite boy. Um, don't tell Tony or Troy that I said that."

"I promise not to tell Troy, but I can't promise you that I won't tell Tony," I chuckled.

"Stop picking on him. You know he can't defend himself. He's always been a wimp. It's a wonder he made it so far in the army."

I had to laugh. My mother always did have a sense of humor. Well, she had to in order to raise eight sons, all of whom at least graduated from high school, and not one of whom ended up in jail. In our neighborhood, that was an accomplishment.

"Ma, we all know that Tony's the daughter you never had," I joked.

"It's so true," she sighed. "Now, I need to talk to you. Rex, sweetheart, you've always kept an eye on Tony and you have to promise me that you'll continue to do so after I'm gone. You're the only family he has."

I nodded to my mother, indicating that I'd always look after my kid brother.

"Now, you have to stop worrying about everyone and everything. You take too much upon your shoulders. You can't solve everyone's problems by yourself. You stay with your wife, she'll take care of you."

"Okay, Ma. I promise."

Now, one last thing. Always remember that, after I'm gone, I'll look after you, your brothers, and your families. Rex, I love you."

"I love you, too, Ma."

She took a deep, unstable breath. "You have to do something for me now, my boy."

"Anything, Ma."

"Take my necklace off and give it to Bella."

I nodded and removed her prized necklace of Saint Anthony and clasped it around wifey's neck. Bella thanked her with tears in her eyes.

"Stop crying, Bella. You have to stay strong for my son, now, more than ever. Saint Anthony will protect you, he's always done so with me. Rex, take my wedding ring off and keep it for yourself. It's for you to remember me by."

"Ma?" I questioned.

"Just do it!"

I did as she asked and slipped the ring on my pinky. My mother looked straight into my eyes. "Take me to Jesus, son."

"Ma?"

"Oh, Rex, I know you're not human and neither is Bella. I still love you both as much as ever. If I can accept the fact that Tony is gay, I can accept the fact that you were sent to me from heaven."

I decided that she needed to know the truth. "Ma, Bella and I are vampires."

"Oh, that's nice and, honestly, you can't shock me more than when Tony came out. I don't care what you are. You're still Rex, you have a beautiful wife, and trust me it's a plus that she has breasts instead of a penis like Claude. The point is, you're my son just like Tony is my son. You'll always be my son. Now, please, let me die in dignity while my mind is still mine. Help me get to heaven."

My mother was asking me to kill her. Oh, God, no! Please! Please! Why is she asking me to do this?

"Rex, I don't have much time. Please help me. Regardless of what you decide, today is my last day on this earth."

Her breathing was becoming shallower by the second and I could tell that her heart was slowing down. I looked up at Bella. She smiled and nodded her head in reassurance.

My mother looked up at me and flashed me a brilliant smile. "Thank you, Rex. I love you. I love you so much. You've always been my pride and joy."

I smiled at my mother. I couldn't bear to let her see me sad. "I'll love you forever, Ma."

The three of us recited the Lord's Prayer together, then my mother took my hand and looked at me intently in my eyes and said, "I'm ready to go to your father, Rex."

I nodded my head and gave her one last hug taking in her beautiful floral scent. "I love you, Ma."

She hugged me as tight as she could and said, "Let me go, Rex."

I mustered up all of the determination that I had in me, looked into my mother's beautiful eyes for the final time, and sunk my teeth into her jugular. After about six pulls, I couldn't do it anymore.

"Help him, Bella," my mother whispered.

Bella nodded. "Take care of my Daddy for me," she whispered to my mother.

Bella sunk her teeth into the other side of her neck and, together, we helped my mother get to heaven. The last words out of my mother's mouth was, "Stay happy, stay together, and you'll stay strong."

When Ma's heart stopped, we knew that we had accomplished our task. I closed my mother's eyelids and said a prayer for her.

Bella was sitting in the fetal position in the chair. Her eyes were blood red as I supposed mine were. We heard footsteps approaching my mother's room so we had to leave quickly. There was a framed photo of her and one of our entire family on her nightstand. I grabbed them both and tossed them to Bella who threw them into her purse for me. I kissed my mother goodbye one last time, took Bella's hand, and the two of us jumped out of her window and ran into the night.

We stopped running when we got to nearby Carson Beach in South Boston. I plopped down onto the sand and broke down. I felt Bella's arms wrap around me.

"Let it all out, Rex."

"I killed my mother, Bella."

"No, Rex, you let her die in dignity."

"Bella, she's gone. Ma's gone!" I cried.

"No, Rex, she's not. She'll always live in here." She placed her hand on my heart and looked earnestly in my eyes. "The thing is, Rex. My Daddy's been gone a long time and I'll never forget him. There's a part of him living here, in my heart. He's always with me."

"It hurts."

"And it's gonna hurt. You'll always miss her, but it gets better with time. I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise."

"I love you, Bella."

"I love you, Rex."

We held each other for the longest time without saying a word. We watched the sun come up before we decided to head on our way, throwing some contacts in to cover our blood red eyes. We still had about eight hours until our flight home. I pulled Bella along with me and we decided to visit the house that I grew up in. We climbed up into a tree and watched. Two boys, one around thirteen and the other around ten came outside.

"I can't believe that Dad's sending us out for milk again. How come he never sends the girls out?" the younger boy asked.

"Tony, let me tell you something. Dad will never send the girls out for milk because they're girls and he thinks they could get hurt. It doesn't matter that they take after him and look like pitbulls and that no one will ever touch them with a ten foot pole. Thank God we take after Uncle Rex and Uncle Tony. You and I are gonna be legends, kid, just like they were. Now, how much did Dad give you?"

"Five bucks."

"Five bucks? That's it? We can't even get ice cream for five bucks. That cheap fucking bastard." Ah, my nephew seems to have inherited my habit of swearing. Hmm...is that something that I should be proud about?

"Dad said that if he gave us a ten, we'd use it all up on crap at the corner store and that milk only costs four bucks and some change."

Just then, Bella winked at me and walked across the street to the corner store. She came out with a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk, then proceeded to drop them just as the boys got to the store. If they're Fantasia boys, they'd better mind their manners and help her or I swear, I'll put them across my knees and give them a whooping they'll never forget.

"Miss, let me help you with that," the older boy said. "Tony, go inside and ask for something to clean this up with."

Little Tony went inside and returned with a roll of paper towels. Both boys helped Bella clean her mess up.

"Thank you," Bella said, gratefully.

"Anytime, miss."

"Well, polite boys are so few and far in between nowadays. Here, this is for helping me." Bella handed the boys a twenty dollar bill.

"That's too much, miss, and there's no need. It really wasn't a big deal."

"It was to me. Now, take it and go buy yourselves some ice cream."

"Thanks, miss. If you wait here we'll bring you the change."

Bella nodded to the boys with a smile. As soon as they went into the store, Bella ran back across the street and back to the place where I was hiding.

The boys soon came out. The older boy was carrying an ice cream cone and Bella's change while the younger one was carrying an ice cream cone and a gallon of milk. They both scanned the area, but didn't catch sight of Bella.

"What should we do, Rex? The pretty lady is gone. How are we going to give her the change?"

"We can't, she's gone. We'll just have to use it on ice cream whenever dad sends us out. She sure was hot. One day, when I get older, I'm gonna find her and marry her."

"Not unless I find her first."

"How the fuck are you going to find her first, you little runt?"

"I'm telling Dad, you cursed!"

"Why you little fucking tattle-tale!" The two boys started arguing just like my brothers and I used to.

From inside the house, Troy came outside looking like a pitbull. He hollered at the boys from a block away. "You two boys better stop arguing and get your asses in the house this instant! Do you hear me? There are chores to be done, this ain't the fuckin' Hilton."

"Yes, Dad," they both muttered, quickly finished off their ice creams, and ran home with the milk.

Troy waited for them with his hands on his hips, gave them both hugs, and sent them into the house. I had to chuckle. My dad used to use that exact same line on us boys. We all swore that we'd never use the Hilton line, but sure enough, Troy was using it loud and clear, but just like my dad, he always showed them that he loved them with a hug. I saw Troy look up at the sky and whisper, "I don't know if I can do this without you, Ma."

"Your nephews are named after you and Tony," Bella noted.

"Yeah, Tony said that Troy wanted them to turn out like us and go to college. That's why he named them after us. It's probably a good thing if the two girls look like Troy."

"Well, they were very polite."

"Thanks, Bella, for everything."

"I promised your mom that I'd look after you. I always keep my promises."

We went to the airport after that and caught an earlier flight home. The plane touched down in Detroit around noon and from there the two of us just ran home. Halfway through our run, we both buckled and doubled over in pain.

"Jasper," Bella whispered at the same time I called out Tanya's name. I grabbed Bella and pulled her into my arms for a minute. The pain wasn't subsiding. I threw wifey onto my back and started running.

When we got to the massive gate, we noticed that it had been broken down. We smelled vampires all over the place.

"Wait," Bella whispered. She got out a can of Scent Away and doused both of us with it. I put my fingers to my mouth and the two of us started making our way silently towards where our homes were located. We approached from the back. Rosalie pulled us down behind the wood shed. The three of us held onto each other as we watched the bitch Maria do her thing.

I dug out my iPhone and started recording what was happening. The more information that we had, the better. It appeared that one of Maria's vampires had our family members in some sort of physical hold. None of them were able to move, but they were all able to speak.

"I'll come with you, willingly. Let my family go. They're innocent," Jasper pleaded.

"Mi amor, I can't do that. I have big plans for all of you. Where is James?"

No one answered her. Maria grabbed Vicky and bit down on her arm. Vicky was screaming in pain.

"Where is James?" she repeated.

"He's on a business trip," Jasper lied.

"Bueno, bueno. Then, we'll take his psychotic companion along with us. He'll come for her. I guarantee it." Maria threw Vicky onto the ground. "Let's go, take everyone with us except for the Captain's mate. I never liked her."

There was a pyre that they had started to the side. One of the vampires grabbed Charlotte and tossed her callously into the flames.

"NO! Charlotte!" Peter cried. "Kill me, kill me now! I have nothing to live for!"

"Oh, no, Captain. You're much to valuable to kill. Let's go!"

Maria's soldiers grabbed the rest of our family and threw them into the back of a tractor-trailer. The truck sped away quickly. After we were sure that there were no vampires in the vicinity, Bella, who had been concentrating on the pyre, ran into the flames and whisked Charlotte out. They were both completely unharmed. I guess we know that Bella's physical shield can repel fire, too.

The four of us collapsed in each other's arms and started sobbing. Bella was the first to recover. "We need to figure this shit out now. Rex, who didn't she take?"

I scanned the video I took. "Aside from the four of us, Amanda, Esme, Chelsea, Gianna, Amrita, Carmen, Kate, Claude, Riley, Laurent, and Mike are still out there somewhere. If they felt the pull like we did, they're probably on their way home."

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, the rest of our family came storming into the compound looking frantic. We met at headquarters, explained what happened, and showed them the video.

"We have to get them out of there," Chelsea declared. "We can do this. Maria made the biggest fucking mistake ever. She separated all of us from our mates and even a hundred vampires is no match for a mate hell bent on revenge."

"Alright, what are our assets?" I asked.

"First of all, they have no idea that Charlotte's alive," Bella stated and we know that her gift combined with Chelsea's can be deadly. What bonds did you see, Char?"

"Most of them are tied to Maria for obvious reasons. The two men hanging all over her are mates, not her mate, though. Other than that, I didn't really see any mating bonds among the group, but there were only about a hundred of them."

"What other assets do we have?"

"Your power as an incubus, of course, Rex. You can make a fuckton of women become insatiable in a second with it. We also have Riley's lie detector, Kate's zapper, Claude's perception, Mike's tracking, and Sush's soul reading and clairvoyance. We also have the element of surprise. Maria has no idea that we're coming after her ass. She thinks she's free and clear."

I wrote this all down on the white board. All of those elaborate plans that the ridiculous planning committee made were null and void, we had to start from scratch. Alice couldn't even get the date correct, Maria was six whole months early.

"You forgot your shield, Bella," Chelsea noted. "That's our number one asset right now. Remember there's the one vampire that neutralizes all powers except for shields."

"Okay, so we combine all of our gifts and hit 'em where it hurts. We know they're in Colorado so that's a plus, too. Once we get on their grounds, we have to release our mates first so that we have their powers too."

"We should also be taking note of what powers they have," Claude suggested.

"We know there are two females, one's a shield and the other neutralizes all vampire powers," Chelsea pointed out.

"There's also a male that can incapacitate our bodies from the shoulders down. That's how Maria was able to subdue us so fast."

"Can we blow up the video that Rex took so we can analyze it on the big screen?" Laurent asked.

"Sure, I can download it onto the hard drive and play it on the projector," Amanda explained. She turned on the secure computer, but none of us had the password. Those fucking asshats planned for everything except the unexpected. Shouldn't they have given us the password?

"I'll go get my laptop. I doubt Maria's going to hack into it," Amanda said before running to her and Edward's house.

Meanwhile, the rest of us took inventory of the weapons we had stored in the basement. We had grenades, grenade launchers, flame throwers, Marine fatigues in all different sizes, and Scent Away.

Chelsea suggested that we take out as many of the vampires as we can using the grenades. She also stated that in a pinch, we should have the ingredients for molotov cocktails on the ready. Apparently, that's how the Volturi take out huge groups of vampires.

Amanda returned and had the video up and ready to go. We analyzed the video. "Stop, right there," Char ordered. "Do you see that redheaded vampire right there. He's the incapacitator and that blonde girl right there is the gift neutralizer."

"I think the short brunette girl is the shield. Look at how Maria keeps her by her side at all times," Bella pointed out.

"Oh my goodness, I think I made a discovery," Esme said, excitedly. We all turned to her. "The vampires with gifts all have red stars embroidered on both sleeves of their uniforms. The ones without have no stars. The three commanding officers have blue stars."

I watched the video and Esme was absolutely correct. Maria had put ranks on their uniforms which would make it easy for us to identify who was important and who wasn't. We counted roughly eighty vampires including Maria. Out of the entire group, there were five total wearing red stars on their sleeves. These were the gifted vampires.

We sat discussing the situation. We all agreed that we needed to put our heads together and come up with a reasonable plan. We also agreed that the quicker we acted, the better the outcome would be.

Sushmita was deep in concentration. She sat in the same position with her eyes closed for roughly twenty minutes. Everyone was afraid to talk because we didn't want to disturb her. She finally turned to us and spoke, "It's going to take them over twenty-four hours to arrive in Colorado. We can scope out the area before they arrive if we run there. Then, stay at a hotel in a nearby city until we're ready to strike."

"Amanda, what city is closest to Hinsdale?"

Before she could search, Riley answered, "It's Telluride. I was raised in Colorado, remember? In fact, I grew up in Telluride."

"So, you know Hinsdale County..."

"...like the back of my hand," Riley finished for me. "I'd say we rent out a house. There are tons of vacant homes there because it's summer and there's no skiing. I'll find one in a secluded spot for us, leave it to me."

"How are we going to get the ammo there?" Bella asked.

"Easy," Claude said. "Two of us drive there while the rest go ahead on foot."

"We'd have to take Jasper's Tahoe," Rose stated. "I can get the steering column fixed in an hour. I have the part."

"Alright, let's do this," I said.

"Hey, why do you and Bella have red eyes?" Riley asked.

I sighed, then told my family what happened to my mom. Everyone got up to hug me. Laurent patted my shoulder sympathetically. He had done exactly the same thing with his human wife.

"I think we should all drink human blood," Chelsea declared. "We'll be stronger with it running through our veins. Remember that Maria's soldiers have been feeding solely on animals. We have more than enough human blood stored in the basement for injuries, and it'll go to waste if we don't use it."

Chelsea was right. The basement at headquarters had more blood stored than a bloodbank.

"Okay, we'll do this democratically. I want to hear arguments for and against drinking human blood before we make a decision. If we decide to do this, anyone who has a strong objection to human blood can still drink animal blood."

There were some good arguments on both sides. Those who thought human blood would be better argued that it would make us faster and stronger for the fight. Those against it thought it would be inhumane. That argument was squashed because we weren't actually drinking from the source, we were drinking donated blood that would, otherwise, probably be wasted. A few were worried about becoming accustomed to animal blood again after consuming human blood. In the end, we took a vote and it was decided that we would drink human blood. Surprisingly, Charlotte was the one with the strongest objection to drinking human blood, but even she conceded that it would make her stronger and faster.

After the vote, Riley went downstairs to bring up the stores of human blood. We had about three hundred pints stored. Riley said that we would need roughly ten bags each. He wanted to bring the rest of the blood with us to Colorado in case we had injuries on our end. We poured the blood into mugs, clinked them together, and downed mug after mug until everyone except for me and Bella had taken in ten bags. We each had five since we had my mother's blood powering us still.

After fueling up, Rose went straight to working on the Tahoe while the rest of us started gathering supplies. I pulled Bella outside for a chat.

"Why does bad shit happen all at once?" I asked her.

"Dunno, I think we're meant to get it over with all at once. We'll be okay, though. I'm confident. We're already making more progress than we did in two years of meticulous planning by the so-called 'planning committee' who are currently being held in a tractor-trailer along with their secret plans waiting for us to rescue them."

I kissed Bella atop her head. We both had a good chuckle. The last twenty-four hours had been brutal for us and it was only going to get worse. We had no choice, but to laugh at adversity as it hit us in the face at this point. We also had my mother's blood, her strength, fueling our adrenalin.

**Peter's POV**

Oh God! Kill me now, please! God, Charlotte is gone. My reason for existing is gone. I saw this happening, but I wasn't expecting my power to be neutralized. I was supposed to block her from the pyre, giving her enough time to escape and then burn in the flames myself. I'm not strong enough to go on myself. I'm just not. I want to die!

**Edward's POV**

For some reason, the power neutralizing vampire's gift isn't working on me. I'm not going to delve into why because I don't have time to contemplate it. I'm just grateful that I can read everyone's minds right now because we have one up on these assholes. I knew for a fact that other than the power neutralizer, her shield, and the vampire who was able to freeze our bodies; Maria had no other vampires with any significant powers that could do any damage. This bothered her to no end.

The one thing that she had going for her was that she had numbers, huge numbers—she had over five hundred vampires with half of them being newborns. Maria was ingenious in the way that she turned and trained her group. She started out two years ago by turning one vampire. She made sure he was fully in control, then turned one more eight weeks later. She had the first vampire train and control the second vampire. This helped in two ways, the older vampire worked hard to obey Maria because he was given a position of responsibility and the second vampire remained disciplined so that she would be given the same position as the first once she gained control. Eight weeks after that, she turned two vampires and allowed the first and second vampire to train that group. Using that formula, by the end of roughly a year and a half she had over five hundred vampires, each one completely disciplined and loyal to Maria. Of course, some vampires took more time to train than others so the formula wasn't precise, but it worked. Our group, although considerably smaller, was much more powerful than her vampires and more intelligent. Her group only knew one thing, obey Maria and be well behaved.

**Tanya's POV**

Thank God Rex has Bella to keep him calm. He would go haywire without her. I have complete faith that they'll get us out of this mess. Sushmita just told me the other day that their souls were purer than the rest of ours and, that together, they can move mountains. I believe her words to be true. Bella completes Rex in a way that I can't and I'm okay with that because I know in my soul that he needs both me and her to be the man he was meant to be.

**Carlisle's POV**

Odd as it may seem, I'm not worried. My mate can run circles around these vampires. She'll come and save me, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a pussy and that Chelsea's stronger than I am. Plus, I couldn't wait to see her angry. She's going to bring her brand of terror to surface and these vampires won't even know what hit them. I couldn't help, but smile at the thought.

**Felix's POV**

One little, two little, three little newborns; four little, five little, six little newborns; seven little, eight little, nine little newborns; ten little newborns in the pyre.

**The Major's POV**

I sensed her presence as Maria nabbed us. I made sure that we were fully connected when I marked her on the heart. My mate was watching. She is angry. She is coming. She will save us. I trust her. She is the Major's mate and she is stronger than he is. Maria will die.

**Bella's POV**

Esme and Claude were driving down in the Tahoe with the weapons. The rest of us had scoped out the territory that Maria had lay claim upon. With the Scent Away, none of Maria's vampires were able to detect us so we were able to get in and out with absolutely no detection. Riley said that the area she's taken over has been deserted since the mid-1800's. I suspected that it was once a pop-up city that was created as a stopover city while the nation was expanding west. She was well outside of any areas where there would be any human contact.

Currently, we were waiting for Amanda to set up the projector so we could review the video we shot of the territory on a bigger screen. Claude and Esme had arrived in record time, they must have pushed the speedometer on the Tahoe which could only mean that Esme did most of the driving.

I ended up purchasing a fully furnished twelve-bedroom, twenty thousand square foot, luxury home in the secluded Mountain Village area of Telluride for twelve million dollars. It had fourteen full bathrooms and five half baths and every amenity imaginable on earth including a bowling alley, a game room, a jacuzzi, an indoor swimming pool, and even the capability to ski in and out during the winter. There was also a large four bedroom guest house located behind the property. It was already vacant because the previous owner only used it as corporate retreat for his company.

I tried to rent the house for a month, but the real estate agent said that the owner only wanted to sell the property so I made a snap decision and decided to purchase it with the twelve million dollars that I won in Las Vegas a few years back when I went there with Rose. This was actually my very first house. The original asking price was almost fifteen million dollars, but when I told the real estate agent that I was willing to purchase it on the spot in cash, she called the owner who agreed to sell it for twelve million dollars. Of course, I could have given him his asking price, but I'm not Jasper and I refuse to pay full price for anything no matter how desperate the situation is.

I staked my claim on the master bedroom, which took up the entire third floor, for me and Jasper and then let everyone fight it out amongst themselves as to who gets which room. Rosalie claimed the second largest room arguing that Emmett needed the space. Gianna brought up the point that she could say the same about Felix, then the two of them got into a massive fight about whose husband was bigger built resulting in Rose slapping Gianna and Gianna spanking Rose. It was nuts. Mike pulled up a chair and was actually enjoying the fight.

Mike chose to live in the guest house because he knew that I could only put up with only so much of Alice, Esme did the same, Gianna moved in there too because she said that she'd rip Rose's head off if she lived in the same house as her, and finally Claude because he liked to do hair with Gianna and he actually got along with Esme.

"Okay, we're set up Belly Mama," Amanda called. She still used her monicker for me from time to time. It was usually when she was under duress. I sat next to her and rubbed circles on her back as she worked on her laptop.

"Amanda, pause it right there," Laurent requested. "The saloon is the only building that seems to be unused as of yet. I have a feeling that's where they're going to hold our family. It's large, most of the tables and chairs have long since been removed and there are rooms upstairs for Maria to interrogate them if necessary."

"I have a feeling you're right," Claude agreed. Well, that settles it then, his hunches are usually correct. On top of that, Eleazar said that Claude has the gift of perception.

"Okay, so we avoid blowing up that building," Rex stated.

"Rex, I think we need to draw them out into the clearing a couple of miles west instead of blowing up any buildings. They're made out of wood and fire spreads easily. Fire used to be a huge problem in these pop-up cities." I drew upon my knowledge of history. Isn't he a fucking history teacher?

"You're right, I forgot about that."

"The question is, how do we draw them out?" Riley asked.

"I know." Mike smiled a sinister and knowing smile.

"How?"

"Sex."

"Sex?" Amrita asked. "How the hell are we going to draw them out using sex, Mike?"

"You don't know? Some of the hottest vampires in the universe are sitting around this table right now. Send Bella or Rose along with Rex out in bathing suits in the middle of that clearing and I guarantee that all those sex starved vampires will swarm around them like flies. Hell, I'm not even starved for sex and I'd go out there if I saw Bella and Rose standing around in bathing suits."

"You're a fucking genius, Mike. This goes along with my theory that we should be using Rex and Tony's powers as incubi."

"Kate, do succubi have similar powers as incubi do as far as being able to make the opposite sex go insane with the need for a release?" Riley asked.

"Actually, we do. I've just never used the power. I don't think that I know how."

"Well, can we test it out?" Mike asked.

"Mike, we can't test it out because if it works, whoever she uses her power on would need to mate right then and there."

"Why can't we just snatch a male vampire when he goes out hunting?" Carmen asked. "They have hundreds of vampires, they wouldn't miss one, especially if it's just an ordinary soldier with no powers."

"This will work," Sush declared.

"I've got a better idea," Amrita piped in. "What if we found a male and female hunting together? Rex can use his power on the female and Kate can use it on the male. If it works, they'll go insane with the need for sex, see each other, and simply mate with each other. That way, we won't risk Maria finding out that two of her vampires are missing."

"I like it," Kate smiled. "When should we do this?"

"Now would be good, while Maria is still gone."

"Alright, I think Rex and I can handle this ourselves. It's best not to risk any of you looking into our eyes by accident."

With that, Katie and Rex doused themselves with Scent Away, then took off for the woods near Maria's camp to await two vampire test-pilot dummies.

The rest of us continued to analyze the videos so we could come up with a rescue plan. Everyone contributed their ideas, and by the time Rex and Katie returned five hours later, we had a general idea of how we were going to get our mates out of Maria's clutches.

"It worked," Rex said. "We caught a male and a female hunting within a mile of each other and we used our power on them. They went insane with lust within seconds. The female started chasing after me so I led her to where Kate was with the male and they jumped on each other instantly."

"By the way, we scoped out her camp. The truck had just arrived and they were carrying our mates into the saloon," Kate informed us. "You were right, Laurent, that's definitely where our mates are being held."

"Also, Maria's headquarters is in the brothel," Rex added.

"Figures," I muttered. We all had a good chuckle at that one.

"Call me crazy, but I actually want to tour inside the brothel," Gianna said. "Do you think it's the type of place where Felix and Jasper went to have sex during the Civil War?"

"Oh, great, Gianna! Now, I'm curious," I huffed. "You know I'm a history freak."

"I can't believe that they actually went to brothels," Esme stated.

"Trust me, Esme, during times of war. Your need for sex becomes heightened," Claude explained. "Your adrenalin is going on full tilt and in a war zone you're sexually deprived so you actually begin to crave human touch."

"Actually, there was a lot less incidents of rape during the Civil War than in the modern wars because of brothels," I pointed out. "The soldiers actually had a place to go to for their release and I think that helped to reduce the incidents of violence against women."

"I've always been in awe of your knowledge of history, Bella."

"Thanks, Esme," I smiled.

A few hours later, we were fairly sure that we had developed a sound plan for rescuing our mates. We wanted to move in quickly, but first we needed to go to a store for some supplies specific to our task. Riley and I drove to a Walmart in nearby Montrose to accomplish this.

"Sis, I'm proud of you," my big brother stated.

"Why? I haven't done anything special."

"Bella, you've pulled our group together so we could come up with a workable plan to rescue our mates. You did it so that everyone had an equal say, too. It's more than I can say for the now defunct 'planning committee.' How the hell did you get so smart?"

"Rye, I wouldn't be the girl I am today without you. You do know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do, Bella, but most of the growing up you did on your own."

I ran into Riley's arms for a hug. He held me for a bit longer than he usually does before releasing me. I felt all of his brotherly love in that hug and I committed the feeling to memory so that it would give me strength if I needed it.

We were done with our shopping and cashing out when the middle aged woman ringing us up recognized my brother.

"Riley Biers?" she asked.

Holy shit, it must be someone he went to school with. Riley, Mike, and I still hadn't faked our deaths. It was actually kind of comical because we were all receiving junk mail from AARP at this point. "Uh, no, my name is Peter Swan."

"Oh, well, you're the spitting image of my junior prom date from high school. I'm being ridiculous, he'd be forty-four years old now."

"Uh, nope, I'm only twenty-three, but if I were twenty years older, I'd ask you out in a heartbeat." Riley winked.

The woman blushed into a bright shade of crimson. I used my card to pay for the purchases and we rushed to the Tahoe.

"Holy fuck, that was close!" Riley exclaimed. "I keep forgetting that I'm at home. You know, I lost my virginity to Jenny Summers."

"Too much info, bro."

"Well, it's true. We were in the backseat of my mom's car and..."

"Rye!"

"I love getting a rise out of you," he chuckled as he started the engine and we made our way back to the house.

When we walked inside, we were approached by Chelsea. "Amrita and I ran reconnaissance. Our mates are definitely being held in the saloon. The power neutralizer and the incapacitator are their only guard. I think we need to get in there ASAP before the bitch has a chance to harm our family. I'm kind of worried about Carlisle, you know he's a pussy. He's probably waiting for me to rescue his ass and I'm gonna have to cause I love him to death."

I had to laugh at Chelsea's comment, she hit the nail on the head. It was weird, after we analyzed the videos and formed a rough game plan, our group was unusually relaxed. We didn't build up the hype like the 'planning committee' did. We knew that what we were doing was risky, we made our plans, and we were ready to roll. Besides, we had nothing to lose.

"Let's do this," Rex stated with a look of determination on his face.

_**Two hours later...**_

**Kate's POV**

Rex and I parked the Tahoe and laid out lawn loungers in the middle of the clearing a couple of miles away from Maria's camp, stripped down to our bathing suits and waited. Sushmita, Mike, Gianna, Amanda, Esme, Carmen, and Claude were waiting in trees ready to assist. A few minutes later, several vampires came into the clearing. They took one look at us and their eyes became filled with lust. We didn't unleash our power on them yet, we needed more to come into the clearing. One of the males ran up to me and touched me. I shocked him with my gift and scolded him, "You have to wait your turn over there with everyone else. We're gifts from your mistress. She wants you to proceed in an orderly fashion. Go stand by that vehicle over there and we'll call you over one by one. Go on, tell your friends."

Another vampire went running back, presumably to get the others, and soon they came in droves. Roughly three hundred newborns filled the field and they were all waiting patiently, watching us from where the Tahoe was parked. It was weird, as soon as I told the newborn that his mistress wanted him to proceed in an orderly fashion, he obeyed. Each vampire had another vampire telling the other one what to do.

"Well, hello," Rex drawled seductively. "You've all been good little boys and girls. Now, I want you to look into our eyes."

That was my cue. The two of us stared at the newborns and unleashed our gift. They were immediately in a lust-filled frenzy. At the same time, Mike and Claude fired flame throwers directly at the Tahoe which was filled with gasoline soaked rags. It blew up immediately, taking many of the newborns out along with it. This was Rose's idea. I wish her luck when she has to tell Jasper about his beloved Tahoe. Meanwhile, Sushmita, Gianna, Amanda, Esme, and Carmen lobbed live grenades at the rest of them. Rex and I ran back to the treeline to throw on our Marine fatigues and helped with the action.

We heard an alarm go off in Maria's town. Hopefully, Bella and her crew were able to accomplish their goals and get our mates out. Oh, shit, we've got vampires, time to throw down.

**Jasper's POV**

I can feel her. I can feel Bella. She's close. We were holed up in a decrepit saloon completely immobile with two of the stupidest guards in history watching us. One was a power neutralizer, the other an incapacitator. Maria has been off fucking her two lovers in one of the buildings across the road. Everyone could hear the loud mouthed skank. She was overconfident and careless. I heard some shuffling outside and a fuckton of vampires made their way out of the town probably to go train. I was trying to come up with a plan to get us out of this mess. I couldn't help, but think that everything Bella had said had come true. The entire planning committee was being held prisoner here. We didn't even leave them with the password to Emmett's computer.

Suddenly, Chelsea, Rose, and Amrita strolled inside carrying buckets, rags, and brooms wearing maid's uniforms. The two stunned guards stood up immediately.

"Who are you?" the power neutralizer asked.

"Oh, we're just the cleaning crew," Rose said with a twinkling smile. She started sweeping the floor.

"How come we've never seen you before?"

"Beats me," Amrita said with a shrug of her shoulders.

What the fuck are they doing? How are they supposed to rescue us using cleaning equipment?

"Go and confirm this with Maria," the power neutralizer ordered.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that? If I leave, it'll release my hold on them."

"Shit and I can't leave either for the same reason." Gee whiz, are these the dumbest vampires on the planet or what. Have they never heard of cell phones? Oh wait, it's good that they're idiots.

The incapacitator then spoke, "Look, it's clear they're newborns. Look at their eyes. They're still red. We probably haven't seen them because they were just turned."

"When were you three turned?" the power neutralizer asked.

"A week ago," Chelsea said.

"Do you have any gifts?"

"Gifts?" she asked innocently while looking between the power neutralizer and the incapacitator.

"Yeah, they're newborns. They don't even know that some vampires are gifted. Go ahead and get to cleaning."

Suddenly, something seemed to have hit our two dumb-fuck guards. They were staring at each other with black, lust-filled eyes and the male incapacitator tore off the female power neutralizer's uniform. They started fucking right in front of us and a minute later, both of their gifts had worn off of us. They were completely oblivious to who or what was around them.

"Don't worry, I mated them so powerfully that they won't be able to think about anything, but each other. This is what I did to those Italian asshats," Chelsea declared proudly.

Man alive, the Volturi must be in complete chaos.

Charlotte ran inside all of a sudden.

"Char, how are you still alive?"

"Not now, Jasper, we're running the show here. You bozos on the planning committee shut the fuck up and do as we say."

Chelsea started explaining that there was a clearing roughly two miles to the west that we were to run to. Meanwhile, Charlotte descended upon Peter and started feeding him. It took him a couple of minutes, but he came to. The look of relief that crossed his face was palpable. He sat up and marked her on her neck causing her to cry out in pain.

"Chelsea, you can't just come in here and tell us what to do. We're okay now, we can go with our original plan," I said.

"Fuck no, Jasper! You don't get to be rescued and all of a sudden take command. You and your fucking planning committee are our bitches now."

"Get the fuck to the clearing now!" Rose yelled.

We started running in the direction that Chelsea sent us to with Amrita in the lead. I still hadn't caught sight of Bella. As soon as we got to the clearing, we were thrown into the fray. There was a massive fight going and a fire erupting out of control at the other end of the field. Purple smoke was billowing in waves as our group fought off Maria's newborns and chucked limbs and bodies into the gigantic fire.

More vampires had followed us into the clearing. Our group turned and started ripping them apart, left and right. Vicky and I worked together to take out the more violent ones. Charlotte and Peter moved together flawlessly like they always have. Felix was an odd one, he was singing merrily while he took out one newborn after another with a huge grin on his face.

Maria suddenly came barreling into the clearing dressed in only a man's dress shirt, flanked by her two lovers. It was clear that she had run out here in a hurry. "How did you? How? Aaaagggghhhh!"

She starting belting out orders to her army. Out of nowhere, at least a hundred more vampires appeared. "Where's Brittany? Where is she?"

Bella strode calmly onto the field with Brittany in a choke hold. She was flanked by Riley and Laurent. The field was at a complete standstill, the fire raged on, but everyone stopped to watch what was happening.

"Is this who you're looking for?" Bella asked. She took a whiff of Brittany's jugular. "She smells divine. I wonder why you're looking for her?"

"Who? Who are you?" Maria demanded.

"I don't feel like telling you."

"You have no idea what I'm capable of girl! Now, tell me who you are! That's an order!"

"Oh, I don't do well with people ordering me around."

"I'm not fucking with you!"

"And I'm certainly not fucking with you! You reek like Eau de Skank!"

"Oh, this bitch invented Eau de Skank," Charlotte piped in.

"You. Why are you still alive? I made sure you were dead."

"I didn't feel like dying that day, bitch."

"What power do you have, Charlotte Whitlock? I demand you tell me!"

"Pfft, I don't have to tell you shit!"

Maria gave up on Charlotte and went back to Bella.

"I want Brittany returned to me."

"No, I kind of like her. I think I'll keep her for myself."

"Give her back to me!"

Brittany elbowed Bella in the stomach and tried to run for it. Bella was too fast for her. She grabbed Brittany, exposed her neck, and gave her a deep bite. I looked over to Vicky and she had a look of extreme pride on her face. "Don't try and run from me again, pet. The consequences will be graver next time."

Maria growled at Bella. She was eyeing her vindictively and I was getting scared for my mate. Maria had years of experience on her.

"I want my shield back." Maria had just slipped and she knew it.

"Ooh, a shield. I have a shield for a pet. I've always wanted one of those," Bella taunted.

Never, in all of my years, had I seen Maria so completely unwound. She was frazzled, confused, and unstable. For the first time in her years of rule, she had been bamboozled and it was by my Bella.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, you little whore."

Bella rolled her eyes at the comment. "Maria Asesina de la Noche, born October 31st. Your lovers are Manuel Amante Dulce and Rodrigo Pene Grande, though I can't be too sure that his pene is that grande."

"How did you get this information? Who do you know?"

"Senorita, Rodrigo's pene really is grande," Manuel informed Bella. What the fuck? Is this guy for real? What an idiot!

Apparently, Maria thought so too because she smacked him on the back of his head. "Idiot! We're not here to discuss Rodrigo's pene."

I saw Rex whispering something into Tony's ear. Bella smiled at Maria and spoke, "I'd like to introduce you to a mutual friend of ours."

"Who? I don't even know who you are. How can we have a mutual friend?"

"Captain Delicioso, meet Sergeant Slayer and her two lovers Manuel Sweet Lover and Rodrigo Big Dick."

"Ah, the amateur from the Bone Chewer realm who can't seem to best me," Tony chuckled, then turned to Manuel and Rodrigo. "You two are kind of hot. You have kind of an Antonio Banderas look going."

Manuel and Rodrigo's attention immediately turned to Tony. He stared into their eyes and the two of them went ballistic with lust within seconds.

"What's happening? What's going on? Manuel! Rodrigo!"

Maria couldn't bring them back no matter what they did. Manuel Sweet Lover went after Tony and Rodrigo Big Dick was heading for...holy hell, he's headed straight for me. Oh shit. I saw Bella chuckling as I backed away from the dude. I grabbed him, put him into a headlock and turned his head to face Manuel. The two of them immediately noticed each other and ran off deep into the woods holding hands.

Maria was alone now. She knew she was surrounded, but the nervy bitch started spouting out orders to our group. "Where's the mindreader?"

Edward just walked up to Maria on his own.

"Read her mind! Tell me what her name is!"

Bella winked at Edward. She clearly dropped her shield momentarily so she could send him a message. Meanwhile, Chelsea was doing something with her gift, I could feel it. Eleazar noticed because he raised his eyebrow.

"Well? Who is she?"

Edward turned and looked Maria directly in the eyes. "She says that she is of the Captain's direct bloodline and has both his and the Major's venom running through her veins."

This tidbit of info seemed to peak Maria's interest immensely. "Who are you? What's your name, girl?"

"The Major's mate."

Maria's eyes widened in fear as she saw the feral expression on Bella's face.

"Run," Bella growled as she ripped Brittany's head clean off of her body and took off after Maria.

"Attack!" Maria yelled to her vampires. Half of them started running for us.

To the rest of the vampires, Chelsea ordered, "You will not attack, you will submit yourselves to the flames!" Clearly she had used her power to make them submit to her. The other half of the vampires walked straight into the pyre, making it even larger than it was before.

Peter and I simultaneously took out two hulking vampires and hurled them into the flames. We both started running towards Bella who had caught up with Maria and had just flung the bitch into a tree. The two were lethal and feral. Maria was snarling like a rabid dog as Bella landed a punch to her gut.

Meanwhile, I was fighting off three vampires at once. Rex jumped in to help me and ripped one apart for me. When we turned to look, Bella was gone. She was racing closer to the flames after a terrified Maria. One by one, her vampires were being thrown into the pyre. I looked back and we were down to about seventy newborns.

From my left, a huge female vampire, bigger than Emmett or Felix, tackled me. She was strong and I was about to get torn apart.

"What the fuck, were you taking steroids or something?" I asked as she lobbed me onto a rock.

Amar came running to assist me, but the she-man bitch picked us both up and started punching and kicking the shit out of us.

"Amrita, help us!" Amar yelled. My sister who had retained her newborn strength came running to assist us with a riding crop in her backpocket. She jumped on she-man's back and started whipping the girl. She proceeded to throw a blindfold onto her and with one fell swoop, the Maharani ripped off the huge newborn's head and tossed it into the flames. She smacked both me and Amar on our asses with her riding crop and yelled at us to man-up.

From out of a tree, a newborn jumped down directly on top of Amrita. Amar bit his head off and yanked him off of his mate. On the other side, Amanda was ripping apart a female vampire and Vicky was taking on two at a time. Meanwhile, Emmett was simply hurling vampires directly into the flames while a smiling Felix was still bouncing around and singing as he tore apart vampires.

I caught sight of Bella who was rolling on the ground, wrestling Maria. I looked over by the trees and Alice was about to be ripped apart. I jumped in to help her, taking apart the newborn that had a solid hold on her head. My ex-wife was in poor shape, she had an arm and a leg missing.

"Thanks, Jasper," Alice said, gratefully. That's when all hell broke loose.

"Noooo! Bellaaaa!" Peter wailed at the same time as Emmett and Carlisle. I brought my attention to where I had last seen her and that's when my heart died, Maria had pulled my beautiful wife into the flames with her.

"My baby!" Irina shrieked and fell to the ground. Vicky collapsed alongside her.

"Bellaaaa! Bellaaaa! No, God, no! Please, not her. Please!" I screamed. I looked behind me and the others were still fighting off newborns. I was on my knees, begging and pleading for mercy. I no longer had the will to fight, the will to live. I stood up and took one last look at my family. They would survive and get to live for eternity with their mates. I was happy for them.

"I'll be right there, baby," I said, as I stepped into the flames and let them consume me. Death would be a welcome respite compared to the pain I was feeling in my heart right now. "I love you, Bella."

**Wasn't Rex's mother a hoot, even on her death bed? Do you think Rex did the right thing by putting her out of her misery while her mind was intact? Weren't Little Rex and Little Tony cuties? As for Maria, she did show up early, but did you notice that she made the exact same mistake as Jasper did? What do you think of the planning committee now? Do you like how the non-vampnapped family members worked cohesively as one unit? More importantly, did you see how supportive Rex and Bella were to each other and how that supportiveness carried over when executing their plan to rescue their mates? Let me know your thoughts. I shall always reply to your reviews. XOXO**


	58. Chapter 58

**Thank you so much for your very emotional responses to the last chapter. Without further ado, I hereby relieve you from hanging off of the cliff that I threw you on. Your triceps must have gotten a phenomenal workout. I know mine did.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

**The Major's POV**

"I'll be right there, baby," I said, as I stepped into the flames and let them consume me. Death would be a welcome respite compared to the pain I was feeling in my heart right now. "I love you, Bella."

I was immediately pulled into the flames. It was actually comforting. It almost felt as if warm arms were wrapped around me. I imagined them to be Bella's arms. I opened my eyes to see a terrified Maria, sitting in the fetal position, cocooned in an invisible forcefield. Flames were flickering around her. Oh, great, I'm in hell and Maria's here, too. I don't even get a fucking break in the afterlife. Ah, well, at least my mate's in heaven. She deserves it. Like Sushmita said, she has a pure soul.

"Jasper! Jasper!"

"Yes, my love?" I asked. They brought Bella to hell? Now, that's odd. I thought for sure they'd send her to heaven.

"Major!" Warm hands turned my chin and I found myself eye to eye with my beautiful mate.

"You're here," I said.

"Of course, I'm here. Where else would I be?"

"You should be in heaven, you should..."

"Baby, we're not dead."

"We're not?"

"Of course not. Try and touch the flames."

I reached out with my hand and attempted to touch the fire. My hand expanded out, but the flames flickered around me.

"It's your shield," I stated in astonishment, then excitement hit me. "Baby, it's your shield! Um, what are you doing hanging out in here?"

"Oh, I was pretty sure you'd dive in after me so I was waiting for you."

"Why would you assume that?"

"Uh, duh, cause if I thought you had died, I'd dive in right after you, too."

"Baby, I think that's the sweetest thing that you've ever said to me." I kissed her full on the lips, then pointed to Maria. "Why is she still alive?"

"Oh, she's not getting off this easy. She's a gift."

"A gift?"

"Oh, yeah."

"For whom?"

"You'll see," she smirked. With that, the two of us rolled the cocooned Maria out of the flames. By the time we hit fresh air again, Maria's soldiers had all been culled and everyone was picking up stray body parts and tossing them into the fire. We had a few injuries on our end. Carlisle and Riley were looking over them now. Esme seemed to be in the worst shape out of everyone. Alice looked just as bad.

"See, I told you they'd be fine," Char stated to a relieved looking Peter. "Wait, what's she doing here?"

"She's a gift for you, the Captain, the Lieutenant, and the Major. I thought that you guys might want to play with her," Bella stated with a smile. "I mean, she got to play with the four of you for years."

"Take the shield off of her, baby," I instructed.

As soon as Bella released her, Vicky grabbed her and sunk her teeth into Maria's neck. Maria started shrieking in pain. "Hello, pet," Vicky drawled maliciously while Charlotte took her venom coated fingers and plunged them into the fresh master's bite.

Pete grinned at Maria. "My grandbaby gave me a gift and I want to go play with her. Did I ever tell you that the Major's mate is my great grandbaby? She has my blood and my venom running through her veins."

"N...n...no, you didn't," Maria stuttered.

"Well, hell, you've got to meet my two grandbabies. Come on over here, kids. Maria, this is Bella, she's my great-granddaughter and the Major's mate. And this here is Riley. He's Vicky's mate. Aren't they gorgeous? They're smart, too. Riley here's a doctor and Bella has a Master of Arts in History from Harvard University. They get their beauty and brains from me, you know."

"I...I...I thought James was Victoria's mate?"

"James," I laughed. "No, no, no. I killed that fucker twenty years ago. You see, he tried to kill my mate. I didn't like that."

"B...b...but he's alive, Lola said she detected his scent. She confirmed it."

"You've been getting careless Maria. Why the fuck would you send someone that's a known double agent out for information?"

"Please, have mercy on my soul. Just kill me now."

Something in me clicked, then. I was done with this, I didn't need to torture Maria, I was at peace with myself, my mate, and with my personal relationships with everyone in my family. I didn't need to blacken my soul further by inflicting pain upon Maria because torturing someone really isn't fun for me. It was a learned art, taught to me by Maria. It wasn't me. My mama raised me better than that.

"Maria, only God can make that judgement," I said, then moved away from her.

Peter, Charlotte, and Vicky all stared at me completely stunned. Maria took the opportunity to attack me and in one fell swoop, she ripped my head off and lobbed it towards the fire. "If I have to die, so do you, mi amor," were Maria's words to me. So, this was it, then. I had made my peace with God and this is how he is choosing to end me.

**The Major's Mate POV**

My Major's head was flying through the air. I saw my brother speed by towards the pyre and catch my Major's head just in front of the flames, as if it were a pass thrown by a quarterback. He tucked his head under his arm like a football and rushed back to my mate's headless body. Thank God my brother was a skilled football player.

Meanwhile, I was seeing red and I jumped on the venomous bitch in front of me and attacked. The whore was strong. She got out from underneath me and started running. This time, I didn't hold back. I tackled her to the ground, taking her leg from her. With one arm, I tossed it into the flickering flames. I ripped both arms simultaneously off of her body, her venom started spraying all over me. I didn't give a fuck. I was completely enraged.

"What have I ever done to you?" the bitch had the nerve to ask. Is she fucking with me?

I became feral and started pounding her head into the earth beneath me. I ripped her hair off of her scalp and her other leg clean off of her.

I picked her up by the throat and had her dangling in mid-air in front of me. "You tried to take my loved ones from me. You fuck with my family, you fuck with me," I growled. "But the worst thing you did was to hurt my mate. My mate. He's my Major. And I'm gonna teach you a lesson that you'll never forget!"

"Please, just let me die. Show me mercy," she pleaded.

"I thought my mate already told you that only God can show you mercy," I replied, then dropped her body to the ground, kicked it for good measure, and ripped her head off of her torso. I proceeded to sit down pretzel style, picked up Maria's head, and placed it on my lap facing the flames. I was going to make the bitch watch her body parts go up in flames.

Amanda appeared from behind me and said, "Let me help you, Belly Mama."

"Sure, sweetheart," I stated, as she threw each of Maria's limbs into the pyre for me until only her torso remained. Amanda stopped, pulled out a Sharpie, and started drawing on Maria's stomach. She drew a big giant heart and inside it she wrote the word's, 'Bella's Bitch.'

"Do you like it?" Amanda asked Maria.

"She can't talk, honey."

"Well, she can still blink," Amanda pointed out.

"Blink twice if you like your new tattoo," I commanded.

She blinked twice.

"Don't ever fuck with my mother!" Amanda yelled, slapped Maria across the face, and hurled the newly decorated torso into the flames before walking away into Edward's arms.

"Let's have a chat, shall we? I'll talk and you listen. After all, my husband once told me that 'two great talkers will not travel far together.' So, obviously, you messed with the wrong family, I think you know that now. You see, I think that your problem is that you've never been loved, therefore you never gave love a chance. If you had given yourself the opportunity to love, you would have seen that amassing all of this territory for feeding grounds was pointless. Money, property, and territory may have made you a rich woman, but in my eyes you're the poorest woman that I've ever met. Why? Because you never understood that simply allowing yourself to love someone could have opened up the gates of happiness for you. If you look behind me..."

I turned her head so she could see my family.

"Well, that's my family. I love each and every one of them, even Alice. I can't wait until she goes back to work at Walmart because it keeps her sane and you can't beat that employee discount on top of their already rolled back, low prices, but that's a story for another day. The point is that I love my family and they love me also. I know this because they prove it to me day after day by their words and their actions. Sure, sometimes we get into little spats, but in the end, we're all aware that we'll all love each other for all of eternity. That's why, when you took our loved ones from us, we came to rescue them because that's what family does. We go after the ones that try to harm our loved ones because they mean the world to us. Look around you, Maria. What do you have? I would say, you have nothing, absolutely nothing. I'm going to leave you here to ponder my words now." I got up, walked to my loved ones, and tumbled into their waiting arms.

It was over. Maria was no longer a threat to our family. Her army was nothing, but a pile of ash and she had no one that loved her enough to save her. All she had left was her battered head.

A few minutes later, I saw the Major pick up Maria's head and speak to her. "That was my mate, Maria, she's intelligent, isn't she? She loves me and her love is all I need to keep me going. You know what's sad? There was a time in my life when I loved you and I would have followed you to the ends of the earth, but you didn't have it in your heart to return that love. Heck, you couldn't even love yourself, let alone someone else. It's unfortunate, really. I'm gonna put you out of your misery now, Maria. But first I have to thank you. I have to thank you for giving me this life and for giving me the tools to survive for so long in it, because if you didn't give me this life, I wouldn't have everything good and wonderful that I have now. Most of all though, had you not changed me, I would have never met my mate and I would have never known what's it like to be loved so thoroughly and unconditionally that everyday feels like a day in heaven. So, for that, Maria, no matter what your transgressions were against me and my family and no matter how hard you tried to break me, I forgive you. Good luck in the afterlife. May God have mercy on your soul." With that, the Major placed Maria's head in the pyre. She was gone for good now and my Major was finally able to free his soul.

He watched the head burn, then started walking back to me. I met him halfway. He pulled me into his arms and held me, sending me copious amounts of love, joy, and adoration and filling my heart with warmth. He loved me. I loved him. Nothing else really mattered.

**Sushmita's POV **

What I had seen when I read Bella and Jasper's souls all those years ago had finally come to fruition. What Jasper needed to do in order to free his soul was forgive his sire for all of her transgressions against him and admit to her that he did, in fact, once love her. By forgiving Maria, Jasper was finally able to let go of the past so he could live peacefully with his beloved Isabella now and forevermore.

As Sahil held me, I watched Jasper and Bella doing the same. The adoration that Jasper held in his eyes for his mate was contagious. They had no idea that with Bella's destruction of the evil that was Maria, many changes were coming to our family. Oh, they had absolutely no idea. I had to chuckle at the thought.

I heard the man that I had come to think of as my father, Eleazar, make an announcement. "Everyone, we can reunite later. There's still work to be done. We must make sure that there are no lingering body parts and we have to clear Maria's camp. We have a couple of injuries that need to be taken care of immediately as well. Riley will return to Bella's new house to handle those, while the rest of us stay to take care of everything here."

"What new house?" I heard Jasper asking Bella.

"I'll tell you later."

With a sigh, we all went back to work. With Mike's tracking skills, the grounds we fought on were cleared in minutes. The fire was still raging, though. It was only a matter of time before firefighters approached the area.

We went back to Maria's encampment to sweep the buildings of any lingering vampires and to find her personal documents. Except for the power neutralizer and the incapacitator having sex in the saloon, the buildings were clear. Maria's documents were all organized in one file cabinet in an office in the brothel. We found three laptop computers there, presumably belonging to her and her two lovers. We took those along with us and torched the entire camp including the two remaining vampires in order to rid the place of all evidence of any recent inhabitants. We quickly ran back to Bella's new house in Telluride as we heard fire engines approaching the area.

We immediately separated from each other and went off to our rooms to spend time with our mates. Seventy-two hours later, we all gathered in the living room for a meeting led by Jasper.

"I did some accounting together with Amar. Between Maria, Regina Bower, Catalina Cuevas, and Vito Guerra's assets, we've amassed a total of roughly nine billion dollars. As you already know, Vito Guerra was worth roughly 2.8 billion dollars. Catalina Cuevas and Regina Bowers were worth roughly 1.2 billion dollars combined. Their assets were mainly in the form of property which I took the liberty of liquidating when we seized their territory nearly two years ago. Now, Maria is worth about five billion dollars. Her assets are mainly in the form of cash with roughly a billion dollars in property. Everything else is being held in a Swiss bank account. Her account number is the same as she's had for decades so fortunately that's something that I've retained in my memory since I set the account up for her. Why she never changed it, I have no idea."

Jasper took a deep, unneeded breath before continuing. "So, here's what it comes down to. Out of the nine billion dollars, we've used five million dollars to purchase the property in Cheboygan, build sixteen homes, maintain the property, and fund this operation. I'd like to keep the property plus a hundred million dollars in reserve on the off chance that we run into this type of situation again, which I highly doubt. In any case, the property in Cheboygan is great for hunting, fishing, and all types of winter sports. The interest earned on the hundred million will cover the taxes and upkeep of the property. This leaves us with roughly eight billion eight hundred ninety-five million dollars to be divided equally amongst sixteen couples after we liquidate Maria's property and assuming we get our asking price, of course. So, after all is said and done, each couple should have approximately five hundred fifty-five million dollars coming to them."

"Fuck me," Tony gasped. I think that's exactly how most of us felt except for Jasper, Amar, Peter, Eleazar, and Carlisle. Those five were already worth much more than that, Jasper, alone, having at least triple the wealth of the latter four combined.

"Just another day in the office," Peter joked.

I was, of course, blown away by the amount. Sahil and I had some money, but Amar had always taken care of all of our expenses for us. We didn't even have our own bank account. I would have to talk to Bella about this. There were other things that I needed to discuss with her anyway. For one, Sahil and I have been talking about living away from Amar and Amrita for a few years. We wanted to live life on our own terms for once, but we knew that we needed help in accomplishing this.

"I have a request," Amar announced.

Everyone turned their attention to him. "I need help harvesting tea again this year. Would any of you be willing to assist?"

Every single person in our family volunteered to help. It was nice knowing that we had such a wonderful family to rely on for things big and small.

A couple of hours later, everyone was doing their own thing. Most of the men were down in the basement, either bowling or playing in the arcade that came with the house. Esme was working diligently on the landscaping of the house, planting new flowers, trimming the bushes, and spreading new grass seed. Amrita and Rosie were busy threading body hairs off of each other while Claude and Gianna took care of haircuts.

Bella was sitting in the living room reading a book. Now was a good opportunity for me to speak with her. I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if we could perhaps go for a walk.

"Sure, I have to go pick up more contact lenses for us anyway. We'll have to walk since we don't have a vehicle anymore." That's right, Jasper's beloved Tahoe was blown up in our efforts to take out the bulk of Maria's army.

After we were a few miles away from the house, I finally got the courage to speak. "Bella, Sahil and I want to live away from Amar and Amrita, but we've never been on our own. We don't even have our own bank account and, quite frankly, we don't know how to do it. On top of that, I'm pretty sure that Amrita will try to stop us and I don't want to live too far from you, but I don't know how you'd feel and..."

"Shh, let's take this one step at a time. First of all, calm down."

I did as Bella asked. "Second, I'm not surprised that you two want to live independently. You've been with Amar and Amrita for four hundred years, you need a change and you need a chance to grow on your own."

"Would you help us, Bella?"

"Now, why would you even think that I wouldn't help you, Sush? You know I love you."

"I'm just afraid. I want to go to school Bella. Do you realize that I have no education whatsoever? I can barely read, Bella. They just didn't educate people of my caste in India four hundred years ago. And I don't want to go to Charlotte's school."

"Uh, yeah, I wouldn't recommend Char's school either. Come here." Bella opened up her comforting arms to me and hugged me. "We'll make it work, okay? I promise."

Her words were a comfort to me and I felt sure that everything was going to work out.

**Jasper's POV**

I saw that Bella and Sushmita were finally home. I needed to talk to my mate so I jumped out of our window so that I could greet them. I felt intense anxiety coming from Sushmita so I gave her a hug and sent her feelings of peace. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and walked inside.

"Let's go for a walk, baby," I suggested. We had made love for two days straight, then I was holed up in my office going over finances with Amar so I hadn't had a chance to discuss anything with Bella. On top of that, we had to figure out what we were going to do from this point on.

"Sure."

I put my arm around Bella as we walked. "I can't believe we've been together for twenty years," I noted.

"I know, me too."

"I still love you as much as ever, maybe even more."

"I can never stop loving you, Jasper."

That thought alone warmed my heart. We came to a little coffee shop, purchased two coffees for show, and sat down.

"We haven't talked about what happened the other day, yet," I said.

"No, we haven't. We probably should, though."

"Bella, I just want to say that I'm proud of you. Chelsea told me how you and Rex came up with most of the plan to rescue us and included everyone in the decision making process. You two were fair, creative, and you utilized every single resource you had. In hindsight, we should have used your method of inclusion from the beginning. I was pigheaded, an asshole, and..."

"...and you did the best you could because your method of taking command was all you knew, Jasper. I only did things the way that I did because it was the only way I knew how. I knew that I didn't have all of the answers, therefore it would have been unfair for me not to include everyone. For example, using sex as a weapon wasn't my idea at all. It was Mike's."

"Still, Bella, I'm sorry for the way I acted. I really am. I know one thing, I will never, ever underestimate you again," I stated. "By the way, how did you know that you could shield yourself from fire?"

"I didn't know. I saw Charlotte thrown into the fire so my gut response was to throw my physical shield over her. After that, I just walked into the pyre to go and retrieve her. I couldn't let her die, you see."

She had a heart of gold, my wife. She threw her life on the line for Charlotte and she would do it in a heartbeat for anyone in the family, even Alice. Okay, maybe not Alice.

I slid my hand across the table and offered it to her. She placed her hand in mine and squeezed.

"So, what are we going to do now that this is all over?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know. I was hoping that you had a plan."

"I don't do plans anymore, they can get pretty hairy," I chuckled. "I'll make it easier for you then. Let's start with tomorrow. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Buy a new vehicle," Bella stated nonchalantly.

"Why? What happened to your Ferrari?"

"The Ferrari's fine. It's in our garage in Michigan. The Tahoe kind of died though."

"What do you mean the Tahoe died? That's the best vehicle I've ever owned. Rose just had to fix the steering column."

"Oh, she did fix it, then we drove it here."

"Did it die on the way up here?" This really hurt. I loved that SUV. "Maybe it didn't really die. Maybe Rosie and Pete can take a look at it."

"Honey, the Tahoe's not coming back."

"Why not?"

"Because we kind of used it as a giant molotov cocktail so that we could take out a few hundred of Maria's vampires."

"M...m...molotov cocktail," I whimpered. "Oh, my poor Tahoe."

"I'm sorry, Jasper. It was for a good cause. We can buy another one tomorrow."

"Couldn't you pick up a rusty old used truck and do the same thing?"

"We were in a rush, baby," Bella soothed.

"I could have waited another hour," I said. I know I was being ridiculous and unreasonable, but I really loved that Tahoe. "Wait a minute? Was that huge pyre in the middle of the clearing caused by my Tahoe?"

"Yes, and you got to sit in the middle of it so, in a way, you got to say goodbye to it," she offered brightly.

I sighed, "I'm just glad we're all safe and this is all over with. Come on, let's go home."

The two of us started walking back home. "Hey, you never told me why you bought that house? Don't get me wrong. I really like it, but what made you buy it?"

"Well, we needed a base camp. Riley knows the area well because he's from here. He found the vacant house and suggested that we rent it for a month. I spoke to the realtor, the owner only wanted to sell, so I decided to just buy it."

"How much was it?"

"Twelve million, fully furnished. I used the money I won playing slots in Las Vegas that one time. Did I do the right thing? I wasn't sure, I've never purchased property before."

"Hell, yeah. That house is like a luxury resort. Who was the previous owner?"

"Some big wig executive of a Fortune 500 company. The realtor told me that he used it as a corporate retreat, that's why there are so many rooms in it and the additional guest house."

"Well, hell, the house is perfect for us. Did you know that there's a huge wine cellar in the basement? The guy left most of his wine and whiskey behind."

"Nope, I had no idea. I didn't even know there was a wine cellar."

"We're throwing a party. I mean, come on, we've just been to war and back. I think we deserve one."

"I agree, baby, but not tonight. I just want to spend time with you," Bella cooed.

"Okay." I pulled her chin up and stared into her blood red eyes. Her contacts had dissolved. "What made y'all decide to feed off of humans?"

"Ah, that all started because of me and Rex."

"Why?"

"Jasper, when we went to visit Rex's mom, she was taking her last breaths. It was weird, she awakened all of a sudden and she recognized Rex. She was completely lucid for once. Anyway, to make a long story short, for some reason she knew. She knew that we weren't human and she asked Rex to help her get to heaven while she still had her own mind. He couldn't say no. So, he bit her. The only problem was that he couldn't finish the deed. She looked at me and asked me to help him, so I did. We ended her life together. After we got back, we saw you guys being taken by Maria. We got to discussing why Rex and my eyes were red, Chelsea suggested that human blood will make us stronger, we talked about it, and we all ended up drinking donated human blood to fuel up for the fight."

"Bella, are you okay with what you did? I mean about Rex's mom."

"Oddly, yes. I'm at peace with it because I helped her find peace by letting her die on her own terms. Does that make any sense to you?"

Rex and Bella gave his mother the ultimate gift. Death with dignity. She no longer wanted to suffer, she was competent, and had made her peace with God so they let her end her life on her own terms. "Yes, Bella, it does."

_**One month later...**_

None of us could make a decision about what to do so we ended up returning to Cheboygan, packing up our belongings into moving trucks, and moving everything to Colorado temporarily. We also needed to pick our vehicles up, for now, Bella and I were using the Ferrari, but come winter we'd have to pick up an SUV because we were smack dab in the middle of ski county. Personally, I couldn't wait until winter so I could go skiing with Riley and Mike.

Eleazar, Carmen and our Indian brothers and sisters had all returned to Darjeeling three days ago. Bella told me about what Sush and Sahil wanted to do. I already knew, though. Sahil had talked to both me and Emmett privately. I didn't blame them for wanting to live independently one bit, they couldn't live as Amrita and Amar's servants for all of eternity. Even though, they were extremely close and there was no mistreatment between the couples, there was an injustice with the way Sahil and Sushmita took care of all the cleaning, the laundry, the maintenance of the palace, and even washing the couple. I'm sure that Amar and Amrita have just settled into their ways because that's how it's always been, but it needed to stop. The fact that Sush and Sahil could barely read or didn't even have their own bank accounts was unsettling. Emmett and I vowed to make it better for them when we go to India in two months to help with the tea harvest.

I walked downstairs and walked into the kitchen. "What in God's name are you fuckers doing?" I asked. Bella, Rex, Tony, and Mike were wearing aprons and screwing around with measuring cups and mixing spoons. The kitchen looked like a chemistry lab. They had blood in different containers and they were mixing different types to see what they could come up with. "I thought you guys had given up on blood play twenty years ago. Why the sudden revival?"

"Are you kidding? This kitchen is awesome. Come here, Jasper, feel how smooth this granite counter top is. Don't you just want to make love to it?" Tony asked while pulling me over and making me run my hand over the surface. "How could we ignore such a work of art?"

"Tony, you're such a fag," I chuckled.

"Yes, and proud of it. Now, sit down and try this. It's moose, mountain lion, a touch of grizzly, and a smattering of Merlot."

I sat and stared at the bowl and spoon in front of me. "Um, Tony, can't I just have it in a mug?"

"Of course not, you're not a neanderthal. I swear, you and Rex are like two peas in a pod. Dining is a sensory experience, food is meant to be indulged slowly, not inhaled."

"How the fuck did you survive in the army?" I asked.

"No, shit," Rex agreed.

"At least I wasn't a jarhead like you," I heard Tony mutter under his breath to his brother.

Great, not this again. I saw Bella smack her forehead. The two were growling at each other in the middle of the kitchen. Meanwhile, the blood in the bowl was looking pretty tasty so I took the opportunity to chug it down and, "Holy shit! This tastes like steak!"

"Oh, good, you like it," Tony said with a smile.

"Can I have more?"

"Yeah, after I beat the shit out of this grunt."

"Take it outside!" Bella ordered. "Rex, remember to go easy on your little brother, he can't fight for shit!"

Mike held the front door open and soon Rex and Tony were rolling around in the grass smacking each other silly. "Man, that Tony can't fight," he commented.

Claude and Tanya came to the front door, took a look at their mates, and turned back around and went back to whatever they were doing. About ten minutes later, Emmett and Felix went out, grabbed one brother each and threw them into the indoor pool and told them to cool off.

A few minutes later, Tony arrived in the kitchen wearing jeans and no shirt, there was a line in the kitchen waiting for steak. Mike handed everyone jugs. "We need one more moose and several mountain lions." Several of the men dashed out to go hunt.

"I know what we're going to attempt next," Bella said.

"What, wifey?" Rex asked. He had shown up in the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel and his hair was all wet.

"Ooh, yummy," Bella chuckled seeing Rex. I growled at her. "Um, anyway, how about Chicken Tikka Masala. The four of us have discussed how much we used to love Indian food."

"I like that idea, it's challenging," Tony said. "But I want to try and replicate your lasagna."

"Why don't we do both?" Mike suggested. "I've had Bella's lasagna when I was human once, it's definitely worth replicating."

Rose walked into the kitchen covered in engine grease just then. "Ooh, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," she stated upon seeing Rex. "Tony, your Jetta is done for, you need a transmission, water pump, timing chain, clutch, brakes, and rotors. I can do it for you, but it isn't worth fixing. The car is eighteen years old, it's time you said goodbye to it. Trust me, I know it's not easy."

Rose had just junked her beloved BMW, Peter and I had to hold her back from nearly ripping apart the tow truck driver from the salvage yard when he came to take it away.

"But, I love that car. It was my first new car. I bought it when I graduated from college," Tony whimpered.

"Bro, you've got to let it go." Rex gave Tony a hug.

"I swear, there's something oddly arousing about that sight," Irina commented as she came to sit with us in the kitchen. The three women had lustful smiles plastered on their faces as they stared longingly at the two shirtless incubi.

"Oh, fuck me," Vicky commented as she and Charlotte arrived in the kitchen. I could smell their arousal instantly.

"Hey, you two. Put a fucking shirt on!" I yelled.

Tony finally recovered and turned to my wife. "Bella, would you go car shopping with me?"

"Wait a minute! Why the fuck are you asking Bella to go with you?" Rose asked, angrily.

"Because she's not unreasonable when it comes to cars."

"What the fuck do you mean by Bella's not unreasonable? She went out and bought a fucking Ferrari on a whim!"

"Yeah, but she was under extreme duress, then. Besides, she doesn't drive it."

"That's cause she can't drive a stick shift!"

"Hey, maybe I can trade the Ferrari in for an automatic one," Bella mused.

"NO!" Everyone in the room yelled at once except for Rex. Of course, the dunderhead couldn't drive a manual transmission car to save his life.

"Geez, I was just thinking out loud. Sure, I'll go with you, Tony."

_**The next day...**_

I ended up being the one that went with Tony to buy a new car. Bella insisted that I pick up a new Tahoe because she was sick of being stranded at home with nothing to drive. Of course, there were thirteen other couples in the house, most with two vehicles, but everyone hated loaning their car out to Bella because they thought that she couldn't drive for shit. It simply wasn't true, though. She was just a careful driver that obeyed traffic laws, and always drove at speed limit. Rex, Felix, and Garrett drove like she did, too.

Tony ended up purchasing a brand new manual transmission, Volkswagen Beetle, fully loaded and special ordered in purple. That's right, purple. He was actually going back and forth between hot pink and purple, but ended up settling with purple because hot pink would be just too obvious, in his words. I ain't borrowing that car, that's for sure. It was being delivered next week at the same time as my Chevy Tahoe. They didn't have a red one available on the lot, but that's the color that I wanted so I'd have to wait.

Claude was waiting for us when we arrived at home, "What did you end up with, Tony?"

"A purple Volkswagen Beetle. It'll be delivered next week."

"Did you have to be so obvious, honey?"

"He almost went with hot pink," I informed Claude.

"I'm not sure which is better. Couldn't you go with a nice red?"

"No, and it's my car. Bella and I researched the special edition colors online and it came down to hot pink and purple."

"Did you get it?" Bella rushed down excitedly.

"Yep, I got purple."

"Awesome, though I wish you would have gotten hot pink. It was so cute!"

"Bella, stop encouraging him," Claude said.

"Oh, shut up, you. It's his car!" Bella chastised. "Besides, at least he's not so obviously gay like you are."

"Touche, my dear," he chuckled.

An hour later, Esme came to talk to us. "I'm wondering if I can toss an idea at you both," she said.

"Sure, Mom, what's up?" I said.

"Okay, follow me." She led us to the very back of the house. "Do you see this hallway, leading to the back door?"

We nodded our heads acknowledging that we did. Esme continued, "Now, many of us are planning on skiing this winter. This is obviously the entrance that leads to the ski slopes, but it's too narrow. Picture yourselves in ski boots, carrying your skis, trying get in and out of this entrance."

Huh, she's right, it is too narrow. "I see your point, what are you proposing?"

"Well, with both your approval, of course, I'd like to expand this hallway out about twenty feet and put in double doors. I'd also like to turn this into a mud room slash locker room of sorts."

"That's a great idea, Esme. I don't ski so I wouldn't know, but what you're saying is logical," Bella said. Which way would you expand out?"

Esme took us outside and showed us her idea. It would work for sure and would improve upon an obvious design flaw.

"Well, Bella and I are on board. Are we hiring contractors?"

"No, it's too easy a job. Emmett, Riley, and Felix can handle it." I noticed that she didn't include me in the group. Hell, I wouldn't include me in the group. I'm man enough to admit that I suck at this stuff.

I pulled out my Home Depot card from my wallet and told Esme to go nuts. That made my mom happy. She was clearly bored and needed an outlet because she ran out of the house and took off.

My cell phone started ringing at that moment, "Hello?"

"Mr. Jasper, this is Jenks, I need to speak with you about something important if I may. Would you be available to come to my office sometime this week?"

"Uh, sure. I'll catch a flight out in the morning," I stated before ending the call.

It was a little unsettling. Jenks never asks me to come and see him. I decided to leave tonight so I could be at his office first thing in the morning. I jumped on my laptop and found a flight that left Telluride at four pm with a connection in Denver that would get me to Seattle by eight pm.

I was about to book the ticket when Bella leaned over me and changed the number of passengers to two. Phew! She was coming with me.

By nine pm, we were checked-in to our waterfront suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. I wasn't sure how long we'd need so I booked the room for three nights, just in case. For some reason, I was jittery and jumpy all night. Something didn't feel right about that phone call.

The next morning, we were at Jenks's office, waiting for him to show up. I was about to tell him off for making me feel so jittery when I stopped myself. The last time I saw Jenks was right before Bella and I got married. Since then, all of our transactions have been conducted by mail. He had aged considerably and was now using a cane.

"Hello, Mr. Jenks," Bella greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Ah, Miss Isabella, how are you, young lady?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. How about you, sir?"

"I'm getting old, as you can see, which brings me to why it was urgent that I see Mr. Jasper."

I decided to be nice for once. I didn't need to intimidate Jenks, he looked like he was one step away from keeling over dead.

"What did you need to see me for, Jenks?"

"Mr. Jasper, for the last ten years, you and your extended family have been my only remaining clients. I retired the rest of my practice at that time. I have handled all of your transactions from forged documents to Miss Isabella's most recent real estate purchase for many decades now. I'm also taking care of the sale of Maria Asesina de la Noche's properties. They're all pending, by the way, so you should have your money soon. Here's the thing, I'm getting old, Mr. Jasper. Clearly, the end of my life is approaching and I'd like a chance to fully enjoy my retirement and the last few years of my life before I die. It's also clear that you, Miss. Isabella, and the rest of your family have better genes than I do because you don't age at all. The point I'm getting at is that you will outlive me. Where will you go for your papers then?"

"Um, I never thought about that."

"That's what I thought. So, as my last act as your lawyer, I'd like to teach you everything I know about document forgery. As you can see, my hands are too shaky now. It would be impossible for me to fulfill your request for your newest set of documents. I'll tell you what to do and we'll do them together with me guiding you. After that, you'll have to handle any future needs yourself because I'm afraid I won't be around to do them for you."

Well, shit, I wasn't expecting that. I keep forgetting that Jenks is only human. He's been around for so long that I thought that he'd be around as long as we'd be around.

"Now, let's get started, shall we?" he suggested.

"Sure, and, uh, thank you, Mr. Jenks."

"You're welcome. Perhaps it would be prudent if Miss Isabella learned the trade as well. You do have a rather large extended family."

And so we got started. We worked all day with Mr. Jenks and even treated him to lunch and stomached human food so he wouldn't have to eat alone. He said that we'd have to meet again for the next four days. He taught us everything he knew about the craftier side of his business and urged us both to attend law school. At the end of the four days, he boxed up all of his forgery equipment, gave us every single document related to our family, and wished us well.

I tried to offer him a million dollars in payment, but he wouldn't accept it. His response was, "It was an honor to serve your family Mr. Jasper. You've made me a very wealthy man and I have more than enough to retire comfortably. I'll be living out the rest of my days in Hawaii in case you need me, but if you or Miss Isabella run into any snafus, call upon Miss Rosalie first. My father taught her everything at the same time he taught me. She'll know what to do."

Well, that was a surprise. Rose? I looked at Bella and she wasn't shocked at all. In fact, she flashed me a brilliant, knowing smile. My wife leaned over and pecked Mr. Jenks on the cheek. "Thank you for everything, Mr. Jenks. Good luck in Hawaii."

"You know, Mr. Jasper, I think that Miss Isabella is the best thing that ever happened to you. I was never a fan of Miss Alice. She was too annoying."

"I agree. Thank you, Mr. Jenks."

"Goodbye, Mr. Jasper."

We left the office and went back to our hotel. We had human food to bring up, after all.

Later, while we were lying in bed watching TV, I asked Bella how she knew that Rosie could forge documents.

"You'll have to ask her yourself, Jasper. It's not my secret to tell." She kissed my mark and it sent electricity churning through my system. I tilted my head so I could kiss her lips.

"Mmm..." she moaned, as she slowly pulled my t-shirt up over my head. I inched my hand under her shirt and started fumbling with her beautiful breasts. I heard her gasp as I grazed my hand over her nipples. We made out like that for a few minutes before we finally started making love. It wasn't frenzied and crazed like our usual sex, this time it was lazy and drawn out. Neither of us in a rush to go anywhere. Occasionally, we'd stop to take in the beautiful view of Elliott Bay from our bed. Other times, we'd just stop to kiss and I, for one, bathed in the beautiful feelings of love emitted by my mate. In the morning, we were relaxed, fully sated, and completely in love with each other; just like we had always been and would always be.

By mid-afternoon the next day, we arrived back home in Telluride. I was looking forward to having a chat with Rosie about how she knew all about forgery. It was when we were living in Vancouver, Canada. She told me about how Jenks's father taught her how to forge documents in the early seventies because she pretty much begged him. He taught his son at the same time so he could get it over with. Rose wanted to learn because she was feeling stifled at home with Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett being so overprotective, Edward reading her mind, and Alice looking into her future. She couldn't make a decision on her own without either Edward or Alice finding out and informing Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett. So, one day, she got the courage to shield her thoughts and go to the only person that she felt could help her—Mr. Jenks, Senior. And, to make a long story short, he helped her learn his art over a period of one week during which time Alice thought she was in Seattle browsing around auto salvage yards.

Rosie seemed relieved to be able to get everything off of her chest. The only person she had ever told was Bella and she had sworn her to secrecy. I told Rose that Jenks essentially left the three of us in charge of taking care of the forgery from this point on and that he suggested that we all attend law school so we could get to know the different laws. Then, we opened up the box containing Jenks's forgery equipment together and went through everything. He even gave us his laptop which contained all the updated software for his forgery operation.

My sister then turned to me with a serious expression upon her face. "Jasper, what are you and Bella planning on doing now that this is all over?"

"We haven't made a decision, yet. The only thing we know for sure is that we're going to help Amar out with the tea harvest next month. Why?"

"Jasper, I just don't want you guys to go away for four years like you did when you moved to Dubai. That was really tough for me."

"Rosie, I can't give you any concrete answers right now. I know that you and Pete want to re-start your business and I don't think your fear of being away from Bella should stop you from planning your future."

"Oh, this is so hard. I hate change so much."

"Think of change as a new adventure, sis." I pulled Rose onto my lap and held her. "No matter what happens or where our lives take us, one thing will never change. You and Emmett will never, ever be far from our hearts."

**Darjeeling, India**

_**One month later...**_

We were done harvesting this year's massive amount of tea. I didn't mind helping at all, I was used to hard work. It brought me back to my human days when I used to toil on my Daddy's farm. This was a little different though. We were vampires so a job that would normally take humans close to a month was completed in two days. This is why Amar's tea farm was such a big money maker. When I first had the idea of the family helping Amar with the harvesting, he protested. I argued that if we could harvest the tea quickly, we could prepare the soil for next year's crop that much faster. So, we decided to give it a try. Amar was able to double his harvest in one year, therefore making him even more of a profit.

I was helping Amar with the business end of things, having invested in twenty percent of his tea business that first year when I met him and he asked for help. It was a huge money maker and most of the high end tea purveyors purchased their crop from Amar.

We were all relaxing in the living room of his massive palace smoking hookah's and having drinks when I decided to make an announcement. "I received a call from Jenks the other day, it was his last order of business with our family. As I explained to you before, he is now retired and will no longer be handling our family's legal business. Paperwork and identity papers will now be handled by me, Bella, and Rosie. Edward has agreed to assist us with any type of legal quagmires since he's the only lawyer in our family so far. I think that between the four of us and all of our vast knowledge combined, we should be able to swim through life without any problems. In any case, Jenks called to let me know that Maria's property has finally sold. Our initial estimates that her property was worth one billion dollars were wrong, we ended up taking an eighty million dollar loss due to unpaid taxes and poor maintenance on her part. In the end, her property sold for nine hundred twenty million combined. It was mostly large tracts of land throughout the southwestern United States. The good news is that her property was sold in her name so any capital gains tax was taken care of in her name."

I paused before continuing. "So, our initial estimates were obviously too high. After paying the capital gains tax, we made a profit of seven hundred and thirty-six million dollars from her property. Anyway, our total profit was eight billion, six hundred thrity-one million dollars in total from the three seizures. That leaves each couple with five hundred thirty-nine million, four hundred thirty seven thousand, five hundred dollars."

"Still not a bad day at the office, Major," Peter commented.

"Okay, so now the question is, what do you want me to do with the cash. My recommendation is for each of you to open an offshore account. If you hold that money in the United States, you're just going to get taxed until there's nothing left. Carlisle, Peter, Eleazar, and I have accounts in Switzerland. Amar has one in Singapore. I think both places have sound banking systems, my worry about Singapore is that they may sign the Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the United States soon, but there are ways around that. Amar is safe because he's an Indian citizen, I highly doubt that an agreement of that sort will ever be signed between the two countries. The choice is up to you."

Edward spoke next, "I did some research and my opinion is that the most prudent choice is Switzerland. Their banking system is the most fiscally sound. They're also top notch when it comes to financial privacy."

"Jasper, you can transfer both my money and Sahil's into my account in Singapore. I will handle it for him."

"No," Sahil said, all of a sudden. Aw, hell, here it comes. "Amar, I appreciate the fact that you want to take care of me and Sushmita, but it's time we started handling our lives on our own."

The look of shock and worry on Amar's face was palpable. "Why so suddenly? Have I done anything to offend you, brother?"

"No, it's not that at all. It's been a pleasure being in your household. The thing is, we've been together for four hundred years with you making all of the decisions and handling everything from the business, to the household, to finances, and even vacations. Sushmita and I would like to make those decisions for ourselves now."

"But what of the business, the tea farm?" Amar asked.

"This is not a permanent separation by any means and we will return to help whenever you need us."

"Wait, by separation, do you mean you're leaving?" Amrita asked with tears in her eyes. "Sushmita, you're my soul sister. Please, don't leave me."

"Amrita, the time has come for us to go our separate ways. I can assure you that this is only temporary, though."

"I can't Sushmita, I can't do it with you."

"Yes, you can. You and Amar need to spend time together without having to worry about Sahil and me. You also need to learn how to run the household by yourself. I no longer wish to be responsible for all of the household chores alone, you must share in the responsibility with your mate. This is your house, not mine and Sahil's and it's high time that you learned how to maintain it by yourselves. Amrita, you don't even know how to launder your clothes or sweep the floors. And Amar can't even bathe himself without someone's assistance."

Amrita's mouth was hanging open. She was unable to say anything as she took in the hard truth handed to her by her sister.

"I say this, not in a vindictive way, but because I love you. You need to learn to take responsibility for all facets of your life just like Sahil and I do. Our brothers and sisters in America do it everyday, we need to learn from their way of life."

Amrita broke down and started sobbing. Carmen held her, all the while telling her that Sush's words were reasonable.

Amar took a deep breath. "My brother and sister, I thank you for your honesty and for your years of service. When you do choose to leave, you leave with my blessing and as equals, not as master and servant."

We all breathed a sigh of relief. The four of them handled the situation beautifully and with maturity. There was an uncomfortable silence permeating the air. We all decided to go for a hunt. We needed to savor the tigers while we were here.

Amar asked if he could hunt with me. Bella, who overheard, took off with Rosie with a wink. Amar and I ran deep into the jungle away from prying ears before he spoke. "Jasper, do you think that I've offended Sahil in any way? I'm concerned about him wanting to venture out on his own."

"I don't think so, Amar. I think that, to him, you'll always be his closest brother. I think it's just as Sushmita put it, they need to venture out on their own for a while. Amar, you have to admit that it can't be easy for the two of them. They're in an odd situation. Sahil and Sush are your brother and sister yet they still serve you and Amrita. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel?"

"I don't know, I was born to be a Maharaja. I've known nothing else my entire existence, but I realize that times have changed. When I think about it now, I should have released both of them from service years ago. Do you think that they'll ever forgive me?"

I was about to speak when Felix appeared out of nowhere. "I'm sorry for interrupting you both, but I overheard your conversation. I hope you won't mind if I offer my opinion here.

"No, please, go right ahead," Amar said.

"Thanks. Amar, like you, I was born into a life of privilege. We had slaves for everything, from running the household to working the fields. For my entire childhood, I didn't have to lift a finger. Heck, I didn't even have to feed myself until I became seven years old. The thing is, in our family, we treated our slaves like family members. We gave them beautiful living quarters, a stipend, and days off. They were all given an education, too. I thought that was enough, but once I was forced into service with the Volturi and not allowed any freedom, I realized that while we gave our slaves the wings to fly, they were never given the freedom to do so. No matter how much freedom we gave them, we still held their ownership papers. You allowed Sahil and Sushmita to have the same opportunities that you and Amrita enjoyed, but at the end of the day, they were always your servants. That's why they need the opportunity to go out and find themselves."

I'm not adding to that. That was perfect. Felix, of all people, would know better than anyone because he has been in the position of both master and servant. I can't improve upon his speech any further.

"Thank you, Felix. I think I understand better now."

"Good, glad I can be of use. I actually came here looking for you because Gianna wants to go dancing. Are there any places in Darjeeling that we can go to?"

"Not really, Darjeeling shuts down by seven pm usually. What if we run to Delhi? There are many nightclubs there and it's only a three hour run. It'll take nine hours to drive. I think Amrita and I can use a night out, too."

"I'm all for it," I piped in. I could use a night of unwinding. After working the fields, a night out on the town sounded like a blast.

"Alright, let's hunt quickly, bathe, then go."

The three of us quickly took down two tigers each before running home. We ran into the bathing chambers, ready to rinse off and dive into the massive communal tub, when we saw that the women had beat us there. Amar put two fingers to his lips and motioned for us to follow him. He led us to a different entrance where we ran into Sahil, Emmett, and Garrett. The three of them were peering through a door that was slightly ajar watching they're mates bathe.

Like the perverts we were, we watched our mates soap each other down so they could climb into the tub.

"Ow, Gianna!" Bella yelped as she had her ass smacked. Now, that was hot.

"When are you going to learn to brush your hair?"

Rose and Gianna were working on brushing the tangles out of Bella's hair simultaneously.

"Move," Sushmita huffed. She worked some kind of oil through Bella's hair with her fingers. "Now try."

This time, Gianna was able to comb through Bella's hair easily. "What did you put in her hair?"

"It's coconut oil and some herbs. I've been making it myself since I was human. Many women in India use this infusion for their hair. But Bella, you must brush your hair daily. I don't understand how you can be so lazy about it! A woman's hair is her crowning glory. I've told you time and time again and you keep ignoring it."

"Oh, if you think her hair's bad. Wait 'til you see Charlotte's. This is horrific!"

"Oh, I agree. If you think Bella's hair is tangled, this is bad. My comb has been stuck in this position for the last three minutes," Claude complained. Charlotte was yelping as he tried to comb out her tangled locks.

Claude? What the fuck is he doing bathing with our women? All six of us looked perplexedly at each other.

Sush passed her infusion to Claude who ran the oil through Charlotte's hair. He took a sniff of it. "Ooh! This smells yummy," he gushed as he easily combed through Peter's mate's hair. "Who's going to do my hair?"

Tanya shampooed Claude's hair for him, then worked some of that supposedly yummy oil through his hair. The women and Claude were completely rinsed then sat in the tub and talked.

Suddenly, my mate inhaled a deep breath and nudged Katie. The two of them turned toward us and yelled, "Perverts!"

"Jasper Whitlock! I can smell you! I know you're there!" Bella screamed.

"I smell you, too, Garrett!"

"Fuck!" we all yelled. We tried to run, but Bella threw her physical shield on us. Kate got out of the tub, held my mate's hand, and suddenly we were all writhing in pain on the floor. I wonder when they learned that trick?

The women and Claude all got out of the tub and wrapped towels around themselves.

"You know, I feel completely violated!" Claude complained. He feels violated? He's a guy bathing with our mates. True, he's a flamer, but he still has a working dick.

"You should feel violated!" Amrita stated. "Whose idea was this?"

None of us wanted to place the blame on anyone so we all stared at our feet.

After five minutes of being yelled at, the six of us finally made our way back out to the living room where the other guys started laughing at us.

"You dumb fucks!" Edward howled. "Why the hell would you think that you could get away with watching the women bathe? Did you forget they were vampires with a heightened sense of smell?"

"I don't know, we were about to walk in to take a bath and they happened to be in there. The next thing we knew, we were mesmerized," I explained.

"Yeah, Claude is kind of delicious looking," Tony mused.

"Not Claude, you shit. Katie! Amrita was scrubbing her down and her titties were all soapy," Garrett noted..

"That was a beautiful sight, my friend," Sahil patted his back.

"Personally, my favorite part was when Gianna spanked Bella," Amar piped in.

"Yeah," we all sighed.

"But why was Claude bathing with the women?" Emmett asked.

"Oh, he doesn't like bathing with us. He feels out of place," Tony explained. "He discussed it with the girls and they invited him to bathe with them."

"Say what?" Mike asked. "Why does he get to bathe with them? I want to bathe with them."

"No shit!" Rex joined in. "It's completely unjust!"

"I don't know what the big deal is? They told me that I could join them too. They even offered to scrub my back," Tony noted.

"Excuse me? Who said that you could join them in the bath?" I asked.

"Bella and Rose."

"Why those dirty, little vixens!" Emmett cried.

Speak of the devil, our two perverted wives came strolling into the living room. "The bath is all yours," Bella announced.

We all folded our arms in front of our chest and stared down the two hypocrites.

"What?"

"How come you invited Tony and Claude to bathe with you and not us?" Rex asked.

"Duh, they're males of the non-threatening variety, that's why."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"We're gay. We're not attracted to women at all," Tony explained. "Personally, I think Claude's being stupid by bathing with the women." He wagged his eyebrows at all of us.

Oh shit. All of us men dropped our jaws in shock at Tony's statement.

"Well, go on, get to bathing," Rose giggled.

Great. Now I'm gonna have to guard my ass while I bathe. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually want Tony to bathe with the women.

_**Five hours later...**_

We were at a hopping nightclub in Delhi called Elevate. I swear, every single woman in here must have hit the genetic lottery. So did the men, come to think of it. Bella was on the dance floor dancing with Tony. Rex was sitting next to me getting pissed off. He really hated sharing her.

I was about to order another drink when Amrita pulled me onto the dance floor. She started combining that bhangra dancing with hip hop. So, I just joined in and tried to mimic her. She started chuckling, then showed me some moves.

I looked over and Rex and Tony were arguing about who should be dancing with Bella. Edward snuck in and started dancing with her while the two brothers had their ridiculous argument. I mean, come on, she's my mate.

Soon our entire family was on the dance floor. No one was dancing with their mates really. It dawned upon me, just how at peace we all were. It was a beautiful thing, and I'm glad that we all survived Maria so we could be here tonight, just to be together. Together as family.

**Hi Guys! I just want to let you know that this is not the last chapter. We have a few more loose ends to tie up and some questions that need to be answered, so there are two to three more chapters plus the epilogue. This story was never about Maria and the battle, rather about how Jasper and Bella cope with their family.**

**What did you think of the battle? Do you think that Maria was given a fitting end? Was Jasper's apology to Bella appropriate? Mr. Jenks was a pretty cool guy, don't you think? How about Sushmita and Sahil wanting to part ways from Amrita and Sahil? Do you blame them? I'd dearly love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. I promise to respond to your reviews. XOXO**


	59. Chapter 59

**I'm so happy that you all liked the way Maria came to her demise. She died having been forgiven for her transgression and with the knowledge that she was loved by someone at one point in her life. Thank you for all of your heartfelt reviews. I truly appreciate it. A steaming mug of hot cocoa for everyone!**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

_**Three months later...**_

**Bella's POV**

Life rolled along and our family went through many changes in a matter of months. Eleazar and Carmen decided to stay in Darjeeling with Amar and Amrita. Amazingly, Alistair and Esme stayed on too. They were helping Amar and Amrita out on the farm and in the palace and teaching them to become self-sufficient.

Edward, Amanda, Mike, and Alice were now living in Seattle, Washington. Edward, Mike, and Amanda were running Newton's Olympic Outfitters while Alice worked as a manager at Walmart.

Jasper and I were living in Colorado in my house. We fell in love with it and couldn't bear to leave. Rex, Tanya, Garrett, Katie, Felix, and Gianna lived together in a house just down the mountain from us. Katie and Tanya opened up a clothing boutique in Telluride which was such a hit that it was featured in a couple of fashion magazines. Garrett was a middle school history teacher in Telluride.

Irina, Laurent, Vicky, and Riley also lived in Telluride. The house that Riley grew up in was up for sale so he purchased it and fixed it up. Riley was working at the hospital in Montrose as a supervising emergency room physician. Irina was attending Mesa State College working towards her nursing degree while Laurent was attending the same college majoring in physical therapy.

Rose, Emmett, Charlotte, and Peter lived in nearby Montrose. Surprisingly, they went in together on a house and were living together happily. Rose and Peter opened up another auto repair shop in Montrose and business was, of course, booming for them. Charlotte worked as a cocktail waitress at a bar in Telluride. She made a ton in tips because she was so cute and perky. Emmett was a computer science professor at Mesa State College.

Now, you would think that Jasper and I would be living alone, but that wasn't the case. Claude, Tony. Carlisle, and Chelsea were living with us along with Sahil and Sushmita. Claude was attending beauty school in Montrose together with Gianna. Meanwhile, Tony was hired as a hotel manager at a boutique hotel in Telluride while Felix worked as a hotel concierge there.

As for the rest of us, we were at a place that I never, ever thought I'd be again, high school. It started off with Sushmita begging me to attend school with her and Sahil. I was still thinking about it at that point when suddenly Chelsea announced that she wanted to attend school, too, since she's never been. Then, I knew I had to go because who knew what Chelsea will do to those poor school kids. As soon as Chelsea said she was going to attend high school, Carlisle jumped on board. How fucked up is that? I tried to back out since he was going, but Sush and Chelsea both started whining and pouting.

Here's where it get's really fucked up. The school district made massive budget cuts and there was a mass exodus of teachers so there were a lot of openings. Vicky, Rex, and Jasper were hired to fill the positions of math teacher, social studies teacher, and English teacher. To make matters worse, this is such a small school district that the three of them taught all four years of those classes, which meant that I would get Vicky next year, too. Tyrant.

Playing the role of parents are Tony and Claude. The backstory is that Carlisle is Claude's son from his first marriage while Chelsea and I are Tony's children from his. Their wives both divorced them and abandoned their kids. They met, fell in love, and got married. They adopted each other's kids and decided that they wanted to adopt two additional children of their own from India, Sahil and Sushmita. It actually worked well because Claude and Tony were at an age where they would have children in high school. Carlisle and I were sophomores while Chelsea, Sahil, and Sushmita were freshmen. We were all using the last name Whitlock.

"Bella, which property is used to write a(x + y) = ax + ay?" Vicky asked.

Huh? How the fuck am I supposed to know that?

"Ahem, Bella." I looked around me and every single student had their hand up including my asshole father who had a smirk on his face.

"Um, the algebra property," I replied. From another room, I heard Jasper chuckling.

"The answer is the distributive property. I'd like for you to stay after school for help today."

"No, problem Mrs. Biers," I sneered, then added so only Vicky could hear, "You do realize that you wouldn't have made it through college without me, don't you?"

"Touche," she whispered.

Carlisle started guffawing out loud. "Is there a problem, Carlisle?"

"No, Mrs. Biers."

"Then I suggest you pay attention to the lesson."

"That was mean of you to laugh, Daddy!" I complained in a whisper.

"Will you fucking pay attention, I swear, Bella, you're going to fail the next quiz," Vicky bitched so only Carlisle and I could hear.

Yeah, some teacher she is, using the F-word with one of her students.

At lunch, the five of us dug out our thermoses filled with "soup" and ate along with everyone else. Bringing blood filled thermoses to school was actually my idea. I noted that it would be better than buying lunch and tossing it. The humans all notice anyway.

The other thing was that none of us were supposedly "dating" each other because I pointed out how creepy that actually looked in Forks. So, everyone agreed to a no touching policy during school and around town.

"God, Vicky is a tyrant in class," I complained.

"I heard that!" Vicky said from somewhere in the building.

"Fuck you," I replied.

"I don't think she's that bad," Chelsea stated.

"That's cause you're getting straight A's in her class." Chelsea was a math whiz. She would be taught a concept and then she would be able to apply it immediately. Everyone was doing well in math except for me.

After lunch, it was time for social studies. Sophomores studied American History. Each time, Carlisle and I walked into Rex's classroom the entire room was permeating with the scent of female arousal. The girls all stared longingly at their incubus professor as he reviewed the American Revolution for an exam we were having tomorrow.

"From which country did the thirteen colonies declare independence from on July 4, 1776?" Rex asked the class in general. Every single girl raised their hand. "Molly."

"Um, France."

Huh? Carlisle and I both shook our heads at hearing that one.

"Anyone else?" Rex asked. Another girl answered correctly after her.

"What was the name of the document that declared the thirteen colonies as independent states and thus no longer a part of the British Empire?" He looked around the classroom. "Carlisle."

"Would that be the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Denali?" Rex was using Tanya's last name because we were using his and it would appear too fishy.

"Correct. Now, what was the name of the war that was fought as a result of the thirteen colonies declaring their independence from Great Britain? Uh, how about you, Dave?"

"That would be the Civil War, Mr. Denali."

"You have my permission to drain that kid," Jasper growled from another classroom.

The class soon ended, but not before a frustrated Rex asked to see Dave and Molly after class for extra help.

Our next class was Jasper's English class. We were reading Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' as a class. My request, of course. Jasper had no problem with it. He hated being a teacher, he was just there to keep an eye on all of the horny teenage boys in the school and, especially, on Chelsea. Case in point, for the next six classes, we were watching the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice. I can tell you this much, every single student in school loved Mr. Hale's English classes. We watched a lot of DVDs in this class.

Jasper and Carlisle were having a conversation at vampire tone and speed while the other students watched the show. "Carlisle, Alice called with a stock tip. She said that we need to sell off our shares of IntelliTec. They're gonna tank due to insider trading next Thursday. The stocks are at an all time high right now."

"Can you take care of that for me when we get home?"

"Yeah, do you want to reinvest everything into Apple or do you want the cash?"

"What do you think?"

"I'd reinvest, Apple's doing well right now."

"Okay, I'll do whatever you do."

"Fine."

"Um, wouldn't Alice giving you tips be considered insider trading?" I asked.

"No, that's called smart investing, baby."

I rolled my eyes at both of them.

"Okay, class is over. For homework, I want you to read and summarize chapter three of Pride and Prejudice in one paragraph."

The students all left the class happy to have such an easy homework assignment. I was at my locker, switching out books when a boy walked up to talk to me.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello."

"So, um, you're new in town."

"Yeah," I said.

"I'm Eddie Newton. I'm a junior here. You're Bella Whitlock." Eddie Newton? Oh, it just figures. I heard Jasper cracking up as he watched from the doorway.

"A bunch of us are going to the diner for some ice cream after school. Do you want to come along?"

"No, thank you."

"Aw, come on. It'll be fun. Your sister Chelsea's coming." I heard Carlisle slam his locker door shut upon hearing that.

"Uh, no. I've actually got tons of homework and I have to stay after school for Mrs. Biers."

"Ugh, she's a battle axe," he noted.

"Yeah, the worst. Anyway, thanks for asking. Gotta go."

I was about to go to Vicky's class when I heard an announcement on the PA system asking that I report to the principal's office. What the heck did I do?

I went straight to the office to find out what this was all about. Claude and Tony were sitting in the office waiting for me.

The principal started the meeting immediately. He was openly gay and friends with both Claude and Tony. They met a couple of months ago at a Civil War Roundtable Meeting along with Jasper, Rex, and Garrett. "Thank you both for coming. I've asked you both here today because I was reviewing Bella's performance in math and it's dismal considering the amount of effort she puts into it. For the last two weeks, the school psychologist, as well as the special education teacher have been observing her. We believe that she may have dyscalculia. Are you both aware of what dyscalculia is?"

"I know what it is, but you'll have to enlighten Claude as to what that is Greg," Tony said.

"Dyscalculia is a learning disability specifically related to mathematics. Generally, a child with dyscalculia has superior intelligence, but has innate difficulty in learning and comprehending simple mathematics. Some people call it 'math dyslexia.' Your daughter shows all the symptoms of a child suffering from dyscalculia. With your permission, I'd like to have her tested for it."

Oh, now that's messed up! I go to school for Sush and Chelsea's sake and I'm being told that I have a learning disability. This is so unjust!

"What makes you think Bella has dyscalculia, Greg?" Claude asked.

"These are Bella's math tests over the past year. As you can see when you look at them, her highest grade is a 63 which puts her solidly in the low D to F range. Now, I want you to look at her calculations. She has difficulty with simple math computations like addition and subtraction. All of her tests are like this. She often transposes numbers and she has an inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts. She also has poor fact recall. She does well in science until she gets to scientific computations. Her science teacher reported that even with a calculator, Bella has difficulty with simple computations."

Holy shit, the principal is right, maybe I do have dyscalculia.

"What does her math teacher have to say about this?"

"Claude, her math and science teacher both recommended that she be tested," the principal informed us. "Now, at home, does Bella have trouble following step by step directions, especially when there are numbers involved? For example, setting the clock on the microwave or driving a manual transmission car, scratch the second one, she's still too young to drive."

"Actually, yes, she's always had trouble with setting the clock on the microwave and we have to program numbers into her cell phone for her because she often transposes the numbers if we don't," Tony admitted. "She has no problems with scrolling down her contact list and finding who she wants to call though. She also has trouble remembering to do things on a specific date, even if she's written it down in her planner. We all have to remind her."

Okay, he was obviously referring to me forgetting to feed. Being unable to drive a stick shift because of dyscalculia was a surprise, though.

"That's because the contact name doesn't involve numbers, it's all letters. Now, trouble remembering tasks set on a certain date is a very common trait of someone with dyscalculia because her brain has trouble understanding time as a concept."

"Tony, Bella is your biological daughter, right?"

"Yes, she is."

"You mentioned knowing what dyscalculia is, do you have any relatives with that learning disability?"

"Actually, I do. I have a brother with dyslexia and another with dyscalculia. You're right, Bella has many similar traits as he does. They both have advanced verbal abilities, they both need phone numbers programmed into their cell phones; and as far as driving a manual transmission vehicle is concerned, he can't drive one to save his life. My father, mother, and older brother all tried to teach him, but he could never grasp the concept. The thing about him is that he's also a civil war buff and he has phenomenal strategic planning; albeit he does it in a creative way."

"That's because, unlike the rest of us, he doesn't use his visual reasoning ability; he uses his verbal reasoning ability to strategize with. Someone with dyscalculia generally has a high IQ and highly developed verbal abilities, persumably to make up for their lack of number sense. I'm not surprised that your brother has strong and creative strategic planning skills."

The principal paused for a minute and put a document in front of Tony and Claude. "Now that I think we've established that we suspect that Bella has dyscalculia, we'd like to begin testing her. For that I would need your written permission. If you were to sign this today, we can begin testing on Monday and if she's found to have that learning disability, we can draw up an individualized education plan for her and the school can draw on it's resources to get her the help she needs. I suspect that she'll need a classroom aide in math and science as well as a specialist to help her with strategies so that she can grasp mathematical concepts. The choice is up to you, of course."

Tony and Claude looked at each other and started discussing my problem. I sat there twiddling my thumbs. The principal noticed and started talking to me. "Bella, I had the opportunity to read your most recent paper on the American Revolution. That was excellent work. I, particularly, enjoyed how you researched the time period thoroughly and were able to tie in the cultural expectations of that era with the political activities surrounding the war. That was very advanced work and, most certainly, a college level paper at the very least. You must have inherited your father's love of history."

Shit, maybe I should have dumbed down the paper a bit. I keep forgetting that this is high school. "My dad has lots of books. I like to read them," I said, hoping to appease him.

"Well, you certainly did an excellent job. You should be proud of your work."

"Greg, Claude and I have decided to jump onboard with the testing. If our daughter has a learning disability, we'd like to get her the help she needs."

What? "But, Dad, shouldn't we discuss this more at home?" I protested.

"Sweetheart, there's nothing more to discuss. The facts are right in front of us and you need help. If your math teacher has recommended the testing, I'm sure the decision wasn't made lightly," Tony said.

"But..."

"Bella, it's up to your Dad and me and we've decided that you need help with math. The decision is final," Claude shut me down with that statement.

"I brought you into this world and I could just as easily take you out," I whispered so only they could hear.

Tony and Claude both chuckled as they signed the paperwork and shook the principal's hand.

"Bella, would you wait outside on the bench for just a moment. I have something else to discuss with your fathers."

"Sure." I got up, left the room, and sat on the bench just outside his door and eavesdropped.

"Tony, Claude, we need to discuss your other daughter, Chelsea."

Uh-oh. Now what?

"Of course, what did our little firecracker do this time?" Claude asked.

"The teachers are becoming increasingly frustrated with your daughter. She doesn't complete her assignments, she's disruptive during class, and she's actually cut class and left campus twice. Today, the school nurse caught her and another student walking off campus at nine am. When we asked them what they were doing, they replied that they were going shopping. When the nurse offered to drive them back to campus, they told her that they can't accept rides from strangers knowing full well that it was the school nurse. The only class she seems to have interest in is math. Of course, Mrs. Biers tends to have a solid hold on all of her pupils. The point is, Chelsea doesn't seem to realize the importance of an education like your other children do. I think that point needs to be driven home with her before, God forbid, she drops out of high school."

Yeah, that's because Vicky's students are all terrified of her and with Chelsea, she threatened to bite her if she didn't show up to class and toe the line.

"I apologize for Chelsea's behavior, Greg. Claude and I will talk to her as soon as we get home. He and I both know the value of an education and it's very upsetting to hear that she's been shirking off her responsibilities. How are our other children doing?"

"They're fine. Carlisle seems to be particularly strong in science and while Sushmita and Sahil have some difficulty with academics, they do their best and don't hesitate to ask for help. That's understandable considering that English isn't their native tongue. One thing that concerns me about all of your children is the fact that none of them participate in any extra-curricular activities. Participation in sports and club activities are looked at with scrutiny by colleges. They can be the deciding factor on whether or not one student is chosen over another when it comes to college acceptance. I can give you a list of what we offer and perhaps you can go over them with your kids."

"Sure, Greg. We'll talk to them and have them each sign up for an activity. Thank you."

"No problem, it's part of the job description. So, my house for the game on Sunday?"

"Absolutely, we'll be there."

Claude and Tony walked out of the office and I followed them out to the parking lot. As soon as we got into Claude's Suburban, they turned around to face me while we were waiting for Carlisle, Sahil, and Sushmita to show up.

"Don't start, Bella. We had to sign you up for testing. It would have looked fishy if we didn't, and at least now we know why you were having so much trouble with math."

"So, do you really have a brother with dyscalculia?"

"Yes, I do. He's your brother, too, Bella."

"Rex?" I asked, curiously.

"Yes, Rex, but back when he was in school, there really wasn't much research done on dyscalculia. They just termed it a non-specific learning disability and they also blamed it on his attention deficit disorder. At least now they have targeted programs to help you."

"Yeah, but, I'm only in school as a favor to Chelsea, Sush, and Sahil."

"I know, but at least now we have a reason for some of your quirks and you have an excuse to buy an automatic transmission Ferrari," he chuckled. "Now, where is everyone? I want to get home."

"Some kid told me that Chelsea was going to the diner for some ice cream after school."

It was so funny, Tony and Claude played the role of parents phenomenally. They were much better at it than Carlisle and Esme. One of them always dropped us off and picked us up since none of us were supposedly old enough to drive yet. They also kept in touch with all of the teachers and Claude went to PTA meetings. And when any of us went to hang out with our human friends, they always called the parents to double check. Plus, Tony was in his late thirties and Claude was in his early forties so it really didn't look weird at all. That's where it ended though. They knew their boundaries and they knew they were only playing the role in town and in school. Home was declared a no parenting zone.

"Alright, what was the name of the kid that told you that Chelsea's going to the diner?"

"Some kid named Eddie Newton."

They both arched their eyebrow and started guffawing. I laughed along, too. The irony in that kid's name was just way too funny.

_**Three years and two months later...**_

Carlisle and I graduated from high school last year. Thank God. The two of us were just waiting for Chelsea, Sushmita, and Sahil to graduate in June. After that, our whole family was relocating again. We still hadn't decided on a location yet, but everyone agreed that we wanted to move to a more metropolitan area. Still, we enjoyed this area. The townspeople were friendly and during ski season, this place was tons of fun. I could see why Riley enjoyed growing up here.

Every single one of us now skied or snowboarded. How could we not? Our house was located on a mountain in a prime ski area. It was secluded and beautiful and we were able to ski in and out of our back door. During ski season, Edward and Mike were frequent visitors and they always brought new equipment from their shop for us to test out.

Claude and Tony loved the fact that Telluride hosted Gay Ski Week every year in February. They were on the planning committee along with the high school principal. We all got into gay ski week and even marched in the parade along with Claude and Tony. Yes, everyone did, even Jasper.

After the school district tested me and confirmed that I had dyscalculia, I was moved out of Vicky's class and put into a special math class where a specialist tutored me, and three other kids with dyscalculia, in math. I had to admit that it helped tremendously. Now I wasn't so afraid of numbers anymore.

The other thing that helped was that everyone in the family instantly stopped ragging on me and Rex for being unable to drive a manual transmission car. Carlisle and Riley dove into research about dyscalculia. They didn't realize that learning disabilities could carry over after being transformed into a vampire.

Right now, Carlisle and I were both working. Carlisle was working in the deli department at the supermarket because he said he needed a humbling experience. Whatever—if slicing ham and serving up potato salad floats his boat, then more power to him. On the other hand, I was working at a local bookstore and absolutely loving it. I got an employee discount of twenty percent and I got a ton of advanced copies of books for free. Neither of us could go out and get better paying jobs because we had supposedly only just graduated from high school. I really didn't mind, though. I truly enjoyed working and earning some money of my own, even if it wasn't much.

Jasper, Vicky, and Rex were still teaching at the high school while Garrett was teaching at the middle school. He was just named Colorado Teacher of the Year for his dedication to teaching and for being an inspiration to his students. I think he was completely touched. We all traveled to Denver to see him accept his award. We were so proud of him.

Claude and Gianna finished beauty school and were now working at beauty salons in Montrose. They were both loving their jobs and they planned on opening up their own business at wherever we moved to next.

Sahil and Sushmita were adjusting very well to life on their own. Sush was now a straight A student and on track to becoming valedictorian. Sahil was still struggling in school, but he was a hard worker and adamant about getting into college and at least earning a bachelor's degree.

Then there was Chelsea, oh Chelsea. Either Claude or Tony were still constantly being called into school to discuss her behavior. She got a kick out of getting a rise out of the teachers. Last year, she and another student decided that it would be a hoot to start a food fight in the cafeteria. Carlisle, Sush, and I didn't join in, but Sahil did. Chelsea, Sahil, and six other students were sentenced to a month of Saturday detention and were forced into scrubbing the lunch room clean. Jasper, Rex, and Vicky were all at their wits end trying to keep her in control. It gets worse, she got pissed off at two of the cafeteria ladies so she mated them to each other. They were now on the planning committee of Gay Ski Week together with Claude, Tony, and the high school principal.

This week was Gay Ski Week so Claude and Tony were ridiculously busy. Things were easier now that we were all at an age where we could have driver's licenses. We all had to go through the high school's driver's ed program in which the instructor declared me to be his best student in thirty years and Carlisle his worst. Oh! And Grandpa Pete gave me the best gift ever. He had been laughing about the fact that I was banned from driving for a year because I was supposedly too young to drive so when I finally got my license again, he gave me a brand new Toyota Rav-4, custom painted hot pink. Rose had gotten the auto body shop to match the paint with my favorite shade of nail polish. Jasper refused to drive it, actually so did most of the men, but Tony had no problem driving it. In fact, he was hitting himself for buying the purple Beetle instead of the hot pink one.

I had the day off from work so I settled in to read a book. Some of the employees at work had a romance novel book club and I was invited to join. I loved it. Sure I love the classics, but nothing beats a good, trashy romance novel—especially one about vampires. It was around three pm so Jasper, Sush, Sahil, and Chelsea were due to arrive home soon. I had just finished baking a hundred brownies that Claude had promised the PTA for a bake sale.

The doorbell rang so I went to answer it. Jasper was expecting a delivery from FedEx so I figured that's who it was. I had the shock of my life when I answered the door and saw two golden eyed vampires that I never thought I'd see ever again standing there dressed in ski gear.

"Hola, do you remember us? I am Manuel Amante Dulce and this is my mate Rodrigo Pene Grande."

I instantly threw my shield over myself. In fact, I couldn't say anything. I thought we took care of these guys when we offed Maria. Now that I think of it, though, I think we all forgot about them as soon as Tony used his gift on them. Holy fuck.

When I didn't say anything, Manuel spoke again, "Guapa, we are not here to harm you. We've been looking for you for many years. We want to thank you."

I still couldn't say anything. They seemed non-threatening to be sure. Thirty seconds later, Jasper came running up the drive followed by Rex. The two of them had Manuel and Rodrigo in choke holds, whisked them into the house, and shut the door.

"What business do you have with us?" Jasper questioned.

Manuel choked out an answer immediately, "I was telling this beauty here that we intend no harm. We've been looking for you for many years so we could thank you for sparing our lives and helping us to escape from Maria. She was an evil woman and muy loca. My mate and I are happy just living peacefully now."

Jasper and Rex released the two of them, but kept an eye on them. Manuel continued speaking. "I want to introduce ourselves formally. I am Manuel Amante Dulce and this is my mate Rodrigo Pene Grande. We were changed by Maria about thirty years ago. She manipulated us as vampires and we were made to believe that she loved us. We realize now that she was only using us for her own self-gratification. The pull that we both had was not for her either, it was to each other. She was always with us so we never realized it until the day this guapa showed up."

"Okay, you keep calling me guapa. What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means good looking, darlin'," Jasper drawled. Then he turned to Manuel and Rodrigo. "How did you find us?"

"We're here for Gay Ski Week. When we checked-in to our hotel, we noticed that the scent of vampire was extremely potent so we decided to track it. It led us up the mountain and to this house and this beautiful woman answered the door. I'm afraid we may have frightened her. For that, we apologize."

**Jasper's POV**

I didn't know what to do. When I honed into their feelings, I could feel nothing but honesty. These two vampires were genuine in their intentions and very kind. They were exactly the kind of people that would easily fall prey to someone like Maria. When I thought about it, me, Peter, Charlotte, and Vicky were all kind and gullible as humans when we were nabbed by Maria.

I decided that they deserved a chance and introduced myself, "My name is Jasper Whitlock, this is my mate Isabella, and our brother Rex Whitlock. A pleasure to meet you."

We sat in the living room and got to know our guests. Eventually, the family started arriving home. And by family, I mean everyone who lived in the area. To say they were surprised was an understatement. We had all forgotten that we had inadvertently let these two go. Talk about a group memory lapse.

Manuel and Rodrigo lived in San Francisco in the heart of the gay scene. They apparently had enough savings built up from the wealth that Maria had shared with them to buy a small apartment and live out an eternity. Rodrigo was an investment banker in Santiago, Chile. He was changed by Maria while he was on a business trip in Mexico City. He invested the money that Maria had paid him and Manuel and built it up in secret from Maria.

Manuel was a native of Almolonga, Guatemala. He was working as a chef in a fine dining restaurant in Mexico City when he was changed on the same weekend that Rodrigo was changed. When they woke up, they were in a secluded cabin deep in Texas with Maria telling them that they were her forever. They suspected that Maria was lonely when she changed them. At that point, she had no newborn vampires. She tried to restart her army several times, but failed each time because Manuel and Rodrigo purposely played stupid in front of her because they hated the idea of leading an army or training newborns. She never caught on. She thought they were idiots.

About ten years prior to her final destruction, Maria decided to go on an extended vacation taking Manuel and Rodrigo with her. She fully relaxed, integrated with humans, pooled all of her resources and came up with a plan to find me, Pete, and James. Her big break came when she ran into Amber Putain who told her all about Alice and her gift. She knew that in order to abduct us, she'd have to work around Alice's mind reading. Maria's also the one that decided that she would come to abduct us in Cheboygan, Michigan; taking a chance that Alice would see it in a vision and that we would move there in order to wait for her. She had sent scouts into the territory to check up on us so she knew that her plan had worked. Again, I was reminded of the fact that I had played right into her hands.

When Maria moved everyone to Hinsdale, Colorado she had everyone feed off of animals so as not to arouse suspicion from the area humans. She had Amber Putain, Violetta Fisher, and Jeanine Ratson go out and recruit around the world for her. The other thing she did was send out letters promising free, all expense paid ski vacations to a few hundred unsuspecting humans. The ones that responded flew into Telluride, were met by Maria and Brittany, and were changed as soon as they arrived at the camp.

"Wow, who knew she was so resourceful," Rex stated. "So, what have you guys been doing these past three and a half years."

"Ah, well, we went to Italy first. Maria always told us to avoid the Volturi so we figured that they were good people. How wrong we were."

"You went to the Volturi lair?" Chelsea asked in shock.

"And they let you out alive?" Felix added.

"Si, senor, we were shocked upon arrival. These vampires were feral and they hadn't fed in years. They were obsessed with having sex with each other. They paid absolutely no mind to us. We thought that it would be unwise to leave insane vampires alive so we burned all of them," Rodrigo said.

"You burned the Volturi?" We all gasped in shock.

"Why yes. Was that wrong of us?"

"No, but how?" I asked.

"Oh, it was very easy. Each couple was in their chambers so we went room by room and simultaneously ripped their heads off while they were having sex. Then, we brought them down to the incineration room and burned them. The only room we had a bit of a problem in was one where there were two men and one woman in the throes of passion. In that room, we took the heads off of the men first and left the woman. The woman, seeing that the two men were destroyed, walked into the flames herself."

Fuck me.

"How many vampires did you take out in total?" Chelsea asked.

"Twenty-nine in total," Manuel informed her.

"Um, you missed two."

Fuck. Now what? Will this shit never end for us? I couldn't think about this now.

"Let's discuss this more in detail later," I suggested. Everyone agreed.

Tony helped to change the subject, "So, Manuel, you said you were a chef in Mexico City?"

"Si, I was the head chef at a five star French restaurant."

Bella, Tony, and Rex donned grins upon their faces.

"Come with us to the kitchen," Bella said with a huge smile.

Oh shit. They were gonna start mixing blood again. I had to admit, though. We've all been having pretty good soups for lunch. Other than steak and fried chicken, we had beef stew, vegetable beef soup, french fries, and something called beef with broccoli. We also had Bella's lasagna. Now, in my day, we didn't have beef with broccoli or lasagna, but damn...that stuff tastes good, especially my Bella's lasagna.

Since the vampires in the kitchen were completely occupied with blood mixing. I decided to pick Rodrigo's brain about financial futures. Wow, he really knew his stuff. He gave me a couple of stock tips that I planned on looking into.

We talked until about ten pm when Rodrigo and Manuel decided to head back to their hotel promising to return tomorrow after they get some skiing in.

"Bella, can you help me correct some tests?" I asked nicely.

"Hey! No fair Jasper! I was gonna ask her to help me!" Rex whined.

"She's my mate, fucker!"

"Yeah, well, she's my wifey!"

"That doesn't entitle you to jack shit!"

"When are you two idiots gonna learn to do your own work? I do everything myself and so does Garrett," Vicky chastised.

"Give it here," Bella huffed to both of us. She took some from me and some from Rex and we all started working on correcting homework. This is how many of our nights were spent. Rex, Garrett, and Vicky came over and we corrected the work we assigned to our students together. This way, we could talk, discuss our students, and if there were issues that needed to be addressed we could figure it out together. I used to hate teaching, but somewhere along the line, I learned to enjoy it. I got my teaching degree years ago in the eighties. I forged my papers to update them in order to get my current job.

"Um, Jasper, this girl claims that Hamlet and Rosalind ran off together and are living happily ever after."

"What?" I asked, aghast. "'Hamlet' and 'As You Like It' are two completely different plays. Wait a minute! This test is on 'The Merchant of Venice'."

"I know that!"

"Who wrote the paper?"

"Chelsea Whitlock."

Shit. Why? Why me? She was currently upstairs fucking Carlisle and there would be no chance to talk to her until tomorrow at school.

"Rex, do you have anything from Chelsea?"

"Oh, yeah," he sighed, then handed the paper in his hand to me.

I read it out loud, "Adolf Hitler was a total prick and the leader of the Nazis. He was a mass murderer and he tried to rule the world, but he couldn't. He had a fucked up looking mustache, too. His mistress, Eva Braun, was a model. She didn't really look like one, though. She liked to party and she was a lot of fun unlike her psycho boyfriend. Hitler and Braun got married and less than two days later, the fucker forced her to commit suicide with him cause he knew he was done for and didn't want to go out alone. Like I said, the man was a prick. If I had met him, I would have ripped him apart and turned him into ash."

I looked around the table. Garrett was scratching his head. Bella looked absolutely perplexed. Rex had an 'I told you so,' look on his face, while Vicky murmured, "Oh, dear."

"What was the essay topic?" I was afraid to ask, but I did anyway.

"Describe how Adolf Hitler singlehandedly turned Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship."

"You guys are going to fail her, right?" Garrett asked.

"What other choice do we have. She refuses to put any effort into her school work and Carlisle is so pussy whipped that he refuses to get involved."

"What's her GPA in your classes?"

"She's in the solid D minus range in my class."

"Same here," Rex said.

"Nothing, but A's in my class and in science she's running a C," Vicky informed us. "That's only because there's math involved in science."

I remembered clearly the day the science teacher called a meeting with all of us to discuss Chelsea. One of the short answer questions on a biology exam was to describe the process of reproduction in mammals. Chelsea's answer was, "They fuck. How else do you think babies are made?"

We had no answer for her. Poor Tony and Claude were called in to discuss her progress and her behavior and we each had to put in our two cents about how she was doing in our classes. We had a chat with her at home, later that day. Chelsea just smirked and said, "I wasn't wrong, though, was I?"

Here's the amazing thing, though. We just got her SAT results and she scored a 740 on each of three 800 point sections. While Bella surpassed her on verbal reasoning and critical writing, she only scored a 520 on the math section resulting in a lower score for her. Carlisle and Sushmita scored in the 680 range on each of three sections while Sahil's scores were in the 460 range for each section. After seeing Chelsea's scores, Bella got pissed off at her and told her that she clearly has the ability to do well in school so just do it. She tried for about two weeks then went back to her old ways.

We called it a night and everyone went back to their own homes. I was sitting up in bed holding Bella looking over at the trashy romance novel that she was reading for her book club.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! It says here that 'a vampire's sweat tends to be a wee-bit pinkish in color, just like their tears.' Bella, how can you read this shit?" I asked.

"It's for my book club. And his sweat and tears are pink due to a steady diet of blood."

"Yeah, but vampires don't sweat or have tears." I took the book from her. "And they certainly don't drink synthetic blood and if this dude's lived in the States for many centuries, how come he still has a Scottish accent? It just doesn't make sense."

"Jasper, he has an accent because the readers find it sexy."

I raised my eyebrow, looked into my wife's eyes, and drawled, "Really, darlin', cause I can turn on that Texas twang anytime you like."

She put her book to the side and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Keep going, baby, you know what that accent does to me."

Now we're talking. She planted kisses on my face until she reached my desperate lips which needed to get kissed deeply. Then, she started making her way down my body and slid my pajama pants down to set my little guy free. As I continued cooing to her in my lilt, Bella wrapped her full lips around my cock and worked her wet lips up and down my length until she sent me straight to heaven.

Damn, maybe we'll move to Texas next so I can keep using my accent with her. That's not wrong of me, is it?

Two days later, it was Saturday, and we hit the slopes with our new friend, Rodrigo. Edward and Mike were up for the weekend and we were currently racing Rosie who was probably the best skier in our family aside from Riley. Being a native of Rochester, New York, she had been skiing from the time she was three years old. She was fearless on the mountain, just like she was whenever she drove her Pagani Zonda. She was carving the slopes like a mad woman and we were all having trouble keeping up with her.

Suddenly, Riley did some kind of aerial twist and landed a hundred yards in front of her. He was another one that could ski the shit out of the rest of us, on top of that, he knew this mountain like the back of his hand. We would be skiing and, suddenly, Riley would pop out of seemingly nowhere and start skiing with us. The race was on, Rose and Riley left the rest of us in the dust as they flew down the mountain at top speed. When we finally made our way down the mountain, they were laughing. We could see why too. Their skis were splintered into about a hundred pieces and their poles were bent at a weird angle.

"We crashed into each other when we stopped abruptly to avoid the humans," Rose chuckled.

"I guess those skis we brought up for you to test didn't hold up very well, did they?" Mike guffawed. "Come on, we brought more skis up. You guys can test out the Fischer's now."

Can I just say how handy it is to have professionals in the family being able to adjust our skis?

"Hey, Mike, I think mine need to be re-adjusted, too. Look at how easily my boot slips out of the bindings," I said.

"Well, come on, let's get this done."

Mike and Edward had set up their own ski adjustment booth in the mudroom that Esme designed for us. It actually worked out well since everyone in the family either skied, snowboarded, or both.

Bella came barreling into the mudroom balancing a tray with mugs on them. She, Rex, Manuel, and Emmett had proud smiles on their faces. We all took a mug and drank and...oh, dear God in heaven...what the fuck is this delicious concoction?

"Chocolate," Edward breathed.

"Oh my God! I love you!" Rose dove into Bella's arms and started kissing her face. Now, Rose hardly ever loses her composure like this.

Vicky looked equally excited and so did Charlotte. Tanya, Katie, Irina, Sushmita, and Chelsea had puzzled expressions on their faces.

And Gianna, oh well she started purring in Italian turning all of us on, "Sì, è cioccolato. Grazie. Ha un sapore come cielo." She was moaning and licking her lips as if she was having an orgasm.

"Felix, man, what's your wife saying," I asked.

"Yes, it's chocolate. Thank you. It tastes like heaven," Chelsea translated for me because Felix was completely transfixed with his wife. Actually, all of us men were. Gianna was just sexy when she spoke in Italian.

The skis all but forgotten, we rushed into the kitchen for more. As we drank the last batch of chocolate, Chelsea asked the question that was on all of our minds, "Why are you, Rose, Vicky, Gianna, and Charlotte making such a big deal out of this chocolate stuff?"

"Are you fucking with me?" A feral Vicky got right into her face, "Chocolate is the cure all for PMS!"

"Um, Vicky, you don't get PMS," I pointed out.

_Slap! _Rose impaled my face with the palm of her hand. "You insensitive jackass!"

"Okay, maybe those two still get PMS," Mike noted. "Actually maybe Vicky was changed while she was PMSing."

_Whack! _"Ow! Gianna! I'm sorry."

"You know, I've never had PMS in my life," Charlotte informed us.

"Never?" Rose asked in shock.

"Nope, never. My periods were like clockwork. I've never even had a cramp."

"Why you little bitch!" Rose yelled.

She and Vicky started rounding in on poor Charlotte. Gianna joined them.

Char hid behind Riley who announced, "Dysmenorrhea isn't necessarily experienced by every woman, you know."

"That still doesn't make it fair! Why the fuck did God give her a break?"

"Actually, I've never had PMS either," Bella said. "But I was on the pill from the time I was fifteen so that tends to regulate your periods."

"Why would you need to be on the pill from that young an age?" Edward asked.

"Oh, get your head out of the Victorian era, fucker. It's so she wouldn't get knocked up in case she did the deed," Mike pointed out.

"Yes, but..."

"Edward, lots of young girls use the birth control pill from the time they're teenagers for various reasons. Some use it to regulate their periods, others use it to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy. In Bella's case, her mother took her to the gynecologist who suggested she use the pill for both of those reasons."

"Wow, times sure have changed," he mused.

"Okay, so I want to say something," Bella announced. "The reason why Chelsea, Irina, Kate, Sushmita, and Tanya aren't making a big deal out of chocolate is because chocolate as a sweet confection wasn't discovered until 1528, when Hernando Cortes prepared the first mug of hot chocolate using cocoa beans, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. For a long time after that, only the wealthy could afford cocoa beans. Just to put it into perspective for you, in 1513, a slave was worth one hundred cocoa beans, a night with a hooker was worth ten cocoa beans, and a roasted rabbit dinner was worth four cocoa beans."

"Where the fuck do you get this shit?" Claude asked.

"History. Chocolate played an important role in history. It was even used as currency at one point and it was of key importance in the Spanish trade route. Anyway, my point is, they don't find chocolate to be as big a deal as those of us from modern times do because it wasn't readily available as it was for us. They couldn't just run to the store and buy a Hershey Bar."

"It's true, even in my day, chocolate was only for very special occasions. I've only had it twice in my life before this," I pointed out.

"How did you concoct this?" Garrett asked.

"It was Manuel's idea. He pointed out that some cultures use cow or pig's blood for cooking things like blood sausage in Korea or blood soup in Poland. So, we put two and two together and started calling some ethnic stores to see if they had any for sale. Sure enough, we found that both types of blood were readily available so we picked up a batch of both. They're only available in five gallon buckets. We figured the cow's blood would do the trick, but it didn't. It was actually a little pig's blood mixed with deer and wolf that did it," Rex explained. "Then, Emmett spilled some of the coconut oil that Sush was extracting for her hair infusion, then voila."

"I heated it just until it was about to come to a boil. I didn't want it to separate at a high temperature," Manuel informed us.

"I think it's possible that Manuel has a gift," Emmett added. "His sense of smell seems to be more refined than the rest of ours. I mean, he could actually pick out spices whenever humans walked by us."

"We'll have to have Eleazar look into that, one day," Carlisle said. "How do I smell to you?"

"Well, there's a hint of cumin, mixed in with some salt, and mirepoix mixed with butter. Actually, you smell a lot like the base for curry," Manuel answered.

"Well, that's a new one. I always thought Carlisle smelled like musk and sandlewood," Chelsea pointed out. "And what's mirepoix, I've never heard of that."

"It's a combination of onion, celery, and carrot sauteed in a touch of oil or butter. In Carlisle's case, it would be butter."

Yep, he's a fag too. Anyone that knows what a mirep...whatever it is can't possibly be straight. That's okay, we like fags in our household. We have a couple of pretty cool Whitlock ones.

"That's the thing, you know how Mike says that I smell like a whopper with cheese and fries? He says he detects the scent of fried lard in my veins," Emmett explained. I mean, aren't french fries cooked in lard?"

"They used to be, now I think they use a canola, corn, and soy oil to fry their products in," Bella told us. "You know, cause of the ban of trans-fat from fast food restaurants.

"Again, where the fuck do you get this shit, Bella?" Claude asked. No kidding, I'm with him on this one.

"I read the newspaper."

"Well, forget what everyone smells like, girlfriend. Get in the kitchen and make us more chocolate."

"Yeah!" we all agreed with Claude and sent our chefs back into the kitchen so they could cook more. Riley turned the game on and we all turned our interest to football.

A couple of hours later, there was a knock on the door. Laurent went to answer it.

"Hello, I'm looking for Carlisle Cullen," a slow, methodical voice said.

"Fuck," Chelsea and Felix both said at the same time.

"Who is it?" I whispered.

"May I ask who you are and what business you have with him?" Laurent asked.

Before they could answer, Carlisle motioned for me and Emmett to flank him. The two of us went and so did Sahil and Peter.

"My name is...ah, Carlisle, I'm glad that I found you. I've been searching for you."

"Marcus, what brings you to Colorado?"

So, this was Marcus Volturi. He was accompanied by a petite raven haired woman who was glued to him as if her life depended on it.

Carlisle, Renata and I have been searching for you for the last five years. We need your help.

"My help? Why? Why don't you and Renata come inside?"

Marcus thanked Carlisle and was led into the living room where everyone else was. "Felix, Gianna how are you? And Chelsea, why am I not surprised to see you here."

Carlisle sighed, "Marcus, why don't you tell us why you're here and you can catch up with Felix and my mate later."

"Your mate?" Marcus focused on Carlisle and Chelsea. "Yes, I can see that."

"Have a seat, my friend." Marcus sat down and placed Renata on his lap protectively. He took in all of the vampires in the room. He was young, maybe about my age and so was his mate. He looked tired, almost as if he was thrust into a position of responsibility before he was ready.

"To make a long story short, the Volturi are no more. I left five years ago because something overcame the whole of the castle. Every vampire was consumed with making love to their mates. And by consumed, I mean possessed. It was almost as if they could think of nothing else, but their mates. I was the same way and somehow, I don't know how, I was able to snap out of whatever was possessing me, grabbed my documents and some cash, took my mate and ran from the castle. My immediate thought was to search for you since you have a medical background. Three years passed and without Demetri, I was unable to locate you. I ran out of funds so I returned to sneak back into the castle, but it was empty. Carlisle, I seek your assistance in finding out what happened to the members of the Volturi. I fear they may have been assassinated."

Oh-oh. Hmm...how the hell are we supposed to explain this shit? Thank God he's asking Carlisle and not me.

"Marcus, we can give you the answers you seek. However, rather than having me explain it to you, let me introduce you to my brother, Major Jasper Whitlock. He is in a much better position to explain what transpired than I am." He pointed towards me.

Why that little coward! What the fuck? Why do I have to explain this shit to the leader of the Volturi?

"The great Major of the Southern Wars. I am honored." Marcus bowed his head to me.

I introduced myself and everyone in our living room, then delved into an explanation of what's been happening to us and what happened to the Volturi. An hour later, there was no more to tell.

"Rather than being upset, I am quite happy that things turned out this way. I never liked Aro or Caius's ambitiousness and I fear that I was being controlled by Aro rather than being allowed to voice my thoughts."

"You were being controlled, Marcus," Chelsea admitted. "Aro forced me to create a loyalty bond between you, Caius, and him. Renata was also bonded to Aro. I apologize for my actions."

"My dear, we were all being manipulated. I can't fault you for something that you had no control over. I must say that I'm happy that you took matters into your own hands and released us from the hold he had over us even if it was in an unorthodox way."

Bella came flitting out of the kitchen with a tray in her hand. She, Rex, and Manuel had been absent from the discussion. They had been hibernating. "Hello, I'm Isabella Whitlock, would you like some refreshments?" She placed mugs in front of Marcus and Renata.

"Thank you, my dear. My name is Marcus Volturi and this is my mate Renata. I can see by your bond that you are the Major's mate."

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you."

He took a sip from the mug, then turned to me, "I might have to steal your mate away with me. What is this delicious blood?"

"Um, it's a combination of wolf, deer, pig, and coconut oil," Bella replied.

"It's delicious," Renata spoke for the first time.

"Thank you, we concocted it today. We like to come up with different recipes to make feeding more of a meal rather than something that you have to stomach."

"I see. May I help you?"

"Sure, come on into the kitchen. We only use animal blood though."

Renata looked to Marcus for permission, he nodded his head and told her to go on ahead.

"This is the first time I've ever seen Renata take to someone so quickly. She's generally very shy."

"No shit," Chelsea agreed in shock.

"Chelsea! Get in the kitchen and do your homework in front of me!" Bella yelled from the kitchen.

"Fucking battleaxe!" Chelsea moaned as she got up to grab her backpack. She also glared at me, Rex, and Vicky as if we were the bad guys. Bella was the only one that seemed to have some semblance of control over Chelsea so she's taken up the role of Chelsea's keeper, at least when it comes to homework. We just need her to pass with a D average so she can graduate in June.

"So, Marcus, where did you search for us these last five years?"

"Everywhere in the United States. I went state to state beginning with Maine, but I couldn't detect your scent anywhere. We ended up coming here by chance. We met some nice people on the plane ride over named Kenny and Randy and they told us there was some sort of festival in this town so we decided to begin our search for you in this state here."

"Um, Kenny and Randy are here? Did they happen to be flying over here from Boston?"

"Yes, do you know them?"

"Probably," I said.

"Wait a minute! Are you talking about Kenny and Randy Mac Neil?" Tony asked.

"I don't know, I never asked what their last name was."

"They used to be huge fans of Rex when he was dancing at Climax."

"Yep, that's them," Peter said.

"Claude and I have been friends with them since college. Kenny was president of the Gay/Lesbian club. They're staying at my hotel. Thank God, they had no idea that I was dead."

"Wait a minute! You're Major Junior!" Claude howled. "Which one of you is Santa?"

"That would be me," Emmett said glumly.

"And who's Yoda?"

"Who do you think?" Pete asked.

"And is Carlisle or Riley, Dr. DILF?"

"That would be Carlisle, I'm the hot straight dude," Riley explained.

"And I'm Buzz Lightyear," Garrett offered.

Tony eyed Edward, "And you're Edward the delicious looking morsel that hadn't come out yet. Haha!"

Claude and Tony were howling up a storm. "You have no idea how hot those two thought you guys were. Jasper, Randy was really upset when you broke it to him that you went straight. How the fuck did you assholes get into that quagmire with those two?"

"They wouldn't shut up to listen," I explained.

"Yeah, they do have a habit of running their mouths. Anyway, you guys should probably avoid the hotel until Wednesday, that's when they're checking out. Marcus, I'm surprised that you're so open about the gay festival," Tony commented.

"Why wouldn't I be? All festivals are happy events, aren't they?"

Yep, I think the old fucker's got the wrong idea.

"Erm, Marcus, by gay they don't mean happy, they mean homosexual," Carlisle explained.

Marcus's eyes widened. He looked between Tony and Claude then between Manuel and Rodrigo. "Oh, I see. That would be like Caius and Afton."

"You've got it old man," Chelsea yelled from the kitchen. "We're talking men who suck cock and women who eat pussy!"

"Chelsea, get back to your fucking essay on Mother Teresa!" Bella chastised.

"How the world has changed," Marcus said. "Well, as long as everyone is in love, I suppose it's okay. Renata and I hadn't left the castle in centuries in her case and in almost three thousand years in mine. We were shocked to see how the world had evolved. I'm happy that we finally got out to see it, this is where we run into some difficulty. I no longer want to return to Volterra. The place holds no happy memories for me. I just have no idea what to do. Would it be considered shirking my responsibilities if I don't return to the throne? Then again, with Aro, Caius, and the guard all gone, how am I supposed to even rule? By the way, you never mentioned what happened to Jane."

"I ripped her apart and threw her in the incinerator!" Chelsea called out from the kitchen.

"Oh, thank God!" Renata said, in relief. "I really hated her."

"No, shit, she was a bitch, wasn't she?"

"Mother Teresa, Chelsea!" Bella yelled.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to be such an evil bitch. You know, you'd give Jane a good run for her money."

"I swear to God I will beat you to within an inch of your life if you don't focus on your fucking homework! I'll have Vicky bite you while Katie stands behind you and gives you intermittent shocks to your system. What do you say about that?"

"Carlisle, your daughter is being mean to me!"

"Listen to her, sweetheart, she's only doing it for your own good," Carlisle chuckled, then cleared his throat. "Ahem, I apologize Marcus, things are a little crazy in this household. My wife is failing high school so my daughter is whipping her into shape."

"Perfectly understandable, Chelsea always was a handful."

"I heard that! OW! What the fuck? Gianna!"

"Dovete ora studiare!" Gianna said.

"Merda. Sto provando. Ciò sta alesando."

"What does that mean?" Garrett asked.

"Gianna told her that she needs to study now. Chelsea replied, 'Shit. I am trying. This is boring.'" Marcus translated. He scanned the room before he spoke again, "As I observe this household and analyze your bonds, I see everything that is beautiful and wonderful. I would like this sort of thing, but I can't do it while I'm tied to the Volturi throne. What I would like to do is tear down the castle, sell it, and live my own life in peace with my Renata."

Bella came out of the kitchen, "Now, why would you tear down a historical artifact? Why not spruce up the interior, make it accessible to the public and turn it into a museum? If you no longer want ownership of it, you can either sell the castle to the city of Volterra or, better yet, donate it."

"I like your idea, but the problem lies in the fact that some semblance of order must be established in the world of vampires."

"How often did you run into problems with vampires?"

"Not very often. Once every few decades. Our main problem was in the American south, but your family seems to have taken care of that issue. There's also the issue of exposure, humans finding out about our world. That's the main law that we need to enforce."

"I'll tell you what, we'll brainstorm and help you come up with an idea. We're a pretty smart bunch, I'm sure that if we put all of our heads together, we can come up with a workable plan. I just know it. Now, do you have a place to stay because I know the hotels are all booked and I see that you still have your suitcases with you. You're welcome to stay here if you'd like."

"Thank you, Renata and I will take you up on your offer."

"Anytime," Bella replied.

"I can see why you're the Major's mate, you're very bright and exceedingly kind."

"Don't let her deceive you, Marcus, she's a real bitch when she wants to be! She's downright vindictive and cruel. Look at how she's treating me!" Chelsea yelled from the kitchen! "Ow! Renata! Let me out of your fucking shield!"

"Focus on your damn schoolwork!" Renata ordered. "I'll keep you bubbled up in my shield until you complete everything, do you hear me?"

"I'm really going to like your mate, I can just tell. Now that locking Chelsea up in the shield thing is a new one, I'm gonna have to use that myself," Bella chuckled.

God damn, life has sure taken an interesting turn. Who knew that a Volturi king would be sitting in our living room asking us for help. I suppose all I can do is just roll with the changes, just like Charlie told Bella to do all those years ago. Thank God, he left his legacy in my care.

I walked out to the front porch, looked up to the heavens, and said a word of gratitude to my father-in-law, "Thanks, Chief Swan, for trusting her to me. You have my word that I'll look after her, but you probably already know that she looks after me even more, don't you?"

I felt an incredible warmth fill my veins right at that moment. For just one minute, I felt almost human, and I just knew that Charlie was sending me a message from above. I looked up at the night sky and smiled at him in gratitude. Yep, life sure is great.

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. What did you think of poor Bella having to attend high school? Did the dyscalculia diagnosis make sense? Should Chelsea the truant ever be allowed near school children? What did you think of her in high school? We had four visitors in this chapter, did you like them? Manuel and Rodrigo are actually pretty intelligent in the way they thwarted Maria for all those years and how they offed the Volturi. Speaking of the Volturi, Chelsea was pretty efficient in forming that extra tight bond, wasn't she? What did you think of Marcus and Renata? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I promise to respond to your reviews-as long as your Private Messaging system is turned on. *wink* XOXO**


	60. Chapter 60

**Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! I was so overwhelmed by the response. Free tickets to the Vampires Bite Tour for all of you.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

_**Ten years later...**_

**Edward's POV**

After Marcus Volturi, showed up on Jasper and Bella's doorstep, life changed in a huge way for all of us. Marcus took Bella's advice and turned the castle, from the ground floor up, into a museum. It was a huge money maker. The office in which Gianna worked in at one point in her life is now the welcome center for the City of Volterra. It's laden with maps, brochures, and pamphlets for tours and attractions within Volterra and the surrounding area. The welcome center is staffed by humans who are fluent in several different languages. It's managed by none other than Amber Putain. This was Chelsea's brilliant idea. The woman has such a tight loyalty bond to our family that she would never betray us. Both Amber and the humans are paid for by the Saint Marcus Association which, for all intents and purposes, is our family.

How did that happen? It turns out that eighty percent of Volterra was owned by either Aro or Caius. Upon their deaths, their property went to Marcus. Marcus was wealthy enough by his own right so since he joined our family, he wanted to make that portion of his wealth community property. By community property, I mean he wanted eighteen couples to share in those assets.

We all brainstormed and came up with the idea to form a company called the Saint Marcus Association. Now, of course, Volterra has a working human government and infrastructure, we let them handle that portion themselves, but they wouldn't be viable without the Saint Marcus Association being diligent about paying all of their taxes, on time and in full.

Volterra was now teeming with tourists. There are many who come to the museum and even more who sign up for the Vampires Bite Tour run by the Saint Marcus Association. The tour takes them through supposed known vampire hiding places strategically placed throughout the city. The tour guide runs through the history of vampires, including how to protect themselves using garlic, and how to destroy vampires using a wooden stake through the heart. The tour ends at the gift shop where tourists can buy everything from plastic vampire fangs, fake blood, t-shirts, to DVDs such as True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Underworld. The gift shop also sells trashy vampire romance novels in many languages. Surprisingly they're a huge seller.

Now, as far as a vampire government was concerned, we were monitoring the situation in Volterra using a secure connection. On top of that, Amber kept her eyes and ears open for us. What we discovered through talking to Marcus was that the Volturi found out about any infractions in our world through word of mouth and by monitoring human news stories. This was easy to do from wherever we were, especially in the age of the internet, and if anything got out of hand, we could easily fly to wherever we needed to go to handle the situation. We haven't run into one problem yet.

Our individual lives had changed tremendously. We had four new family members including Marcus, Renata, Rodrigo, and Manuel. They were a welcome addition to our family, especially Manuel because he brought his talents as a chef to our family and we were all having Sunday dinner once a week. We brought him whatever animals he requested and he would whip up something delicious for us to feast on.

Almost everyone had just moved to Texas except for Esme, Alistair, Carmen, and Eleazar who were really enjoying life in India with Amar and Amrita. We all saw them at least once a year. Either they would come and visit us or we would go and visit them.

Alice, Mike, Amanda, and I had spent fourteen years in Seattle. The humans were becoming increasingly suspicious so it was time for us to pack up and move. It was actually the perfect time for us to relocate since everyone was doing the same thing.

Mike and I still ran Newton's Olympic Outfitters. We still had all four locations of the store. We had trusted humans running each store for us and keeping in touch with us through video conference. It was a pain in the ass, but Mike and I had to don stage makeup to progressively age us so we wouldn't look too fishy to our employees.

Alice now worked at Target. She wasn't aging so things started to look very weird. She was okay with it, though. She saw in a vision that she would be able to return to Walmart in twenty years. She really enjoyed working retail and, personally, I was happy because I preferred the long hours that she kept. The Pixie's long hours at work kept Amanda, who quickly became irritated with Alice, happy too.

Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent purchased a house in the Dallas area. Riley, Carlisle, and Sushmita opened up a private practice together. Irina, who was now a registered nurse, worked in their office. Laurent was a physical therapist for an area hospital and he taught karate twice a week at the YMCA.

Garrett, Katie, Felix, and Gianna also lived in Dallas. Katie and Amanda opened up a boutique in an upscale Dallas shopping area and it was taking off like wildfire. Meanwhile, Gianna and Claude owned and operated a beauty salon and spa on the same street. It was frequented by the rich and famous and, of course, our family. Garrett and Vicky were still teaching. Garrett really enjoyed teaching at the middle school level and Vicky switched to teaching the fifth grade. God, those poor children. Felix was now a college professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. His specialty was, surprisingly, Italian Language and Culture.

Sushmita and Sahil purchased their very first home in the same development as us. They were seeing what it would be like to live independently for the first time in their lives. Sushmita was now a family practitioner while Sahil was a spray tanning artist in Claude and Gianna's salon. He was considered the best in the area and his schedule was always fully booked with clients flying in from as far away as New York. Our family could only get into see him after hours. It was quite funny actually, he was the only one in the family that has seen all of us fully in the buff.

Manuel and Rodrigo also lived in the same development as we did. Rodrigo worked as an investment banker and he was making a ton of money. He had many clients with huge portfolios that trusted him implicitly. Manuel, on the other hand, was a homemaker and that's how we all wanted it. He loved experimenting in the kitchen and he spent his time working on new recipes for us.

Another couple that lived in our development was Marcus and Renata. They were both currently attending college at the University of Texas, they were still undecided as to what they were going to major in.

Now, it was a good thing that four of the couples decided to move to our development because it was a small one and there were only five houses. Amar called from India and asked us to purchase the fifth house in his name so that anyone who lived in India could use it whenever they visited. He wired the funds to us right away. I had to laugh, there were absolutely no humans living in our housing development. If only the developers knew.

Charlotte and Peter lived in their Dallas home which was located next to Jasper's property. Pete was taking a break from running a business and was now attending classes on auto body and collision repair. Rose, too was attending the same type of course, but in the Houston area where she and Emmett lived. I'm sure that Pete and Rose had huge plans in store for their future. Meanwhile, Emmett was working as a software engineer for a huge tech company in Houston while Charlotte opened up her own upscale adult toy shop in Dallas, together with Chelsea. Their business was known as being very discreet, female friendly, and professional. Charlotte said that Chelsea hasn't mated anyone this week. That was a good thing.

Carlisle also purchased a house next door to Jasper's, but on the other side. Of course, Jasper's land was so huge that next door meant that there were several acres separating them. Tony and Claude lived with them.

Another couple that chose to live in the Houston area was Rex and Tanya. Rex found a job as a history teacher at a Catholic girls' school there. Apparently, he was their most popular teacher. Tanya was taking a break from working and just being a happy homemaker.

So, now, all we were doing was waiting for Bella and Jasper. Those two took off on a short honeymoon ten and years ago and we had no idea where they were. Alice had a vision placing them in Dallas soon. That's why we were all here, we missed the hell out of them and we wanted to be near them again. I was just wondering when exactly they were planning on moving back. I really missed them.

_**Six months later...**_

**Jasper's POV**

"Mmm...Jasper," my wife moaned as I pushed my length inside of her.

"Slow and steady, or hard and fast?"

"Start with slow and steady, then end with hard and fast."

"Your wish is my command, my mate."

I eased my length in and out of her while I stared straight into her beautiful golden eyes. She closed them for a moment as she immersed herself in the feeling of pleasure and opened them back up again.

"Kiss me, Jasper."

I did as she asked, never once taking my eyes off of her. Her breathing became erratic suddenly as she started moving her hips and responding to each of my thrusts with one of her own.

I quickened my pace and watched her eyes as they became darker and darker by the millisecond.

"More, Jasper. Harder. Keep up the pace. Harder. Go faster now. Jasper. Jasper. Jasperrrr!" she screamed as her walls clenched down on my cock sending me into a frenzy. I didn't last much longer after that. I came straight into her core while staring into her beautiful eyes.

I pulled her up into my arms and we sat holding each other for a while. We had been back in the United States for roughly two weeks now, Port Aransas, Texas to be exact. Bella and I decided to go on a honeymoon six months following Sush, Sahil, and Chelsea's graduation. We hadn't decided what to do yet, at that point. On a whim, we flew to San Diego, California. While we were out playing tourist, the sun started shining high and bright so we broke into someone's private yacht to hide. That's when we decided to go sailing.

The next day, Bella and I signed up for sailing lessons and a couple of weeks later, I purchased a yacht and the two of us started cruising the seas. Initially, we were planning on sailing for three months then returning to Telluride. Three months turned into four, then five, then a year. After that, we kind of lost track of time. We've sailed to every continent in the world and have anchored at ports in a myriad of countries. We were now going on ten and a half years and we made a decision to move to Texas.

Currently, our yacht was docked at Port Aransas, Texas and we haven't left except to go feed. A part of us didn't feel like leaving our private haven and dealing with family members again, but another part of us missed them tremendously and we knew that visits were long overdue. Hell, we were gone so long that we had no idea where they were.

Part of the reason why Bella and I left was that everyone had grown increasingly dependent on us for one thing or another. It was after Marcus Volturi joined our family and he kept asking me for advice that I decided enough was enough. Bella, on her end, had sacrificed enough by attending high school for Sushmita and Chelsea's sake. Of course, there was a plus side to her repeating high school, she found out that she had a learning disability that was keeping her from performing well in math. In subjects like history and English, though, she knew as much, if not more than me and Rex. In fact, she frequently put together our lesson plans because she was so completely bored in high school.

"I suppose we should go buy a truck, babe," I said, warily.

"Yeah, I guess so." The two of us reluctantly left the yacht and made our way to a car dealership.

Two hours later, I drove off the lot in a new Ford F-350. This is Texas, a truck was an absolute necessity. It wasn't the place for a fufu SUV. We started packing the truck with our belongings. We didn't have much, we were on a yacht for ten years and the less weight we had, the more momentum we had so we had about a suitcase each of belongings. I locked up the yacht and hopped into the truck where Bella was waiting. As soon as I started the engine, she climbed onto my lap and that's exactly how we drove all the way to Dallas to my Mama's home.

We cruised up the long drive and pulled into the garage. This was the first time Bella and I had been here since the rebuild. It was gorgeous and built in a way that my Mama would have wanted. Bella started giggling as we toured the house.

"What is it, baby?"

"We have no furniture, no sheets, no towels, no washer and dryer, nothing really. At least the kitchen has appliances, but what good is that going to do us? Things were so much easier when we were living on the yacht, at least everything was right there in front of us."

True, we didn't live on an extravagant mega-yacht, the two of us sailed around the world in a standard Azimut S-Range motor yacht which only had one bedroom, a full bathroom, and a living room. Our one luxury was the jacuzzi on the upper deck. This was our private yacht and we agreed that it was ours only and we wouldn't be sharing it with family. If they want to go sailing, they can go out and rent or buy their own yacht.

"I think we're gonna have to take care of some shopping tomorrow," I said.

"I think so, at the very minimum we need a bed."

"A big bed," I agreed.

I was about to kiss my wife when the doorbell rang. What the hell? We haven't told anyone that we were here yet. I placed Bella behind me as I answered the door.

"The next time you two decide to go on a honeymoon, you could warn us, you know!" An irate Charlotte pulled us both into hugs. Peter was next, then Vicky, and finally Riley who cradled Bella in his arms and, apparently, had no intention of ever returning her to me. I was about to close the door when I was greeted with a slap across my face from Irina who walked inside, hugged me, then took Bella away from Riley. Laurent was next. He greeted me with a growl, then a friendly handshake, and went on to hug my wife. Within ten minutes, our entire family minus Rose, Emmett, Tanya, Rex, Esme, Alistair, Carmen, Eleazar, Amrita, and Amar were in our living room. Can we say overwhelming?

"You're as white as a ghost, you need a spray tan," Sahil commented.

"Um, nice to see you too, brother," I said.

Bella was being chastised too. "Sug, your hair looks like shit! We're gonna have to do something 'bout that." Claude, the Texan, was back in full swing—drawl and all.

We sat on the living room floor in a big circle. Bella was sitting on the other side flanked by Riley and Irina who both kept a hand on her. On the other hand, I had Vicky and Sush holding me solidly in place.

"So, where the fuck were you two?" Pete asked in his not so tactful way.

"Everywhere," I answered.

"What do you mean by everywhere?"

"Well, we toured all seven continents and a few islands, too."

"How?" Chelsea asked, so I went and delved into the details of our extended trip. It took a good two hours.

"So, you two were living it up and sailing around the world while the rest of us were working our asses off?" Alice asked. "I can't believe how frivolous you two are with money."

"Yes," Bella hissed. "And it shouldn't really matter to you how we spend our money and live our lives since it's our money and our lives."

Alice stared at Bella in complete shock as she was put into her place.

Riley broke the tension, "What are you two planning on doing now?"

"We haven't decided yet. We don't even know where we're moving to, yet," I said.

It was the truth. Neither Bella nor I had any set plans or a set time frame. And if Alice was living here in Dallas, I had a feeling that Bella's patience would be extremely limited. In the past ten years, Bella's attitude about life had shifted significantly. She wasn't adamant about working or going to school as she had been in the past. She understood that we had money and that we had the means to live life as we pleased. She wasn't extravagant in her expenditures by any means and she certainly didn't go flaunting her money the way Alice had when I was married to her. She, also, finally understood how much work it was to maintain all of our properties and financial assets. While she never ventured into the financial side of things, she put a lot of work into making sure all of our homes were intact, and she kept track of all of the charities we donated to.

"Well, then, I suppose we'll just have to enjoy your company while you're here," Riley sighed. He had a look of disappointment on his face. Actually, everyone did. Charlotte and Chelsea were both scowling at Alice for her verbal diarrhea. I had a feeling that neither of them had repaired their relationship with her over the past ten years.

"So, what have the rest of you been up to?" I asked to break the uncomfortable tension in the room.

"I received my medical degree three and a half years ago and I just finished my residency requirements," Sush said, proudly. "I'm now in private practice with Carlisle and Riley. Irina works as a registered nurse in our office."

"Wow, that's great Sush!"

One by one, everyone updated us on their lives. With the exception of Rose, Emmett, Tanya, and Rex who lived in Houston, they were all living and working in the Dallas area and a few of them lived in the same housing development which was located about ten miles from our property. I knew that Pete and Char lived next door to us. A big surprise, though, was that Carlisle, Chelsea, Tony, and Claude also lived next door to us, but on the other side. All I knew was that I was glad that I bought up the five houses that used to be located next to mine because having them in such close proximity was just way too close for comfort.

Riley, Vicky, Laurent, and Irina lived two streets away from us. Garrett, Katie, Felix, and Gianna lived across the street from them.

Wow, they all lived really close to us. Maybe a little too close. Bella looked like she was going to rip her own head off of herself at any moment.

We talked and caught up with everyone for a few more hours. There was a mass exodus out of our house at around six am so everyone could rush to work, and Bella and I found ourselves alone at last. The two of us took one last look around, locked up the house, hopped into our truck—which we still hadn't unloaded, and drove to our penthouse in Houston. Ten acres may be surrounding our home, but twenty-four family members in close proximity to us? Nah-uh.

"I hate Alice," Bella said.

"Yeah, I don't like her that much either, that's why I'm married to you. Unfortunately, she's family."

"I know, I wish I would have ripped her head off years ago. She's still fucking annoying. Mike would have still been changed. We still would have had him in our lives."

"'You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.'"

"Ah, the brilliant Harper Lee from 'To Kill A Mockingbird,'" Bella acknowledged. "I do love when you quote literature, Major Whitlock."

I winked at my mate.

Bella sighed and spoke again, "Jasper, why isn't this penthouse furnished?"

"Oh, I had it renovated about twenty years before I met you. I haven't lived here yet because I was avoiding Texas due to Maria."

"Well are you very partial to these peach colored walls? And what's with the teal wall to wall carpeting? And is the kitchen really mauve and aqua blue?"

"Alright, I admit, we're in a 1980's hell, but in my defense, this was really in the now back then," I said, brightly. Gee whiz, this was horrible looking. "Why don't we call an interior design firm and renovate? It's only eleven am, we can probably meet with someone today."

"Man, were things really like this around the time I was born?"

"Yep, it was a vast improvement over the seventies, though. You should have seen Rose and Esme, they both had their hair permed up to high heaven, but it was Emmett who took the cake. He wanted to look like one of those guys in a hair band so he grew his hair out and permed it. His hair was even bigger than Rose and Esme's."

"You're fucking with me?"

"Nope, I've got the pictures to prove it too."

"I don't think we need a design firm, Jasper. I think we just need a contractor to repaint the whole penthouse and put in some wood flooring. As for the kitchen, I'm sure we can just...okay call a design firm," she acceded staring at the neon green kitchen walls.

She walked into the bathroom and came running out. "Jasper, you have a lavender bathtub."

"I know, it was really hip back then."

"Sure it was," she chuckled.

_**One month later...**_

The renovations were complete and Bella and I were relaxing in the living room of our, now, modern penthouse. We both had our noses buried in books and had our feet propped up on the coffee table, our toes touching.

The security guard on the ground floor called our apartment, "Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, there's a Charlotte Whitlock and a Chelsea Cullen here to see you. Shall I send them up?"

"Yes," I replied, then hung up the phone. "Damn, they found us."

They were upstairs, knocking on the door in no time. I went to answer the door and let them in.

"Why? Why are you two living here? The whole family is in Dallas?" Charlotte asked. She had tears in her eyes.

"We just needed a little more privacy," I answered, honestly.

"Is it me? Am I too annoying?"

"No," we both answered at the same time because, honestly, it wasn't Charlotte. It was just that Bella and I preferred having a bit of distance between us and the family.

"It's Alice, isn't it?" Chelsea questioned.

"No, it's not Alice either," I said. Bella, however, looked up at the ceiling without saying a word.

"I knew it! I knew it! That fucking annoying midget! I'm gonna kick the shit out of her when I see her again!"

Bella sighed, "Chelsea, it's not Alice, though I'm not particularly a fan of hers. Like Jasper said, we just prefer having a bit more privacy. It's always been that way for us. You didn't know us back then, but when we lived in New England, we lived in a different state from everyone else."

"Why don't you like being around us?"

"I like being around you. I really do. I just need some time on my own as well. You have to understand that I was an only child growing up. I've always been a bit of a loner. I become overwhelmed when too many people are around me. I need my space and personal time. So really, it's mostly me."

"Now, don't take all the blame yourself, babe. If I'm surrounded by too many people, my emotions get the best of me. I need some space, too." I couldn't let her shoulder the blame for this herself because it wasn't all her. Yes, Bella needed her own space, but so did I. Another thing that bothered me was why we had to explain the fact that we chose not to live in Dallas. We didn't make everyone move here, they chose to do so themselves. Where we chose to live was wholly our decision and we really shouldn't have to make any excuses for it.

"Let me ask you this," Bella inquired. "Why did you guys choose to live in Dallas?"

"Because Alice placed you both in Dallas," Charlotte said.

"Uh-huh and Alice's visions are decision based. You knew this already. Why would you choose to believe her? I've had my shield up the majority of our time away so she's only gotten glimpses. Jasper and I hadn't made a concrete decision about moving to Dallas. It was a toss-up between Dallas and Houston. We didn't even know that you were all in Texas."

Charlotte jumped up onto Bella's lap. "You see, I need you because you're so smart. Besides, I missed ya like crazy and I wanna show ya 'round Texas." She started plastering Bella's face with kisses.

Yep, Char's definitely home. Her sweet Texas lilt has popped out from out of nowhere.

"I can't wait, Char. What part of Texas are you from, anyway?"

"You're walking distance from the street I grew up on, sug."

"No kidding, Char? I never knew that. I knew you were from Houston, just not the area," I noted.

Chelsea started gabbing next. "Did you know that Renata has finally learned to expand her shield like yours? She can cover everyone physically if we're all together in the same room now, she used to only be able to cover four people including herself at most. She can't do it subconsciously like you can, though, Bells. By the way, she fucking hates Alice with a passion. With her physical shield she has the ability to confuse anyone attacking her so that he or she forgets his or her purpose. Well, as soon as Alice starts talking, she throws her shield up so that the twit becomes completely confused. God, I feel sorry for Mike. He and Riley are the only ones that seem to be able to handle her. Amanda went so far as to purchase one of those outdoor fire pits hoping that she could throw Alice inside."

"Wow, what happened to Alice while we were gone?" I asked.

"Oh, Bella's shield covered you two, but didn't cover us while you were out of the country so Alice's visions came back in full swing and her NPD came back with it. Riley says that there's no real cure for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She can only manage it to the best of her ability. According to him, she's in a really bad cycle with her NPD right now," Chelsea explained. "That still doesn't excuse her from being a bitch, though."

"So, when are you two going to visit us in Dallas?"

"I don't know, maybe this weekend. We have to set up the house there anyway."

"Well, are you going to make time to see us?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I really hate Alice."

_**Two days later...**_

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Who is it?" Bella called.

"Open the fuck up!"

My mate opened the door open immediately.

"Rosie!" She jumped up into her favorite sister's arms.

"Never! Never again! Don't you dare leave me for ten years!" Rose had venom tears in her eyes as she cradled Bella in her arms and planted herself on the sofa.

Emmett followed Rose in, shut the door, then punched me in the stomach. "You fucking leave me for ten years again, and I'll rip you apart so you can't go anywhere anymore, bro."

"Did you miss me, bro?"

"Yeah, I did," Emmett said, sheepishly.

"So, why the heck are you two living here in Houston instead of with everyone else in Dallas?" I asked.

"Oh, as soon as we found out that everyone was moving to Dallas, we decided to head for Houston. Rose and I couldn't fathom living with everyone in such close proximity. Besides, Rose vowed never to live in the same area as Alice ever again. Why are you two here? Alice placed you in Dallas."

"Same reason as you," I said.

"Ha! I told you they'd move to Houston, Em. Was I right or was I right? I had a feeling that you'd high-tail it out of Dallas as soon as you found out that everyone else was living there," Rosie explained. "You don't mind us living near you, do you?"

"Not at all," I said truthfully.

"Actually, I'm ecstatic about it," Bella admitted.

We chatted for hours until the security guard downstairs rang our apartment. Speaking of which, how the heck did Rose and Em bypass the security guard? "There's a Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock here to see you, sir. Shall I send them up?"

"Yes," I said, thinking it was Pete and Char. I went to open the door and Rex and Tanya were standing there.

"You took wifey away from me for over ten years. Do you know how awful that was for me?" Rex asked as he walked inside, gave me a hug, then proceeded to scoop Bella up out of Rose's arms and into his."

"Uh, nice to see you, too, Rex," I said.

"I missed you, J." Tanya planted herself right on my lap.

"So, I've got to ask. Why are you two in Houston instead of Dallas?"

"Alice," they both replied simultaneously.

"What happened?"

"Oh, well, we were going to move to Dallas. Rex had a job lined up and everything. We had all gotten together for a gathering when I mentioned that I wanted to take it easy and be a housewife for a few years. Then, Alice went on a screeching rant at me about how irresponsible I was being, how she puts in twelve hour days at work, how pathetic I was, how she felt bad for Rex for having to support us alone, the list went on and on. At that point, I lost it and before I could even make a decision, I got up and ripped her head off in front of everyone."

"Can I just interject here and say that it was a beautiful sight," Rose piped in.

"Anyway, Amanda joined in and started a fire in the fireplace. I was feral, at that point, I had Alice's head dangling by the hair, inches from the flames. It took everyone to stop me from tossing the head in. When I was finally stopped, Rex announced that we wouldn't be living in the same town as everyone because there was a good chance that I might commit a homicide. And that's how we ended up in Houston."

"My God, her NPD is out of control," Bella gasped. She told them about Alice's not so subtle jab at her for not working which ultimately sent us to Houston, as well. They weren't surprised at all.

"This is nice, though," Emmett commented. "There's less family to pry into your affairs and we all live apart so the privacy is nice."

After a few hours, we all exchanged addresses and phone numbers and the two couples left us. Oddly, neither Bella nor I had a problem with either couple living near us. Tanya pointed out in private that both Bella and Rex would be less fidgety with the two of them living in the same town. I had to agree with that statement. Over the last ten years, I had to take Rex's place as Bella's dance partner and I had to learn native dances from almost every country we stopped in. Now, I didn't mind learning how to dance, but I had to draw the line when Bella signed me up for Samoan Fire Dancing lessons when we were in Apia, Samoa. I mean, come on, we're vampires for God's sake.

_**Three months later...**_

We settled into a routine in which we'd visit everyone in Dallas over the weekends a couple of times a month. Individually, our family members would stop by to visit us, too. Everyone seemed fine with it. We had just returned from one of our Dallas weekends when we received a surprise visitor. It was Amanda laden with two humongous suitcases.

"Hi Belly Mama," she said as she walked inside of the house. "Can I stay here for a few days?"

"Of course you can, what happened?"

"I left Edward."

"You left Edward? Why?"

"Because of Alice."

"Now, what happened?"

"Oh, well, she drives me insane, you see. I don't want to be in the same house as her anymore, but Edward insists that this existence is lonely without people around. I told him that he won't know until he gives it a try and he tried to tell me that he's been a vampire a lot longer than I have, yada, yada."

"Ah, well does Edward know you're gone?"

"Not yet. He's out with Mike. I got into a huge fight with Alice and decided to leave."

"What did you fight about?"

"Oh, she was unhappy with the fact that I don't like her so she decided to hound me and tell me that she knew best about my needs. Then, she bitched about my clothes, and how expensive they were, and that I should be buying stuff at Target using her employee discount and stuff. Mind you, I do own my own clothing boutique. By the way, the hot pink suitcase has new clothes in it for you and Jasper. They're all from Kate and my boutique."

"Cool, thanks, baby," Bella said.

"Are you kidding me about Alice?" I asked.

"No, she's tapped, I'm telling you. Riley counsels her everyday, but it's taking her longer to snap out of her cycle this time around. It might have something to do with Renata fucking with her. Anyway, I flipped out, ripped her apart and left her lying in the living room—well, at least her head. I buried her other parts in everyone's backyards so they'll have to sniff out her body parts first. I doused the parts with Scent Away so they're going to have to wait until it wears off. I think Edward's going to be pissed off at me."

I know it was mean, but I had to laugh. Amanda's creativity knew no bounds. I was also trying to picture my ex-wife's head sitting on the living room floor. I sure wouldn't want to be greeted by that.

Right on cue, Edward called Amanda's cell, but rather than being pissed off, he was worried.

"I'm not coming home, Edward. I refuse to live in the same house as that beast. It's either me or her, you pick."

"Amanda, you can't..."

"Goodbye, Edward."

Two days was Edward's limit. He came rushing to our apartment begging his wife, on his knees, for a second chance. He told her that they could go look for a new place to live in Dallas right away. And, by the way, where did Amanda bury Alice's right hand?

Amanda, who truly loved Edward, went with him and the two of them purchased a penthouse in Dallas. Mike was allowed to visit, but Alice was not allowed there or at the boutique that she owned with Katie. Alice was too afraid to visit Amanda anyway. I felt really bad for my ex-wife. It seemed her disorder had taken hold of her again and she was making enemies in the wake of her path.

A week later, Bella and I had another surprise visitor. This time, it was Alice. As soon as Bella saw her, she said that she would leave us alone to talk, and left the apartment. I suspected that she was heading to Rosie's place.

"What's up Alice?" I asked.

"I need help, Jasper," she sobbed. She was emitting feelings of distress, sorrow, loneliness, and confusion.

"How can I help you?"

"First of all, you can tell your wife to lay off of me."

"Bella hasn't done one god-damned thing to you, Alice. She doesn't talk about you and she's taken it upon herself to stay away from you."

"That's the thing. As long as Bella stays away from me so does everyone else. I have no friends, Jasper."

"Alice, who Bella chooses to associate with is her business. You and she haven't been friends for a long time. I can't get involved in your relationship with her."

"You're so selfish, Jasper. All you care about is Bella's feelings and she's completely unfeeling. What about mine?"

"Alice, if I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be sitting here having a conversation with you. Also, if Bella were so completely unfeeling, she wouldn't have left the house to give us a chance to talk."

"Yeah, well, why did she leave, then? Am I that disgusting to her?"

"No, you're not, but your attitude is something that she can't put up with. You cut people down with scathing remarks and try to control their lives with your visions. You can't do that, Alice."

"I don't Jasper! I..."

"Alice, if you're not here to listen to me, then why are you here?"

"I...I..."

I sent her some peace and confidence. I was feeling an immense amount of pain, sorrow, and distress coming from her.

"It's just that you told Maria that you loved her, but did you ever love me Jasper? Or did you always love Maria more than me?"

Okay, I wasn't expecting that. Yikes.

I took a deep breath and thought hard on my answer. Did I love Alice? Yeah, I did at one point. More than Maria? That was a tough one. Maria gave me my vampire existence and the tools to survive in it. Alice led me to my mate, but she also tried to take her away from me. Both women had been malicious to me for certain.

"Alice, I did love you at one point. I really did. I can't really say whether I loved you more than Maria because both of you hurt me in ways that are indescribable. If it gives you peace, what I can say is that I'll always appreciate the time we had together when we were in love. But, I won't compare the love I shared with Maria, with the love I shared with you, because, in all honesty, I'd be doing you both an injustice if I compared the two of you."

Alice whimpered while sitting in the fetal position.

"Jasper, I'll always love you."

"And there's a part of me that'll always love you, too, but you have Mike now. He's your mate, Alice. And he loves you more than I was ever capable of loving you. Look at the infinite amount of patience he has, and he's always honest and straightforward with you. He's not a lying, conniving, scoundrel like I was with you."

There was a sudden knock on the front door. I figured it was Bella so I went to answer it. It was Mike. He looked completely worried about Alice. He walked inside, sat next to his mate, and pulled her into his arms.

"I may not always say it, Alice, but you're exactly who I need. You're always who I want and desire. I love every part of you—even your imperfections. We'll work through this cycle together, okay? You'll get better, I'll make sure of it. I promise," he soothed.

Alice sobbed into Mike's arms. He looked up at me and nodded his head in thanks. He cradled Alice to him and walked out of my penthouse.

Man, I never had that type of patience with her. I give kudos to Mike. Bella walked back inside of our penthouse a couple of minutes after they had left.

"That was very nice of you, Jasper. She didn't deserve it," Bella commented.

"I know, but she's mentally ill."

"Yeah, she is."

"I just never had the patience that Mike has."

"Mike's always been patient. It's one of the wonderful qualities about him. What's bothering you, Jasper? You're really down in the dumps."

"You're going to think I'm heartless."

"Try me."

"I can't handle living in the same state as my ex-wife. I know she's ill and I know she needs help, but she isn't our responsibility by any stretch and just having her in the same state has already affected our lives in a huge way because neither one of us are truly happy here in Houston, and the only reason why we live here is because she's in Dallas. On top of that, I'm sick and tired of hearing her malign you as if you're responsible for her current demise. I don't even want to look at her anymore!" I didn't realize that I had fallen into a rage until Bella's calming hands cradled both sides of my face.

She looked into my eyes to center me before she spoke, "I don't think you're being unreasonable at all and I also don't think you're being heartless either."

"What should we do about this situation?"

"I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I want to live in Dallas, but not with everyone else living there. Houston's okay, but in all honesty, it's not home to me. I think we should sell this penthouse because I don't think we'll be using it again."

Just then, Bella's cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Is this Isabella Swan Whitlock?"

"Yes it is. Excuse me, who is this?"

"My name is Bill Kaleikini. I'm the lawyer representing Mr. Jason Scott Jenks, I'm wondering if you and Mr. Whitlock can fly to Hawaii sometime within the next thirty days."

"Uh, sure, we can leave immediately. May I ask what this is in regards to?"

"I have specific instructions here from Mr. Jenks that I'm not to divulge any information until we meet face to face. Let me give you my telephone number and address to my office, and you can call me when you get here."

"Okay, I'll book our flights now."

"Thank you," he said before hanging up the phone.

"Um, Jasper..."

"I'm checking on flights now." I was clicking away at the keyboard. "Let's go, there's a flight that leaves Houston at 7:20 pm. It'll arrive in Honolulu at 8:00 am."

"Alrighty, let's get out of here, then."

I threw my laptop into a bag, grabbed the cell phone chargers, locked up the penthouse, and the two of us hopped a taxi cab to the airport.

We arrived in Honolulu on schedule and called Jenks's lawyer right away. He asked us to come to his office as soon as possible. Fortunately, it was a rare, overcast day in Honolulu so we were able to abide by his request. We were sitting in the lawyer's office, waiting for him to speak.

"Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, thank you for coming. I have some unfortunate news for you. Mr. Jenks passed away in his sleep at the age of ninety-six two weeks ago."

Bella gasped and had venom tears in her eyes upon hearing that. I was a bit shocked myself. I had no idea that he was that old.

"Oh, how awful. He was such a nice man!" Bella sobbed.

The lawyer continued speaking, "Mr. Jenks wanted me to assure you that he died a content man and lived an equally fulfilling, long life. He is happy to finally be joining his wife and daughter in the great beyond, though it's possible he'll be going to hell. Those were his words, not mine. He is now interred at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, in his family plot, along with the entire Jenks family. As his family was taken from him in an accident long ago, he had no living blood relatives so, Isabella Swan Whitlock, Mr. Jenks has left the entirety of his estate, which is in the form of cash and property, to you."

"Me? Did he give a reason?"

"Yes, he said that you were always kind to him and treated him with respect from the moment you met him."

"That's the only reason he gave you?"

"Yes, in any case, his assets include a six thousand square foot waterfront home in Kirkland, Washington worth three and a half million dollars, a fourteen thousand square foot, double gated mansion in Beverly Hills, California worth fifteen million dollars, and his final residence—a ten thousand square foot beachfront estate on Kahala Avenue in Honolulu worth seventeen million dollars. He has also transferred ownership of his brand new Ferrari to you, unfortunately it has an automatic transmission. It's housed in the garage of his Kahala Avenue home."

Bella's face broke out into a huge grin upon hearing that last part.

"Now, Mr. Jenks also had considerable cash assets. I do not know the amount, but the entirety of his offshore bank account in Switzerland was transferred into your name just days before his death. He said that Mr. Whitlock will be able to assist you in accessing it. That's about it for you, Mrs. Whitlock. Congratulations." The man shook Bella's hand, then turned to me. "Mr. Whitlock, I have a private letter and a box of journals that belonged to Mr. Jenks. I'm supposed to wink at you and tell you that he's left nothing but his memories to you. Do I really have to wink at you, sir?"

"It's in his will," I stated.

"Um, yes, sir. Ahem," the guy grimaced and attempted to wink at me. He was having trouble doing it and it took everything in me to not crack up. He, then, handed Bella a mess of keys. "Well, that's about it. Mr. Jenks has already transferred everything to Mrs. Whitlock's name so you are all set. I've never had a client be so thorough. My fee has been taken care of so you are free to leave and enjoy everything our beautiful island has to offer. If I were you, I'd start by visiting your new home in Kahala, it's magnificent."

"Thank you, Mr. Kaleikini," Bella acknowledged.

I nodded my head, shook his hand, and left the office along with my wife and box of memories. Bella and I took a taxi to Jenks's house in Kahala. We entered the sprawling estate and were both stunned by it's splendor. The interior was professionally designed and it seemed as though we were surrounded by the beautiful ocean. The estate was gated and the private beach was secluded and partitioned off on both sides with an enormous concrete wall so that we had total privacy. It seemed that Jenks, rather than sleeping in the master bedroom upstairs, chose to sleep downstairs in his large den, most likely for mobility's sake.

The master bedroom was large and airy. The room, like much of the others, had never been used. We sat down on the large king sized bed and could see the waves gently cascading onto the sand, as we took in the beautiful view of the Hawaiian ocean from the large bay window.

"I'm curious, Jasper. What does Mr. Jenks's letter say?"

"Dunno. I'm rather curious myself. I'm still blown away that he left you with so much. The property alone is worth thirty-five and a half million dollars." I put my arm around Bella and reeled her into my side before opening the envelope. I started reading the contents of the letter aloud.

_**Dear Jasper,**_

_**I think I've earned the right to call you that, don't you think? If you're reading this, I'm either basking in the light of heaven or frying in the burning embers of hell. Either way, I'm dead—just like you. What? Did you really think that I had no idea that you and your family are vampires? Oh, but I did, Jasper. I did. I'll get to the reason I knew this in a second. **_

_**First, let me answer the question niggling in your mind. You want to know why I decided to leave the whole of my estate to your wife. The answer is quite simple. Isabella is, and always has been, a sweet girl. I first found out about her when she was only a newborn infant. Your then wife, Alice, contacted me and asked me for every snippet of information that I could find pertaining to a newborn baby girl born at Forks General Hospital on the Thirteenth of September with the last name of Swan. I, of course, did the research, but I didn't divulge any information about Isabella to your ex-wife. I'd never trusted Alice and I certainly wasn't going to give her any information about an innocent human child. From that point on, I made it my mission to keep tabs on her.**_

_**When Isabella was about three years old, I was contacted by Alice again. She made an extremely odd request at that time. She said that she knew that Charlie and Renee were getting divorced, and she asked that I manipulate the court system and make Isabella a ward of the State of Washington. Well, over my dead body was I going to do that. Although they were having marital troubles, Charlie and Renee loved Isabella tremendously. I knew that I had to get Isabella out of Washington. This is when I decided to approach Renee and befriend her. I got to know her, gave her some money, and suggested she move to Phoenix, Arizona. I even purchased a small house in a good neighborhood with an excellent school system and rented it out to her for a mere three hundred dollars a month, never once raising the rent. I knew it was an amount that she could keep up with. It would have been fishy if I just gave her a house, plus she could have sold it for cash had I done so.**_

_**In Arizona, I had a vampire friend of yours, Veronica Miles, keep an eye on Isabella. She and I watched her grow into a responsible young lady. With her mother so scatter-brained, she had no choice but to become that way. Then, we were thrown a curve-ball when she returned to Forks to live with her father at the age of seventeen. A few months after her move, she started dating Edward Cullen. I had an odd request from him that summer after she was hurt by a vampire in Phoenix. Yes, I know about that. He asked that I forge documents and new identification for her, including a marriage certificate, using the name Isabella Marie Cullen. I denied him his request, stating that she was only seventeen years old and a minor. I told him that even I had my limits. Edward told me that he understood and apologized. He said he would contact me again once Isabella turned eighteen. I started scrambling, then. I had no idea how to protect Isabella from your family, but I knew that, somehow, I had to.**_

_**On September 10th, three days before Isabella's eighteenth birthday, I received a call from Alice Cullen asking that I write up divorce papers for you and her. She asked me to confirm whether or not you had any assets. I, of course, knew of your astounding wealth, but I told her that you had nothing. In fact, I told her that you were in debt. She asked for a straight divorce with no division of assets at that point. I gladly wrote up the papers, at record speed—I might add, and expressed it off to her that day. I did worry immensely about Isabella's safety, but nothing seemed amiss at that point.**_

_**I lucked out on the morning after Isabella's eighteenth birthday when I received hurried calls from Carlisle Cullen asking that new documents be forged and sent to Eleazar Denali's address. There were no requests made for Isabella, and I hadn't heard of any unusual disappearances in the Forks area, so I assumed she was alive. I personally checked on her, of course, and she was fine.**_

_**In November of that year, tragedy struck, Isabella's mother and step-father were killed in a traffic accident. That brought back memories of my wife and daughter who were also killed in a car accident years ago. Three weeks after that, there was an even worse tragedy, Charlie Swan was murdered in his driveway. I vowed to make sure that somehow I finagled it so Isabella got an education, but it turned out that I didn't have to worry about that. I received a phone call from Irina Denali asking for new identities and papers for Isabella, her brother Riley, his girlfriend Victoria, Laurent, and herself. I, of course, knew that Riley Biers was Isabella's brother and I had no doubt that he would care for her and make sure that no harm would come to her. I knew that Isabella was finally in excellent hands. I still kept tabs on her, though. **_

_**Carlisle Cullen, Emmett Cullen, and Eleazar Denali all requested information on Isabella's whereabouts a few months after you left Forks, but I refused to give them any information out of fear for her safety.**_

_**About five and a half years after that, you requested documents on Isabella. By then you had changed considerably, Jasper. You had become less intimidating, kinder, and I believed Isabella to be responsible for your change in attitude. I granted your request and I did so because, for the first time in her life, Isabella was genuinely happy and so were you.**_

_**I know that I still haven't answered your question as to why I left everything to Isabella. Well, quite simply, she came to be like a daughter to me that I watched grow up from afar. In all of my seedy and nefarious dealings, Isabella was the only mission that I had undertaken out of sheer protectiveness. I didn't want any harm to come to her and her safety was my top priority until you came into her life. This is why I bequeathed my entire estate to her. She was the one good thing that kept me grounded throughout these years, and she gave meaning to my sorry life.**_

_**By the way, you might want to give Veronica Miles a call. She and her mate have grown to love and care for Isabella as much as me. They watched over her until she moved to Forks and made sure that she was cared for and well fed. Occasionally, one of them would sneak into her house and replace a few items of clothing, or a pair of shoes for Isabella, or re-stock the kitchen pantry with food. They did this out of the goodness of their hearts, not because they were being compensated by me for their services. They still live in Arizona close to the home Bella grew up in—which by the way, I've put in your name, Jasper. The deed is enclosed with this letter.**_

_**Now, let's move on to how I came to know that vampires are in existence. I want you to think hard, Jasper. Did you really think that you and your family were the only vampires in need of documents? The person who told me about vampires was my father. He and my grandfather had been forging documents for quite a while for a man named Caius Volturi and his entire family. They lived in a place called Volterra, Italy. This man paid my father well to keep quiet about the existence of vampires and threatened his life with death if he didn't comply. My father, of course, did as he asked. Later, the same threat was made to me, as long as I updated the travel documents of the entire Volturi family every ten years or so, I was paid a king's ransom and my life was safe. **_

_**Now, through the course of my dealings with vampires, I came across many who required documents or legal assistance. There was a woman in Texas named Maria Asesina de la Noche, a man named Vito Guerra in New Mexico, both of whom I believe you dispatched, and there were also many nomadic vampires around the United States and the world. My journals contain records on all of them. I thought that they would be safest in your care. By the way, Beverly Hills, California has the largest population of vampires in the United States. Odd, I know, because you sparkle in the sunlight, but they live in peace and in secured homes so they can venture out into the sunlight in the privacy of their own homes. Why the Cullens and Denalis kept moving to dark, dank places I'll never understand.**_

_**By the way, the money I left Isabella is the money I inherited from my father, as well as money I earned throughout my career as a lawyer. There are ledgers inside the box with the journals along with the keys to the home in Arizona, a cell phone, and a photo album that I think you might enjoy. The black ones contain all of the transactions made with legal clients while the red ones contain my transactions with vampires.**_

_**So, now you know my story, Jasper. Throughout the years, I've watched you grow into a kind, secure, and steady young man deserving of Isabella. I know a bit of your story through Veronica. You were a major in the Civil War and terribly used and abused after you became a vampire, I'm quite impressed. I've grown to think of you as the son I would have had—rough at the edges, but with your heart in the right place. Take care of my sweet Isabella, Jasper; and in turn, allow her to take care of you.**_

_**Good luck my son and daughter. I wish you both well in your lives. Oh, and as your surrogate father, I'm ordering you both to go to law school. For God's sake, you've seen enough of the world for now. Give it a rest and make me proud. My alma mater is UCLA law school. I know it's sunny there, but I also know that you two know how to get around in the sunlight. You're both very resourceful, that's what I like about you.**_

_**Be happy, Jasper. Keep Isabella happy.**_

_**With Love,**_

_**Jason Scott Jenks, Esq.**_

_**P.S. Don't you dare sell any of my houses. I like them and I built them to my specifications!**_

Bella glanced up at me with her mouth hanging open in shock. I'm pretty sure that I had a similar look of shock on my face.

"I can't believe the extent Mr. Jenks went to in order to keep me safe from Alice," Bella said.

Neither could I, but even more shocking was the fact that Alice could have been so callous and cold-hearted as to try to make Bella a ward of the state. I understand that she suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but that was still no excuse for her outrageous past behavior towards an innocent baby. It was then that I decided to take a page out of Rosalie's book and cut all ties with my ex-wife. She was actually worse than Maria. At least Maria never harmed innocent children. In fact, I remembered an incident when one of the newborns killed a man and a woman. We heard a baby crying in the corner afterwards. Maria killed the newborn for committing a heinous murder, picked the baby up, and delivered her to the authorities. Later, when the baby was placed in the care of her grandmother, Maria deposited five hundred thousand dollars in the woman's bank account—which in 1923 was a great deal of money, so that she could raise the child comfortably. Even Maria, had more of a heart and a sense of responsibility than Alice did.

I also thought of Veronica Miles. She was one of my mistresses when I was married to Alice. I liked her because she always had a kind heart. I learned of the extent of her kindness, just now, through Jenks. I planned on contacting her in a few days to thank her personally.

"Jasper?" Isabella called.

"Yeah, baby."

"Can we meet Veronica Miles?"

"Absolutely. She's very sweet. Maybe we can fly to Arizona in a couple of days. I want to see the house that you grew up in since it's now mine."

"That house means so much to me, Jasper."

"It does to me, too. Do me a favor and grab my laptop and the information that lawyer gave you regarding Jenks's Swiss bank account. I want to see how he worked everything out for you."

She did as I asked and I switched my laptop on. I entered the information Jenks gave me regarding the bank account.

Fuck me. Fuck me again. Okay, fuck me one more time.

"Um, Bella."

"Yeah?"

"Jenks left you roughly 16,300,000,000 Swiss Francs."

"Oh, what's that worth?"

"About twenty billion dollars."

"Excuse me?"

"Twenty billion dollars, Bella."

"How?"

"I'm about to find out." I reached into the large box filled with Jenks's journals and his financial ledgers. I pulled the red ledger out and scanned the pages. It seemed the Volturi paid him well in exchange for silence and identification. From what I could see, he only dealt with Caius Volturi. Every ten years or so, he was paid a billion dollars in exchange for silence, Italian and US passports and driver's licenses. Maria paid a million dollars per transaction. Stephan and Vladimir of the Romanian coven paid a million dollars per transaction as well. In fact, that seemed to be the going price. Shit, I was a cheap bastard compared to everyone else. I turned the page and looked at my transactions. They numbered many. Each and every Cullen was in there, having requested either information or identification from Jenks in the past. Pete was in there. Riley was in there. Jenks took care of his requests for a mere five thousand dollars. I think he did that as a favor to him. There were names of vampires that I knew listed in the ledger and even more that I didn't know. I didn't realize there were so many in existence. Each and every transaction was spelled out clearly. Some vampires had careers, others owned businesses. In each case, Jenks was responsible for updating their paperwork. Fuck me.

I pulled out the photo album inside and opened it up. They were littered with photos of Bella from the time she was an infant all the way through college. Every single report card was in there too.

"God Bella, your report card was always so skewed. You got straight A's except you never managed more than a D+ in math and a C+ in science."

"I know, it's the dyscalculia. Isn't it amazing? It's a wonder I even got into college." She took a deep breath. "Jasper, I want to do something for Mr. Jenks, but I have no idea what I can do. He's done more for me than even my parents."

"Bella, maybe the best thing that you can do is to live life and be happy. We can start by visiting him at his grave, making sure that his family plot is maintained for eternity, then enrolling at UCLA in September for law school. We have a house in Beverly Hills that we can live in now."

"Maybe you're right," Bella said.

_**Three weeks later...**_

We stayed in Hawaii for one week, sorting through Jenk's belongings, and giving the house a thorough cleaning. Afterwards, we locked it up, and headed for Seattle. We knew we'd be using the house in Hawaii frequently since it was a short flight over from Los Angeles where we decided we'd live after we finished settling everything. We did the same in Seattle, the house had to be aired out and we called painters in to give the house a fresh coat of paint inside and out. We also replaced the furniture which was worn out and too old to salvage. We had the flooring replaced and new windows and gutters put in since Seattle had a tendency to be deluged with rain. In both the Hawaii and Seattle properties, we hired companies to maintain the landscaping of both properties regularly. When all was said and done, we fell in love with both homes.

We had just arrived in Arizona at the home that Bella had grown up in. Nothing had changed and Bella's human scent plus that of her mother and Phil were still lingering all these years later. This house was in the worst condition. It hadn't been occupied since Renee and Phil's deaths over thirty years ago. When we went to Renee and Phil's room, the bed was still unmade and there was a hamper filled with dirty laundry by the door.

Bella's bedroom was unlike how I'd expected it to be. Her walls were painted in a baby pink and she had a twin-sized, white four poster bed with white bedding in the middle of the room. Her shelves were lined with books, and on her desk was a corrected English paper on Shakespeare's 'As You Like It.' There was a Harry Potter movie poster up on her wall, as well as one of The Pirates of the Caribbean. She also had a lifesize cut-out of Zac Efron in her room. I started chuckling upon seeing that one.

"Shut up! I was a teenager," she said, laughing.

"Obviously," I chuckled. "So, you were into High School Musical, huh?"

"Hey, Troy Bolton was everyone's dream. Wow, this house sure brings back memories. Are we keeping it, Jasper?"

"Of course we are. It's Jenks's gift to me. We're going to have to call a contractor in, though, it's in bad shape."

"Yeah, I know. My mom wasn't exactly good at keeping up with the house while we were living here."

"Why don't we start by hitting Walmart and going for our usual cleaning supplies? Then we can open up the house and air it out."

"Sounds good."

A couple of hours later, we were working away at cleaning the Phoenix home. We worked all day and through the night, and by morning, we had boxed up everything going to charity, which was practically everything in the house. I called the Salvation Army up and they sent a truck right away to collect all of the items including the furniture. They told Bella that they didn't need the cut out of Zac Efron.

A contractor came and did a walk-through of the house. He said that the house had a strong foundation. It only needed a new roof, windows, and a fresh coat of paint. He could get started on it as soon as tomorrow. We asked him to install hardwood flooring and re-vamp the bathroom, enlarging it and making it more suitable to our tastes as well. After that, we checked into the Ritz Carlton where we would be staying while the work was being completed.

After relaxing in the tub and making love to Bella repeatedly, I called Veronica Miles up. To say she was excited to see us was an understatement. She invited us to her home in Litchfield Park. We told her that we'd be there after the sun went down in the evening.

I was a bit anxious about seeing her. She was formerly a lover of mine until she found her mate in the nineties. After that, we remained friends and I would speak to her once a year over the telephone. I'd never met her mate, but Jenks said that he played a role in protecting Bella too.

I pulled in front of a large steel gate and pressed the buzzer. I identified myself and the gate sprung open, then shut behind us. I drove down the long driveway then parked in front of a massive house. The house was larger than Esme's home in Amherst and the property seemed to go on for acres.

Veronica came to the door and invited us inside. She pulled me into a hug, then stood to admire Bella. Not ten seconds later, Bella had pulled her into a tight bear hug to rival Emmett's, thanking her for all she had done for her.

"It was our pleasure. Let me get Chris in here. Chris!" she hollered into the house.

Veronica led us into the large sitting room and motioned us to the sofa. Before we could sit down, a man in his thirties, about my height with curly red hair in a shade to rival Vicky's came to greet us. "Hello, I'm Christian Devereaux, you must be Major Jasper Whitlock. A pleasure to finally meet you. Veronica's told me so much about you." He then faced my mate. "You, I've known since you were a cherub, Isabella. I'm glad that I can finally identify myself to you."

Bella's jaw dropped uncharacteristically. "You were my second grade teacher, then my fifth grade teacher, then my eighth grade teacher, then my high school English teacher! I never put it together that you were a vampire."

"That's because I wasn't a vampire yet. Veronica was my mate, but we chose to hold off on my change until we knew that you were safe. It was actually my idea. I was a teacher at your elementary school, and I knew who you were, so I could keep a close eye on you there."

"It was actually a brilliant idea. When you switched from elementary school to middle school, then to high school, Chris simply applied to change schools with you. He's an award winning teacher so he knew he'd get the job no matter what."

"Wow, how many years did you put your change off?"

"Oh, about twelve years, but it was worth it to keep you safe. Now, are you still a lousy math student?"

"Yes, I returned to high school once about ten years ago, as a favor to my sister, and can you believe it? I was diagnosed with dyscalculia. I'm glad it happened because suddenly it all made sense. I thought I was an idiot or something."

"You were never an idiot Isabella. You were actually one of my more memorable students. Not just because I knew about your special circumstances either."

We sat and talked for hours. Veronica and Chris wanted to know what happened since Bella left Phoenix. It took hours to catch them up, of course. Later, they showed us around their enormous property. Not only did they have a stable where they kept about six horses, but they had an eighteen hole championship golf course on their land as well. They invited us to stay with them instead of at the hotel because we could venture out in the sunlight during the day as long as we stayed on their property. We took them up on their offer, and at the end of three weeks, we were actually sad to leave. We knew we'd definitely be seeing the two of them often.

Bella and I decided to go back to the property in Dallas for awhile to visit our family. An hour after we got there, Pete stopped by.

He looked contemplative as he spoke, "You're moving again, aren't you?"

"Not right away," I replied.

He nodded his head. "Where are you going?"

"California. You can visit us anytime."

"What made you decide to go to California?"

So I told him about Jenks and the extent he went to in order to keep Bella safe. I told him that Alice's vindictiveness went way further than she had admitted to in the past. I also said that there was no way in hell that I could live in the same town as her. Then, I ended by telling him about Bella's large inheritance and Jenks's final wish that we attend law school at UCLA. Pete sat there stunned silent by the revelations.

Pete understood why we had to leave because that's just how he is. He loved me like a brother and loved Bella with everything that he had in him. He also knew that we'd be living in the same town again soon enough, just not with Alice.

So, this is how we ended up telling everyone we were moving—one or two family members at a time, methodically and carefully, instead of announcing it to all of them at once. They all understood our decision and wished us luck. They all thought we were nuts that we were going to be moving to such a sunny place as vampires, though.

I talked to Riley about how best to handle Alice. I told him that I wanted minimal contact with her and explained my reasonings. I also told him about how Alice repeatedly tried to harm Bella while she was still a child. As Bella's brother, he was furious. He was so furious that I had to go running with him so he could take out his frustrations on a few trees. As Alice's therapist, he said that this information would help him a great deal. Alice obviously had many indiscretions that she was still hiding and she would have to come clean in order to get better.

As far as me dealing with Alice was concerned, Riley agreed that she was not my responsibility at all. In fact, the point he had been trying to drive home to Alice was that she's responsible for her own choices and the consequences that accompany them. Riley said that I didn't owe her any explanations whatsoever, and urged me to go on with my life without paying any mind to her, so that's what I decided to do.

I signed over the deed to our penthouse in Houston to Charlotte. She was jumping up and down for joy. She was happy to have a home in her hometown, on top of that, it was the very first property she owned solely. The other properties were all in Pete's name. It was weird how some couples did things. In Bella and my case, we owned everything jointly for tax purposes. I added her name to all of my properties and she added mine to the house in Telluride, and to the homes that Jenks bequeathed to her. We both felt that a husband and wife should share everything, but to each his own. The only things we owned separately were a couple of offshore accounts, but that was done more as a precaution than anything.

There were two couples making the move with us. They were, of course, Emmett and Rosalie, and Rex and Tanya. Neither couple was willing to be so far away from us again and frankly, Bella and I were relieved they were moving with us. Both couples were already in California. With the exception of Emmett, they all couldn't stand Texas so, as soon as their leases were up at the end of June, they bolted out of the state and left for California.

Rex and Tanya purchased a house in Brentwood while Rose and Emmett purchased a house in Westwood Village. Tanya and Emmett were going to start an internet business together selling what I had no idea, but Tanya was a creative genius when it came to retail so I had no doubt that whatever it was, it would take off. Meanwhile, Rose and Rex enrolled at UCLA Law School with us. I had to grease a few palms to get the three of us in. I didn't have to for Bella because she filed a late application, took the LSAT's while we were still in Arizona, and got accepted. She refused to attend college unless she got in on her own power. She said she would be making a mockery of the educational system if she did otherwise. Whatever. The point is, we were all going, and several underprivileged students would be receiving well deserved scholarships because of the Whitlock Foundation—that was the name of our charitable organization, alright, so it was a cover for our tax shelter.

Summer was coming to a close and I couldn't wait to start our new lives in California. So far, the adventure that Jenks has sent us on has been a whirlwind of new experiences. I couldn't wait to see what was in store for us next.

**Do you like how the family dealt with Volterra? Do you blame Jasper and Bella for moving to Houston away from the family? What do you think of Alice and the way she's treating her family? What did you think of Jenks? What do you think of Alice in light of Jenks's revelations about her? Do you agree with Jasper that Maria had more of a sense of responsibility than Alice? Should Jasper write off Alice? Are you glad that only three couples are moving to California with them? I dearly would love to hear your opinion on this chapter. It was a tough one for me to write. As always, I will respond to your reviews. Thank you! XOXO**


	61. Chapter 61

**Thank you very much for your wonderful reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. I truly appreciate your taking the time to chime in with your thoughts. Don some capes and fangs and spend Halloween with Rex and Bella!**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Jasper's POV**

In mid-August, we made our move to our house in Beverly Hills—prepared to clean everything like we had with Jenks's other homes. There were two security gates leading to the stone-walled compound. Once we got inside, we were amazed. The house was humongous, meticulously maintained, and it appeared as if it had never been occupied. The house was still unfurnished, and, except for some minor accumulated dust, there wasn't much cleaning that we needed to do. There was a tennis court and a swimming pool in the back, as well as a beautifully manicured rose garden that surrounded a vine covered gazebo where we could sit and relax. A little further down the path, there was a bath house with a gigantic jacuzzi pool, a bar, flat screen TVs on each wall, and a spa shower with a stripper pole. Hmm...what the hell is that all about?

Bella and I walked back to the house and toured the inside again. This time, we noticed a manila envelope sitting on the kitchen counter which we hadn't noticed before. We pulled out the letter inside and started reading it.

_**Dear Jasper and Bella, **_

_**I thought you might need a 'vampire friendly' house to live in while you both attended law school. The high walls will protect you, allowing you both to venture outside within your property and enjoy the sunshine without fear of detection. The double gates will give you a chance to run in case you're ever in a situation during which you encounter unfriendly vampires—which, by the way, I highly doubt since you seem to have eradicated all of them.**_

_**The gazebo and the rose garden were designed with you in mind, Isabella. I thought that it would be a nice sanctuary for you to read in. I had pink roses placed here because they've always been your favorite, ever since you were a little girl. I hope you like it.**_

_**The bath house was built recently for you, Jasper. I thought that it would be a good place for you to soak in the tub, watch a game or two, and have a few drinks with the guys. The shower room was placed there because...well...I know that you have some strange fetishes, judging from the hotel rooms you stayed in during your trips to Las Vegas. I may be old, but I'm still a man—ironically, I can relate to your kinky tendencies. Too bad I'm so old that even Viagra won't help me anymore.**_

_**I'm so proud of the fact that you're both finally going to law school. At least, you'd better be going or I'll come back from the dead and haunt you. I've enclosed the name of the company that's been maintaining the property for me in case you want to continue using them. They've been paid up until the end of the year. They come every Tuesday at two pm.**_

_**Remember that I told you that Beverly Hills has the highest concentration of vampires in the United States. You'll never meet a friendlier bunch, though. Study hard. Make me proud. Would it be overstepping my boundaries for me to say that I love you both and have faith in you? Well, I do. You've both made an old man very happy throughout the years.**_

_**With Love,**_

_**Jason Scott Jenks, Esq.**_

"Aww...baby, come here." I pulled my teary eyed wife into my arms. "Shh...he was a good man."

Bella was whimpering unintelligible words. I held her and calmed her sobs while we sat on the kitchen floor. I took a look around at our new, unfurnished house—painstakingly planned and built for us by Mr. Jenks with love and care. If I could be half the man he was, I would be a great man. I vowed, at that moment, to strive to become like him.

Over the last few months, we said our goodbyes to our family and they wished us well. I didn't say goodbye to Alice, but Bella did. She went to visit Mike and Alice, with Riley, and explained that we were leaving. Apparently, Alice broke down in her arms and started crying—apologizing for all she did to Bella. She admitted all of her wrong-doings—which so-far, we had only told Riley, Vicky, Laurent, Irina, Carlisle, and Pete about, then told Bella that the only reason why she never told anyone the rest of her story was because she knew that I would cut all ties with her. And then, Bella did something that I would have never been able to do, she forgave Alice. She told Alice that she needs to love herself and love those around her even more, even if they can't return the love. And above all, she told Alice to respect the boundaries that other people set and that it was okay for her to set her own boundaries too. Bella told Alice that, for now, she would be open to keeping in touch with her via email. After that, she simply held Alice for six hours straight.

Riley said that just the simple act of Bella forgiving Alice, and talking to her calmly, did wonders to her psyche. She was finally showing improvements. Riley joked with Bella that she needs to forget about law school and go into counseling, at which time he would quit the medical field and go into private practice with her. Bella told him that she'd think about it.

I knew that Riley was going to miss Bella, he loved her like crazy. In private, later, he asked for Veronica Miles's phone number. He, Vicky, Laurent, and Irina had talked and wanted to go and thank her and Chris personally. I understood why they needed to do that. Those four, together, were Bella's parents. They each had a hand in shaping her into the woman she's become today. They were visiting them at their house this week. Veronica and Chris had invited them to their home for a visit, they wanted to meet the four of them too. Pete and Carlisle had flown down together to thank the couple last week.

"I love you, Jasper," Bella murmured.

"I love you, too, Bella. Now, let's figure out how to furnish this place. It's a tabula rosa, we can create our own dream home," I said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, it's beautiful here. We need to call in some painters, though. The walls are too plain."

"I agree. First, we have to figure out this damn state. I know nothing about California except for the two weeks we spent in San Diego when we were learning to sail, do you?"

"Nope, I know a lot of movie stars live in this area, though. Maybe we'll run into a few of them."

"Possibly, we..."

My train of thought was interrupted when we heard a chime coming from the intercom that I had no idea that we even had. "Hello?"

"Hi, we're Peaches and Herb Home and Garden Caretaking. We were hired by Mr. Jenks to maintain your property. It's Tuesday, we're here for our weekly maintenance. Are you Mr. Whitlock?"

"Yes, let me buzz you in," I said, then turned to my wife, scratching my head. "Which button do you think it is?"

"It's the round, white one on the bottom right hand corner of the panel, Mr. Whitlock," the man said, helpfully.

"Um, thanks." I pushed the round, white button and a couple of minutes later, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door and was shocked out of my boots at the sight of the couple standing in front of me. They were vampires.

They casually stepped inside with all of their equipment. The man held out his hand for me to shake. "My name is Herb Stoneridge and this is my mate and wife, Peaches. It's a pleasure to finally meet the people for whom we've been maintaining this home."

"Um, nice to meet you, too. This is my mate and wife, Isabella. My name is Jasper Whitlock."

"Welcome, we'll just get to working because we have four more homes on our schedule today."

"Uh, thank you."

"No problem. Why are you so stiff? Haven't you ever seen another vampire before?" Peaches asked us.

"Um...yeah, of course, we have. It's just..."

"Ah, you're from out of state, aren't you? You need to relax more, go with the flow. That's how we roll in California. We'll get out of your way now."

Bella's jaw had dropped to the floor. She was staring at Peaches and Herb, completely stunned. I took my hand and clamped her jaw shut for her.

Peaches and Herb were thorough and meticulous. They took about a half an hour to maintain our house and do the landscaping at vampire speed.

Afterwards, they came to talk to us, "Is 2pm on Tuesdays a good time for you?"

"Yes, it's fine. I'm assuming that you have a key to enter the property if we're not home, right?"

"Yes, we do. And don't worry, we're both bonded, licensed, and insured. We're paid up through the end of the year. If you'd like to keep us on after that, we can draw up a new contract in mid-December. We've been in business for ninety-nine years and we haven't had a single complaint," Herb said, proudly. "Anyway, here's our card. Call us if you need anything."

"Thank you," Bella and I both called out.

"Did you notice that Peaches smells like peaches and Herb smells like basil?"

"Huh, interesting. I wonder if they couldn't remember their names and came up with Peaches and Herb based on their scents," I pondered. "Baby, we've got to go and buy a bed. I don't care about anything else, but a bed is a must."

"Oh, so sheets, towels, soap, shampoo, and the like doesn't matter to you? You do realize that we either left everything for Char in Houston or donated everything except for Jenks's journals, the forgery equipment, and our important books, photos, and whatnot, right?"

"Don't forget, we have that suitcase filled with clothes that Amanda gave us."

"It does come in handy to have relatives in retail, doesn't it?" Bella said. "Amanda has good taste, too."

"Alright, let's get everything inside." It only took us three trips and we were done. We literally brought the bare minimum with us. Bella and I walked around the house again to survey the house so we could get a general idea of what we needed. We walked downstairs to the basement, and there was laundry hook-up, but no washer and dryer. We had to add that to our list, too.

I took her hand and we left the house, ready to discover whatever else California had in store for us.

_**Ten weeks later...**_

**Bella's POV**

We were finally settled into our new house. It was still not fully furnished, but getting there. The interior was painted in gorgeous hues of blues, creams, and tans. I had them do our master bedroom in a bright raspberry. Jasper protested, but I pointed out that he got to choose the paint color of every single bedroom we've had in the past. I also told him that we weren't putting a stripper pole in the room. He actually pouted for a week straight. I couldn't believe it. Then, the bastard went out and had a show shower with a stripper pole installed in our master bathroom. I swear my husband can be such a spoiled brat sometimes.

Law school was actually quite challenging and an incredible amount of fun. It was interesting because Jasper, Rex, Rose, and I all had differing opinions on certain issues. There was no right or wrong answer in law, it was the way we presented it that mattered.

It was Friday, on Halloween night, Em, Rose, Rex, and Tanya were over at our house lounging. We had a ton of Halloween candy ready to go to pass out to the kids. Rex was surfing the internet when he started chuckling. "Hey, guys, check this out. It's a listing of mixers that they have monthly in Los Angeles. They've got mixers for many groups: Asians, Christians, Catholics, Jews, the Irish, Italians, Native Americans, Canadians, Muslims, Indians, Wiccans, African Americans, Latinos, Vegetarians, Strippers, Trekkies, Actors, Cab Drivers, Mechanics, Bankers, Cannabis Lovers, Swingers, you name it. Oh, and Vampires."

"Vampires? Come on, fucker, you're kidding me?" Jasper scoffed.

"Nope, it's listed right here. It's put together by the Vampire Association of California. Hey, it's tonight at The Venom Nightclub. We should go. It's Halloween and all."

"I'm not going to some stupid Vampire mixer, Rex," Tanya stated. "You can go if you want to. You know it's only going to be a bunch of weirdos dressed in capes with plastic fangs and carrying fake blood."

"Aw, come on guys, you're no fun."

Tanya, Jasper, Rose, and Em all rolled their eyes at Rex. I was kind of intrigued though. "I'll go with you."

"I swear to God, you two take the cake on weird," Rose said, slapping her palm on her forehead.

"Hey, we should stop at a store and pick up capes and plastic fangs," Rex suggested.

"Good idea. Let's go."

"See ya later!" Our mates, Rose, and Em all shook their heads incredulously at us. They were used to me and Rex trying out new things, and California was teeming with new things for us to do.

We stopped at the costume store and picked up capes and plastic fangs. We headed over to The Venom Nightclub on the Sunset Strip where the event was taking place. We donned our capes and fangs and walked inside. There were two groups ahead of us being carded. They were also wearing capes and fangs. The groups were let in through the doors behind the bouncers.

We handed the bouncers our licenses, looked up, and were in complete shock. They were vampires. One of them took one look at our outfits and started laughing. The other one spoke, though, "You guys must be new to L.A. Are you here for the mixer?"

Rex and I nodded our heads.

"Boy, you two don't talk much, do you?" He ripped our new capes off of us and tossed them into the trash bin. "Lose the fangs before you head upstairs. You'll be the laughing stock of the mixer."

I gulped, I was completely immobile as anxiety shot through my system. Rex picked me up bridal style and carried me upstairs.

"Hey, can't she walk?" the other bouncer called up.

"Rex, we should leave," I whispered. "Who knows what's going on upstairs."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

We turned around to leave, but we were shoved inside the door by the mob of people...no vampires behind us.

I molded myself to Rex, then started shaking. He held me close to his body as we reached a long reception table.

"Hi! My name is Ginger. I'm part of the welcoming committee for our little mixer here. You must be new to town, what are your names?"

For some reason, Rex and I were both so stunned at the sheer amount of vampires that neither of us could speak. This was a rare event because the two of us were actually very outgoing.

"R...Rex," he managed to sputter out.

"And your mate?"

"B...Bella."

"Nice to meet you, Rex and Bella. You might want to get rid of those plastic fangs." She held out a small waste basket in front of us. We both disposed of our toy fangs.

Ginger printed our names on name tags and stuck them to our shirts and motioned us to go inside. Rex kept one arm around me the whole time. I don't know why I was so frightened. Maybe it was the fact that I've never really socialized with any vampires other than family. Rex was also anxious. I could tell by the way he kept pulling me in closer to his chest and inhaling my scent, that's what he did to calm himself. It's always been that way.

We observed our surroundings as the other vampires socialized. They all seemed to be extremely at ease with each other.

"Maybe we should try to get to know some people, Rexy," I suggested.

"Yeah, they seem okay. It's so weird, we have no problems getting to know humans, but since these are vampires we've both crawled into some sort of a shell."

"Okay, let's start by ordering drinks at the bar."

We were heading towards the bar when a scuffle broke out at the front entrance. Oh, just great.

**Rose's POV**

An hour after they left, Jasper, Tanya, Em, and I were sitting in the living room talking about how absolutely ridiculous Bella and Rex could be sometimes. I mean, come on, a vampire mixer? The type of humans that go to those things were deluded ones that are drawn in by the fantasy of vampires that they read in novels or see in movies. But the real morons were my sister and brother who actually got their kicks out of hanging out with these weirdos. Since we've moved to California, those two have gone back to their routine of taking strange classes together. The dance classes are fine, of course. I don't even have a problem with the cooking classes and the craft classes. I had to draw the line when they went to a Catholic Church, pretended to be an engaged couple, and inquired about their marriage preparation program. I mean, what the fuck? That was worse than that ridiculous Lamaze class they took while we were still living in New York. At least it served it's purpose in teaching them pain management. Now, they're taking a class called Underwater Basketweaving—weird, yes, but at least it's a craft, and they get college credit too.

"How the heck do you guys put up with those two? I have a hard enough time dealing with Emmett and his strange obsession with Star Trek. I mean, those two went to a vampire mixer. Do you know how weird that is?"

"Rose, if Bella and Rex don't get it out of their system, they become fidgety. You remember how Rex was when Bella was on her honeymoon for ten years, don't you?"

"Do I ever! I never want to set foot into another dance class again!"

"Neither do I!" Tanya declared.

"Nor I," Emmett agreed. He had to go to a male stripping class with Rex.

"No shit! Bella tried to get me to go a Samoan Fire Dancing class with her while we were in Samoa. That's where I drew the line. I tried to explain to her that we were vampires and fire is lethal to us. She said that she could shield us, and I told her that I wasn't willing to...what the hell?"

"Rose? Jasper? Tanya? Hey is it Rex and Bells?" Emmett asked.

The three of us were clutching our chests because we'd all suddenly felt immense pain. Emmett, who was the only one thinking clearly, quickly ran us out of the house and ushered us into his Hummer. He took the wheel and started driving towards the club where the mixer was being held. By the time, we arrived, the three of us were fine. The pain had receded, but Tanya and I were still completely on edge so we barreled out of the vehicle while Emmett and Jasper looked for parking. We plowed through the line of people waiting in line before we were stopped by...vampires?

"Hey! There's a line to get in!" someone shouted at us.

"Ladies! You have to proceed in an orderly fashion," a woman at a reception desk stopped to tell us. She was a vampire, too. We were surrounded by vampires. Oh my fuck!

"Where the hell is my mate?" Tanya shrieked. "He's in trouble!"

"What the hell is this? Is this some sort of vampire cult? Are you trying to brainwash her? She's very susceptible to weird shit, you know. I want my sister! Give her back to me!" I hollered. I was ready to throw down with the entire establishment.

Jasper and Emmett came rushing up the stairs.

"Just tell me who your mate is and I'll locate him for you," the woman said.

"Rex Whitlock."

"Oh, the newbies."

Rex and Bella rushed up front.

"Oh, there you are!" Tanya gasped. "I was so worried about you. Rose, Jasper, and I felt the pull and we rushed to you."

"Wait a minute! Rex is Bella's mate, isn't he?" the woman asked, confused.

"What? He's my mate!" Tanya yelled, appalled.

"Well, then who is Bella?"

"His wife!"

"You allowed your mate to marry someone else? You're very progressive," the woman commented.

"Huh? He's married to me! Bella's married to Jasper."

"Who's Jasper?"

"That would be me." Jasper waved to everyone with a grin on his face.

"Wait a minute, but how could she feel the pull?" Another vampire pointed to me.

"They're probably mates—lesbians, you know," some guido vampire with a name tag that read Vinnie said. "Hot lesbians."

"I happen to be highly tuned in to my sister! Emmett is my mate. Bella is Jasper's mate!"

"Alright, alright, let's get these newbies checked in. There's a line a mile long behind them," the woman prompted.

We were all asked our names and given name tags. I pulled my sister into my arms immediately, while Rex held onto Tanya.

"Hey, are you sure you're not lesbians?" the guido named Vinnie questioned. Can he put more grease into his hair?

"No, we're not lesbians," I stated.

"Too bad, you'd be hot naked."

"Hey! That's my mate you're talking about." Emmett stood up to his full height and got up into his face.

"Whoa, you're tall man. Angelo! Ricky! Get the fuck over here!"

Jasper and Rex immediately flanked Emmett.

"Whoa, whoa! We don't mean any harm. We just want to know if you want to play some ball with us. You know, with the guys on the weekend. We can usually gather up enough guys to get two teams together. One of our friends has a thousand acres of farmland up in Valencia. What are your names anyway?"

"I'm Emmett McCarty, this is my brother, Rex Whitlock, and this is my brother, Jasper Whitlock."

"You're Jasper Whitlock?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Thank fuck! I need my license updated. I've been driving with an expired one for the past nine months. Which one is Rosalie McCarty?"

"That's my wife."

"The lesbian? Forget Jasper! Um, maybe you can do my license for me, sweetheart."

We were suddenly surrounded by all sorts of vampires needing everything from updated driver's licenses, marriage certificates, contracting licenses, and a whole bunch of other shit.

"Hang on!" I said, popping out from behind the guys. "Who told you to contact us? And who the fuck are you people?"

So, the mixer suddenly turned into a meeting. The woman that was up front took charge. "My name is Ginger Fontaine. I'm the head of the Vampire Association of California. We've been in existence since the Gold Rush in 1849. We all live peacefully and quietly, and we all own businesses or have jobs within the community. Most of us feed from animals, some feed from humans. We never pass judgement on diet choice. Our only rule for human feeding vampires is that they only feed off of violent criminals or the terminally ill."

"Excuse me, how did you manage to stay under the radar of the Volturi for so long?" Jasper asked.

"We immersed ourselves within the community. It was easier for those of us with golden eyes, of course, but when colored contacts were mass marketed in 1981—life became much easier for everyone. The Volturi rarely set foot in California and they really had no reason to. We've never had one incident to flag their attention and we don't advertise the fact that we exist."

"Yeah, but what about the mixer?" I asked.

"The human mixer is downstairs, the actual one is upstairs. Did you notice that you were separated at the entrance?"

"Well, I kind of rushed in here so I may have missed that."

"I noticed when wifey and I first walked in. We were carded and sent upstairs. They took our capes from us. We wondered why we were being separated. We were going to turn around and ask them, but there was a mob of vampires behind us so we couldn't move," Rex explained.

"No wonder you two looked terrified when you first walked in. We'd never seen newbies—that's what we call vampires that are new to California, look so frightened."

"That must be why we all felt the pull," Tanya concluded. "I keep forgetting how young you two actually are. You've never really been exposed to vampires en masse except for family." She pulled Bella in for a hug and squeezed Rex's hand.

"Well, Em and I haven't been exposed to a mass of vampires either," I noted.

"I know, but Rexy and Bella are more sensitive."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I'm fucking sensitive! I'm so fucking sensitive that I rushed up here to save my sister and your mate!"

"I swear to God, you can be so touchy, Rose!"

I thought about it. "Yeah, you're right," I chuckled and gave Tanya a squeeze.

"You still haven't told us who told you about Jasper and Rose," Em said.

"Isn't it obvious," Bella interrupted. "It was Mr. Jenks."

"That's right," Vinnie said. "We all received letters in the mail about a year ago stating that Jasper and Isabella Whitlock, and Rosalie McCarty would be handling the transactions from now on. We've all left messages on the phone number he gave us, but it keeps going straight to voicemail."

"What phone number?" Jasper asked.

"Oh my God! It's that cell phone he left us in the box," Bella said. "Um, exactly how many members are a part of the Vampire Association of California?"

"Oh, only about three hundred eighty-seven, actually we need to add six to that number with you folks joining us."

Rex and Bella both started counting on their fingers to add the numbers together. The four of us were used to it by now. I, personally, thought that the dyscalculia diagnosis was the best thing ever for Bella. She pouted for weeks after she was first diagnosed because she was so embarrassed. It took Rex to talk to her and tell her that she was still smart and that she just processed her numbers differently.

"Um, three hundred ninety-three?" Rex asked.

"That's right," Ginger confirmed. "We dearly need your assistance. Mr. Jenks's family has been handling our paperwork for five generations. He told us that his daughter, son-in-law, and his sister were next in line to assist us. We didn't realize that you were vampires. Well, come on, let me introduce you to everyone."

We followed Ginger around and were introduced to maybe two hundred vampires—that was everyone that was at the venue tonight. We met doctors, construction workers, nurses, beauticians, police officers, school teachers, psychiatrists, accountants, small business owners, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, and even a dentist who also had evening hours two nights a week to work on vampires.

"But vampires don't need to see a dentist," I pointed out to him.

"That's the common thought, but it's simply not true. Although it's impossible for vampires to get cavities, we still need to brush our teeth, floss, and get two cleanings a year due to plaque buildup."

I instantly covered my mouth, I hadn't brushed my teeth since my change.

Rex and Bella hi-fived each other. They both had looks of vindication upon their faces. We all used to laugh at the two of them, Riley, Mike, Claude, and Tony for continuing to brush and floss their teeth as vampires. It was a human habit that they simply couldn't break.

"Told ya so," Bella muttered.

"Shut up!" I growled.

"Touchy, touchy. Your teeth won't be as bad as Jasper's. He's way older than you."

"Oh my God! If Jasper's teeth are bad, mine are going to be atrocious. They didn't have toothbrushes when I was human," Tanya gasped.

"Don't worry, Thomas here is over seven hundred years old and I was able to fix his teeth up just fine."

"Um, I'm over a thousand years old," Tanya pointed out.

"Maybe we should get you in tonight after the mixer." He took a penlight and started peeking in poor Tanya's mouth. "Uh, yes, definitely after the mixer."

After a few more hours of chatting with everyone, the mixer ended. Tanya wanted to go straight to the dentist, but she refused to go alone so we all tagged along. She wouldn't sit down in the chair and, after seeing the equipment, I was fully on her side. So were Emmett and Jasper.

The dentist, Gene, had Bella sit in the chair and get a cleaning done to show us all how simple the process was. The four of us were still wary so Rex went next. It seemed easy enough. I took a deep breath and sat in the chair. It actually wasn't too bad, but the grinding and whirring noises were really intimidating. Emmett went after me. The idiot actually had a cavity from when he was still human that he had to get filled with some sort of special resin infused with filtered venom particles that Gene had invented.

After Emmett, we finally got Tanya in the chair. The dentist told her that she'd have to come for cleanings every month until he got her teeth back on par. Emmett and I were on a six week cleaning schedule. Bella and Rex only had to return in six months because, according to Gene, he'd never seen teeth so meticulously cared for—human or vampire.

Now, all we had to do was get Jasper in the chair. The great Major of the Southern Wars was cowering in the corner freaking out. It took Rex, Emmett, and Gene to physically pick him up and sit his ass down, then all five of us had to hold him down just so Gene could take a look. He kept begging Gene to knock him out, but he was told that there was no vampire anesthesia that he could think of. When all was said and done, Jasper had no cavities, but needed to come in for a cleaning every six weeks along with me and Emmett.

Gene gave each of us a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss, then said he'd bill us later for the procedures. He also suggested that Jasper, Tanya, Em, and I invest in electric toothbrushes. Oh my God, who knew being a vampire would be this complicated.

Instead of going home, we all headed to Jasper and Bella's house afterwards because we needed to talk. Clearly, none of us were expecting Jenks to refer clients to us. On top of that, all six of us were kind of freaked out by the sheer amount of vampires that we had come in contact with today. What the fuck?

Bella's cell phone started ringing. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, baby girl, it's your granddaddy. You sure had a big night, didn't you?"

"Yeah, couldn't you warn me?"

"Nope, it wasn't in the stars. Sush and I both knew that this move of yours to California would bring about something big for the six of you. Now, go look inside the closet in the office, the one you've never even opened. Use your house key to open it. I think there's something for you there. I love you and I'll be up to visit over Thanksgiving, okay?"

"Okay, I love you, too."

"Good girl. Now lemme talk to Rosie."

Bella passed the phone to me.

"Hey, Pete, what's up?"

"There's a fucking '67 Shelby sitting in a junkyard in East Los Angeles scheduled for destruction. Can you check it out, see if it's in good enough shape for us to tinker with, and if it is, pick it up for me?"

"Sure, no problem. Text me the info on it."

"Go in the morning, okay?"

"Okay, Pete. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"It's a Shelby."

"I know! I'll handle it, okay?"

"Okay. Bye. And uh, Rosie?"

"What?"

"I miss you."

"Now that might be three of the most heartfelt words I've ever heard you say to me, Pete."

"Yeah, well, it's true. It sucks not being able to work on cars with you. You do have a garage at your house out in L.A., don't you?"

"Of course I do. And, uh, I miss you, too."

"I'm hanging up, I don't want anyone thinking I'm turning soft. Bye." _Click._

"Aw, now that was sweet," Tanya gushed.

"Holy motherfucking shit!" Bella yelled from the office.

We all rushed to see what she was going on about. She had the closet door wide open and she was sitting cross legged inside, staring at the contents. It seemed to be a filing room filled with files. There was also brand new forgery equipment sitting on the shelves. Bella reached up and pulled down a lone manila envelope. Inside, was a disc. Jasper booted up his laptop, inserted it, and hit play.

Jenks appeared on the screen. He was very old, but still spry.

"_**Surprise, my chosen ones!" he greeted. "So, Jasper, Rosalie, and Bella—you three are going to be taking over my business. I told you, previously, that Beverly Hills has the highest concentration of vampires in the United States, there's a reason for that. You can build secure fortresses like the one I had built for you and the public isn't any wiser because there are so many like it in the neighborhood. On top of that, no one bats an eyelash if you haven't aged because so many humans get plastic surgery there. But, Beverly Hills isn't the only place with a high concentration of vampires, I probably should have said California as a whole. Have I shocked the three of you, yet?"**_

All six of us nodded our heads up and down at the screen.

"_**So, let me break things down for you. The closet in the office contains files on the vampires in California. Five generations of my family have been handling their documents and carefully guarding their secrets. This responsibility now falls to you three. Jasper and Bella feel a sense of obligation so they'll do it. Now, Rose, knowing you like I do, you're probably saying to yourself, "Why the fuck do I have to do this?"**_

I stood up and yelled, "Oh my God! What the hell? Why the fuck do I have to do this?"

"_**I'll tell you why you have to do this. You made a promise to my father that you would guard his secrets for all of eternity when he taught you how to forge your own documents. You also told him that should anything happen to me or him, you would take over the forgery business. Now, did you just say that so he would teach you how to fake your own identity or are you an honorable woman Mrs. Rosalie Lillian Hale McCarty?"**_

Jasper paused the video. Emmett raised his eyebrow at me. Everyone else just stared at me. "I'm honorable," I said, simply. Jasper hit play again.

"_**I knew you were honorable, I was just testing you. You can still run an auto repair shop, just do this part time. Now, let me tell you about the vampires in California. They're all a peaceful bunch. None of them have ever been in trouble with the law and all of them have managed to successfully live under the radar for many years. They've settled permanently in California without the humans around them becoming suspicious about them not aging. All of these vampires work hard, therefore, when it comes to fees, I charge them based on their income. I have a sliding fee scale that I use. The chart is in the file cabinet. The Vampire Association of California has a fund to assist those who need help paying for the documents. Don't ever tell any of the less wealthy vampires that they don't have to pay, they're very proud and become easily offended. Work something out with them, barter their services in exchange for yours, or work out a payment plan with them. My fee chart is also in the file cabinet. This chart only applies to the vampires in California. The most important part of this business is you accept cash only. No checks, credit cards, or anything that can be traced. Jasper, I know that you know how to make assets disappear from under the radar of Uncle Sam. Your skills will come in handy here."**_

"Fuck me, this guy had everything all figured out," Rex commented.

"_**Since we're on the topic of clients, there's one in particular that I hope you can help. His name is Juan Gonzalez. He was only sixteen years old when he was changed in Mexico. He can't read or write very well, but he's a hard worker. He usually works at various fast food restaurants and many of the vampires hire him to do odd jobs so he can make some extra cash. He lives in a trailer that I sold to him for a hundred dollars. Yeah, I know they cost more, but I felt really bad for him. This is where you come in, Jasper. Manuel knows you. He said that he was changed to fight in some vampire war in Texas and a kind vampire, known simply as the Major, told him to run before he had to end his life. I'm assuming that you're the Major he's talking about. I'd like for you to visit him with Bella and convince him to earn his GED so that he can get a better paying job. He can't keep working for minimum wage, I'm sure you agree with me. I'm sure you'll be able to convince him somehow. Please do this for me."**_

"Jasper, do you remember him?" Em asked.

"Yeah, I do. Maria told me to cull him, but I just couldn't do it. He was just so young and friendly. I gave him some money and told him to run to California. I told him that he'd be safe there because I knew that Maria never ventured to that state. It looks like he took my advice."

"Jasper, if you convince him, I'll tutor him," Tanya offered. "I'm at home during the day anyway."

"I'll help, too," Emmett offered.

"That'll be great."

Jasper pressed play, once again.

"_**So, make me proud. Enjoy law school. Rose, I'm pretty sure you've enrolled in law school, too. You'll make a fantastic lawyer; especially in litigation—you'll intimidate the hell out of the other side. Remember, and this goes for all three of you, show no fear during court proceedings—ever! And always keep your poker face on. Isabella, you should probably work behind the scenes because you tend to wear your feelings on your sleeve. You can't pretend to be cold and unfeeling like Jasper and Rose can." **_

Bella paused the video. "Am I really like that?" she asked.

"Yes, you and Rex are both like that," Tanya confirmed. "Even when you dealt with Maria, you showed every emotion under the sun. Your emotions alone must be a wet dream for an empath like Jasper."

"Huh, interesting," Bella pondered, then clicked play again.

"_**Well, that's about it. Good luck with the family business. Remember, I'll be watching you from up above, or down below, or wherever the hell God decides to put me so don't fuck up. I'm proud of you kids."**_

Jenks winked and smiled at us, then abruptly shut the camcorder off. I couldn't help myself, I started sobbing, so did Bella, and Tanya. Jasper remained stoic, but his eyes were wet with venom tears. After a few minutes, we all started discussing Jenks's final message to us and the group of vampires we met at the mixer tonight.

"Well, guys, tons of shit happened tonight. How the hell are we going to deal with it? I mean, we can't very well leave these vampires to fend for themselves. It wouldn't be fair if we only used the talent that Jenks taught us to forge documents for ourselves only," Jasper pointed out. He was running his fingers through both my hair and Bella's—he did this to relax himself.

"I agree, you guys really should do this for the vampire community here," Rex said.

"Same here," Emmett agreed.

"Well, I'm glad that you two feel that way," Jasper said. "Because you two and Tanya are going to learn how to forge documents too. Rose, Bella, and I can't possibly forge three hundred and ninety-three documents for the Vampire Association of Greater Los Angeles and our family in Texas by ourselves."

"What?" Rex protested. "Why the hell do I have to do it too?"

"Because if it weren't for you finding that mixer online, we wouldn't be mixed up in this business, that's why. Why the fuck you and Bella went to a vampire mixer, I have no idea. Sheesh, you two are so weird sometimes."

"Hey, Bellsy, Rex, there's a Star Trek Convention next weekend. Wanna go?" Emmett asked.

I rolled my eyes. My mate was another weirdo.

"Sure," Bella said excitedly. "Can we dress as Klingons this time?"

"Okay, Sissy."

"Bella, can't you do something girly like get your nails done or something? And your hair looks like shit again. You'd better run a brush through it before Irina comes up for her visit in three weeks or she'll bitch at you to no end," Tanya pointed out.

"I just got my nails done with Rex. He makes me go for a manicure when he gets his weekly ones," Bella pointed out.

"Weekly manicures, Rex?" I asked, incredulously. "Do you realize that you're more high maintenance than Tony? And he's gay!"

"I've always been more high maintenance than Tony. It takes a lot to look this good."

"Fuck me, you and Riley should move in together. He still wears deodorant."

"Doesn't everybody?" Rex asked, quizzically.

We all had a good chuckle, then went back to the topic. We agreed that the six of us would run this as a family business. No other family members would be privy to any of this information, which meant that the office would be kept under lock and key with a security camera guarding the door at all times. Edward was the exception. So far, he was the only lawyer in the family, and we would need his help, considering that four of us were still in law school and two haven't even started yet.

**Emmett's POV**

Rosie left to check out the Shelby for Pete about an hour ago. She took Jasper's truck in case there were some parts she could use at the junkyard. We were all still hanging out at Jasper and Bella's, reeling from the shock of last night's events. Tanya and Bella were sitting in the dining room trying to figure out the best way to decorate a lamp with Swarovski Crystals. This was Tanya's new business venture. She noticed that everyone in Los Angeles liked sparkly things so she decided to make and sell sparkly things. Jasper, Rex, and I were vegged out in the family room watching a football game.

I couldn't help, but think back to last night's mixer. Rose and Tanya rushed in there looking all feral. Jasper and I went to park the Hummer, then quickly walked into the building. Two bouncers pointed us upstairs. I think that's when we both noticed that the bouncers were vampires and the people trying to get up the stairs were all vampires too. We heard Rose and Tanya screaming their heads off, so we pushed through the line, walked upstairs, and were greeted by even more vampires.

After talking to these vampires, I realized that Carlisle had it all wrong. Sure, vampires weren't as prevalent as humans, but there were more of us than Carlisle knew. He was also wrong about all of the moving around that we did, too. It simply wasn't necessary. There were ways around it and these vampires in California figured it out. On top of that, we could have friends, play sports, and lead normal lives instead of packaging our family up in one big group and hanging out with only them. This was a much healthier way of existing.

Jasper's intercom chimed to rouse me out of my thoughts. He went to answer it.

"Hi! This is Vinnie from last night."

"Uh, sure, let me buzz you in."

A minute later, there was a knock on the door, Jasper opened it, and about ten vampires about our age walked inside. A couple of them had footballs in their hands.

Vinnie introduced us to everyone. "So, are you guys coming or what?"

"To what?" I asked.

"I told you last night, we're going to play some ball in Valencia."

"Sure, I'm game," Jasper stated.

"I'm up for it too. Jasper, I need to borrow some sneakers," Rex said.

"Help yourself, they're in my room."

Tanya and Bella came scuttling out of the kitchen to check out the commotion. The men instantly turned to my gorgeous sister and the alluring succubus with huge friendly grins on their faces. The girls both smiled and waved.

"We're going to go play some football in Valencia, babe," Jasper told Bella, pecking her on her cheek.

"You do that, honey." Bella winked and waved us all off. "Have fun."

A minute later, we were in my Hummer in a caravan of four vehicles to Valencia, California. When we arrived at the sprawling field there were about ten other vampires waiting for us, all ready to play some football. Shit, Riley and Mike would eat this shit right up.

We actually played tackle football. We had to put back together a couple of dismembered limbs, but it was all in the name of fun. Afterwards, we headed to Jim's house—he's the guy that owned the field. We sat and drank some liquor and talked. There were so many different stories of change that it was mind-boggling. In Jim's case, he was changed during a drought when a vampire came across him, felt bad for his situation, and changed both him and his wife who turned out to be his mate. The land in Valencia has been in his family since 1825. He was changed in the 1930's during the Great Depression. He's an orange farmer and employs only vampires.

Then, there was Vinnie. He was actually from Brooklyn, New York. He was in a major car accident in 1989 while he was delivering some pizzas. Fortunately, Angelo saw the whole thing. Angelo and he had been best friends since they were kids. He had disappeared the year before when a drunk female vampire decided to change him during a trip to Chicago. He had just gained control of his bloodlust, and come home to Brooklyn, when he witnessed Vinnie in a head-on collision with a mack truck. Angelo changed him right then and there and ran Vinnie across the country to California while he was still changing and screaming his head off. A member of the Vampire Association of California came across them and helped them to get settled in. They actually owned and operated a popular pizza joint in Los Angeles. They couldn't eat the stuff, but they could make pizzas and subs blindfolded because their fathers owned competing pizza shops in Brooklyn.

We told them about ourselves and about our family in Texas. Everyone was excited to meet the few that would be visiting us over the holidays. We told them about Riley and Mike. One of the guys said he actually played football against Riley while he was attending USC. He said that Riley was a scary and fast motherfucker that could have gone pro. We told him that we're pretty sure that he would have been chased off of any NFL team for being so high maintenance about his appearance. I mean for fuck's sake, he gets his hair trimmed once every ten days by Claude.

I dropped Jasper and Rex off at their homes a few hours later. We all had probably one of the best times ever since we'd been changed. All in all, I thought the move to California was probably the greatest decision that we'd ever made.

_**Three weeks later...**_

**Carlisle's POV**

A few of us were visiting California. I, for one, couldn't wait to see my two girls. I missed them so much. I knew that I had to let them go, though. One of the things that I learned during my marriage with Esme was that the tighter I held on to someone that I loved, the more likely it was that I would lose her. It was what happened between me and Esme. She held on so tight that I wasn't given the freedom to grow. Chelsea wasn't anything like Esme, she was the complete opposite. She never told me what to do and I was the same way with her. When I decided to get back into medicine, she backed me up a hundred percent, just like I did when she decided to open an adult toy store with Charlotte.

I wasn't surprised at all when Jasper and Bella decided to go to law school at Jenks's alma mater. They owed it to him. The man had singlehandedly managed to keep Bella safe for her entire childhood. I was so naïve about Alice back then. I trusted her implicitly and, never once, thought that she could be so vindictive. Alice, on her part, felt dreadful about her actions, especially in light of the way Bella had forgiven her. Riley, Sush, and I have been trying to figure out how to handle mental disorders in vampires so we could help Alice. Riley was pretty sure that she suffered from bipolar disorder on top of her NPD. If she were human, we could deliver medication to her, but as a vampire, it was impossible.

Riley, Vicky, Peter, Charlotte, Laurent, Irina, Tony, Claude, Chelsea, and I had just landed at the airport. We were all going to be staying at Jasper and Bella's house. They apparently had a monstrosity of a house in Beverly Hills built for them by Mr. Jenks. We had rented two cars and had just arrived at their house. I pushed the button to the gates leading to their house. One gate opened up, then a second, and we were able to drive in.

We pulled to a stop in front of their house which looked like it should be featured on 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,' and got out.

"Motherfucker!" Tony commented in awe at the structure. Before we could even press the doorbell, Jasper, Bella, Rex, Tanya, Emmett, and Rose came bounding outside to give us all hugs. I wanted to hug Bella, but Laurent wasn't giving her up anytime soon. Selfish bastard.

We walked inside their beautiful home and were shown to our rooms. After that, we were given a tour of their house. Jasper said that we could all hang out and watch a game in the jacuzzi. I was definitely all for that. He also said that we were going to play some tackle football this weekend with everyone. That could work, with eight of us guys, I was pretty sure that we could get a good game going. We never counted Claude in with the guys, he liked to be counted with the women.

We had just settled into the living room when the doorbell rang.

"Yo! It's us, let us in!" a thick Brooklyn accented voice called. Jasper pushed the button to let whoever it was in.

"Visitors?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. Everyone wanted to meet you guys." Jasper said.

Well, that's really nice. Jasper must have made some human friends at law school who wanted to meet us.

"Chelsea, try not to mate anyone, honey," I said.

"Carlisle, I deal with humans all day long."

"Yep, that's what worries me, sweetheart," I murmured, kissing her on the lips.

A couple of minutes later, he opened the door and those of us visiting were all shocked to the core. About twenty vampires came walking into the house carrying booze. We men moved our mates behind us to protect them. Oddly, whenever this happens, Chelsea and Claude move me and Tony behind them after we initially move them behind us. I guess it makes sense, Chelsea and Claude were stronger than me and Tony. Besides, it's the initial thought that counts. Tony and I would protect our mates if we could. Over the next hour, more and more trickled in until there were about fifty guests making themselves at home in the house. Jasper, Bella, Emmett, Rose, Rex, and Tanya were so busy greeting everyone that they didn't have a chance to explain anything to us.

"So, Jay, introduce us to your family," one of the guys requested. They all turned to face us.

Jasper finally introduced us all to them. It turned out these were their new friends in California, all members of the The Vampire Association of California that has been in existence since 1849. I nearly collapsed when I learned that there were three hundred ninety-three members in all, living completely in peace, and permanently, in California. The members spanned all different professions, from doctors to farmers to a life coach. What the hell is a life coach?

Tanya introduced us all to a dentist named Doctor Gene Fange, yes, that's his real name. I was fascinated to learn that vampires needed to partake in oral hygiene, too. Apparently, Emmett had to get a filling for a cavity that he had left from the time he was human. He took a quick peek in our mouths. We were all going to see him tomorrow evening at seven pm for our very first dental appointments as vampires and for some of us, like me and Chelsea, the first time ever.

Suddenly, one of the vampires recognized Victoria. "Hey! I know you!"

"You do? From where?" she asked.

"I'm Angelo. Your name's Victoria. You're my maker. You changed me while I was visiting my cousin in Chicago. We had a good time together, didn't we, babe?"

"I don't recall..."

"Aw, come on. It was 1988, we met at a bar called Butch McGuire's and you were chugging Irish Whiskey from a bottle. You were already three sheets to the wind when I met you, and you started telling me about some asshole named James who kept cheating on you. We both got really shit faced and started dancing on a table and got thrown out of the place when we started taking our clothes off. You told me that you wanted to get back at James and I told you to go ahead and use me. So, you threw me onto your back, ran me into the woods, and we went wild and crazy. You asked me if I wanted to be your vampire and I said..."

Vicky interrupted, "And you said, 'whatever floats your boat, babe,' so I changed you. Then, I told you not to venture out into the daylight, only feed at night, and left before James found me missing. I'm so sorry. I was drunk, foolish, and careless."

"Don't be. I died having sex, and great sex, too. Every guy dreams of that. On top of that, if you didn't change me into a vampire, my buddy Vinnie here would be dead. It was fate, I was meant to be a vampire. So, don't sweat it, I'm happy. Anyway, whatever happened to that asshole James?"

"Oh, Jasper and Emmett killed him. He tried to kill Bella."

"No way!"

"Um, yes way."

"Man, I would have clobbered someone for trying to kill Bells."

"Thanks, Angelo!" Bella yelled from the kitchen. Just what the hell is my daughter doing?

"So, do you have a mate?" Angelo asked Vicky.

"I do, he's the guy standing by the wall over there growling at you and being held back by Jasper and Emmett. Riley meet Angelo. Angelo meet Riley."

"Whoa! You're the guy that Brent said he knew. Brent! Where the fuck are you?"

"What is it?" Brent asked.

"I just met Riley Biers. You're right, he is a scary motherfucker. He keeps growling at me for some reason."

"Brent Sanderson! Dude! What's up?" Riley snapped out of his growling and greeted his friend. "Brent played ball for USC when I was playing for Washington. Our stats were neck and neck each season."

"You're coming this weekend to play football with us, right? We have about thirty guys together so far. They all signed on as soon as they heard you were visiting. We should be able to get a good game going. You take one team, I'll take the other. What do you say?"

"You've got it man. I haven't played real football in ages."

We all walked around socializing and getting to know these nice vampires. I actually met quite a few doctors at the party. I always thought I was unique in being a vampire and a doctor, but these guys said it was no big deal really. According to them, it was actually a fairly normal profession for vampires to become involved in because it didn't require outdoor activity. It actually made sense, that's why I chose medicine in the first place.

For years, I had thought that the coven that I created was unique in it's way of existing, but it appeared that I was wrong in my assumptions. Before Bella came along, we virtually secluded ourselves from society, and especially from vampires other than the Denalis. When Esme and Rose started working outside of the house, after we abandoned Bella in Forks, things started to change. It was the start of everyone developing their own sense of self. When we came across Bella again, five years later, she was with Riley, Vicky, Laurent, and Irina. The way they lived was so different from the way Esme and I lived. They constantly interacted with humans and they pursued their own interests instead of living in seclusion. They showed us there was a new way to live, but these vampires in California were even more different.

They virtually had their own society within a human society, and they managed to combine the two successfully. For example, with sports, they couldn't really go out and participate with humans, but they had their own little sports leagues. They had tennis, golf, basketball, baseball, boxing, you name it. For football, they had a group of guys that gathered together when they could on the weekends so they could play. They didn't wait for thunderstorms and what not so as not to arouse suspicion amongst humans, they just went and did it.

A few hours later, the guests all left and we settled in so we could finally talk to our family in California.

"So, how in heck did you come across these vampires?" Riley asked.

"Well, it was actually Bella and Rex," Emmett replied. "You see, what happened was, they decided to go to a vampire mixer on Halloween thinking it was some sort of a mixer for humans pretending to be vampires. They went dressed in capes and fake fangs and everything. When they got there, they were segregated into groups by the bouncers. They were sent upstairs with the real vampires and the humans were sent downstairs for their pretend vampire mixer. And, that's how it all started. They really are a cool bunch of guys, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are. So, when are we playing football with them?"

"Saturday, up in Valencia."

"Good, I want to run through drills with you guys before we meet up with them. I'm not losing to Brent Sanderson."

"Riley, it's just a game."

"No it isn't."

Geez, Riley became so competitive when it came to football.

"So, Vicky, tell us more about what happened with that guy Angelo." Char wagged her eyebrows at Vicky. Riley started growling again.

"Oh my God! That was so embarrassing. Um, I was pissed off at James because he took off on one of his expeditions. That's what he called his trips when he went to visit his whores. Laurent wasn't around because he was in Massachusetts visiting his wife's grave. Anyway, I had already had about twelve bottles of tequila when I went to the bar in Chicago and I was completely gone. You know how I don't do well with tequila. When I got to the bar, I ordered some Irish Whiskey and well...you know the rest of the story. I feel so horrible."

"Aw, Vicky, we've all done stupid things in the past. Trust me, I've got a ton of stories that I'm not proud of," Jasper soothed.

"So, do we really have to go to the dentist tomorrow night?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, and it really isn't that bad," Bella shrugged.

Somehow, looking at Jasper, Tanya, Emmett, and Rose's horror filled faces, I didn't think that Bella was being forthright.

_**The next evening...**_

Now, I know what it's like to be a patient instead of a doctor and I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Riley, Claude, and Tony passed their dental exams with flying colors, but the rest of us—dear God in heaven, our teeth were put through the wringer. It hurt. It was fucking painful! I had three cavities that had to be filled—left over from when I was human. Then he took some metal instruments with a titanium attachment and started scouring my teeth as if they were dirty pots and pans. I actually bawled like a baby. Claude had to hold me afterwards to reassure me because it hurt so much. My mate refused to give me any comfort stating that I had to man up and grow some balls. Sometimes she can be so mean.

Afterwards, Riley and I went out for drinks with our new dentist friend, Gene. The rest of the gang decided to do a bit of sightseeing. Gene called a few of his buddies, all of whom were in the medical field, and I felt like an idiot. Why? Because there was so much that I didn't know about medicine or vampirism. One of the vampires, a female named Lorena, was actually a psychiatrist. From her, I learned that psychiatric disorders in vampires were about as common as they were in humans.

"Think about it, Carlisle, when we become vampires, venom courses through our veins and repairs any ailments we had as humans. Physically we become more capable than we ever thought possible; all of our senses become intensified. Our brain capacity becomes endless because our neurons become more enhanced. If you think on this wavelength, any human emotional, mental, psychological, or psychiatric disorders we had while we were human becomes more enhanced."

"That would explain a lot," Riley sighed. "I'm a clinical psychologist as well as a physician. For years, I've been counseling my family on various psychological disorders or issues ranging from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Frankly, I thought that my family was unique in their emotional troubles."

"That simply isn't the case," Lorena stated. "PTSD is the most common disorder amongst vampires. For many, the trauma of becoming a vampire is enough to cause PTSD. I've counseled quite a few vampires with PTSD."

"What about Narcissistic Personality Disorder?" I asked. "Currently, we have a female within our family that suffers from a severe case of NPD. Riley suspects that she also suffers from Bipolar Disorder. He and I are learning quickly that we simply aren't equipped to handle her case."

"First of all, if she's within your coven, you're both too close to her to make any major progress with either disorders. Vampires must be handled differently. Does she have any gifts?"

"Yes, she's a seer. She has visions. With her visions, she has a tendency to become overconfident, especially when the family becomes too reliant on what she sees."

"I'm sorry to say this, but she needs to be separated from her family for a while in order to make any progress. I take it with both disorders, she's shunned many family members."

"Yes, there are quite a few who refuse to have anything to do with her. She's hurt many members of our family in the past."

"I can help her, but she'll have to come to California. Does she have a mate?"

"Yes, he'll be very receptive about helping her."

"She'll have to come alone, and live with me and my mate. Since vampires don't have hospitals, our in-patients stay with us in our house. We have two rooms that we use as a private in-patient clinic for vampires. We only have in-patients every ten years or so. My mate is also a psychiatrist, he has a home office so he's home all day. We also call one of our friends who's a registered nurse to watch the patient while he's seeing clients."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Riley said. "I'll bring it up to her when we get home. Um, how much do you charge for this sort of thing?"

"Well, obviously, vampires don't have health insurance, but they also cost less than a human patient too. The average cost for a human psychiatric in-patient is roughly eight-hundred dollars a day. We charge five-hundred dollars per day for treatment. Of course, if they're financially unable to afford the fee, we do offer a sliding scale, and the Vampire Association of California have a fund to assist with this type of thing."

"Oh, no, that won't be necessary. They can manage."

"How long will the treatment take?"

"It depends on the patient, but on average, a patient with Narcissistic Personality Disorder will take approximately three to four months until she can cope with her disorder. We'll also have to have some of her family members who we deem are important in helping her to overcome her disorder fly up for a session or two—that's only if they are willing. If they aren't willing, she'll have to learn to cope with that possibility as well. It's extremely important that those family members choose on their own and are not guilted into interacting with her. It'll only make things worse. Her mate is a given, of course."

"Of course," Riley said.

"I'll also be working with you. I take it that you've been her primary counselor?"

"Yes, for roughly thirty years now."

"Thirty years?" she asked, amazed. "My God, she needs help immediately. How are you holding up? This can't be easy for you."

"I'm fine. I have ways of relieving my stress and I never hold my feelings in. I learned that lesson long ago. You're right, though, I'm too close to the patient to offer her any adequate counseling. I'll refer her to you as soon as I return home to Texas."

Riley had just lied to Lorena. He wasn't fine. I knew he wasn't fine. He's been increasingly short tempered and it's always after he sees Alice for counseling.

"That's fine. Here's my card. We can discuss the patient in detail later." Riley and I both gave our business cards to Lorena. She filed them away in her purse. Hopefully, Alice will finally be able to get the help that she needs.

_**Two days later...**_

**Riley's POV**

I had just finished handing Brent Sanderson his ass during a friendly game of tackle football and we were now gathered in Jim's house pounding back a few and talking.

"You asshole!" Brent joked. "You were fast as a human, but you're even faster as a vampire. Not fair, I'm only average speed for a vampire."

"Sorry, dude. So, how did you get changed?"

"You remember my mate Dina from the party, don't you?"

"I sure do. She's cute."

"Well, it was the summer right after college. I had been drafted by the New York Jets and was getting ready to leave for training camp the next day. I was partying it up with my buddies when I saw her from across the room. I was completely drawn to her. When my buddies and I were getting ready to leave, I bumped into her and I felt tingles running up my arm. I was so drunk that I told her, and she said she felt the same thing. The next thing I knew, we were making out in my car, and she lost control and bit me. And that was it, that's how I became a vampire. Freaky, huh?"

"So, what do you do for work now?"

"I'm a nutritionist at Cedar's Sinai Medical Center."

"That's funny," I chuckled.

"I know, right, but I graduated with a degree in Nutrition Science from USC so that's what I do."

"I have a question, how often do you guys switch jobs and what not?"

"Oh, about every ten to fifteen years or so. The thing about living here is that it's big enough so that you can easily switch jobs and not be found out. Besides, there's such a high turnover that most humans don't stay at the same position for more than five or six years. They go out looking for better and bigger opportunities. There's one guy that's been working at the same hotel for sixty years. No one suspects anything because the longest anyone has stayed has been eight years. He just goes into the personnel files and updates any paperwork every ten years or so."

"Whoa," I said.

We headed back to Bella and Jasper's after that. California was looking really good to me. I wanted to be able to play sports on the weekends and hang out with buddies who weren't my family. Besides, I missed Bella like crazy. Those of us here this weekend were the ones who missed the six who moved here the most. We understood their reason for moving. They wanted change, and above all, they craved privacy. Everyone in this state seemed to have that. They didn't live in big groups. There were no covens. Usually it was just one mated couple living together and establishing roots. It was all so normal. I liked it.

They had everything figured out and had a huge support system too. They knew how to get around the sun without attracting attention. They just told people that they have Polymorphous Light Eruption Syndrome, or sun allergy, and their employers completely understood why they were covered from head to toe when they arrive at work and made sure that they aren't placed in work areas near any windows or outside. Apparently, many humans in California suffer from sun allergy. I still liked Bella and Jasper's way the best. They dressed up in Arab headgear when it was sunny out. The thing about Los Angeles, though, is that even when it was sunny out, you could easily go out without detection due to the air pollution. I noticed that the smog doesn't allow the sun to filter through so when the smog index is high, you could generally go out in your normal attire as long as you were prepared.

"You're pretty quiet, Riley," Jasper noted. "What's up with you?"

"Let's go for a walk," I suggested.

"Alright, come on."

"What's up, Rye? Your feelings have been all over the place today."

"Are you happy, Jasper? Here, in California, I mean."

"Yeah, I am."

"What about Bella? Is she happy?"

"She's happy, she has lots of activities to keep her busy here. For fuck's sake, she and Rex are taking Underwater Basketweaving for college credit."

"For real? That's a real class?"

"Yep, leave it to those two whack jobs to sign up for it." Jasper paused for a moment before noting, "You're not happy, though. What's wrong?"

"I'm sick of my life Jasper! I really am. I'm a doctor and I have a license in clinical psychology, yes, but the whole family seems to want me to solve their problems. It's stressful when it's your family instead of outside clients, it adds a new dimension to everything! Then there's the privacy thing. I'm obligated to keep everyone's secrets, but that puts me into an uncomfortable position. I don't mind counseling when it's something easy, but when you've got shit like Alice's NPD it takes a toll on you. She did more shit to Bella than even Jenks knew about. She admitted them all to me which tells me that she really is making a genuine effort to get better, but still—I can't be the one hearing her out. Bella's my sister! Fuck! I need goddamned counseling myself to get over all of this shit!"

I was losing my shit in the middle of a residential street in Beverly Hills. I think hanging out and letting loose made me consider my options and I just flipped out all of a sudden.

"Come here," Jasper said, then abruptly pulled me into his arms and held me while I cried it out. I was crying, for the first time as a vampire—I was crying. I just realized how fucking unhappy I was with my life. I wanted to go on a fucking ten year honeymoon like Bella and Jasper. I wanted to explore my options. Above all, I wanted to get away from it all.

"I can't take it anymore, bro," I sobbed into his arms as we parked our asses on someone's lawn.

"Riley, I've been alive a long time, and I've seen and gone through shit you never want to experience. I used to be like you, I used to want to solve everyone's problems. I used to think that if I could only get everyone to live in harmony, then I would be happy. I realized that it simply wasn't possible for me to solve everyone's problems—it wasn't my responsibility. A great man once said that I can't be responsible for everyone because, in the end, everyone is responsible for his or her own choices and the consequences that accompany them."

"Who was that?" I asked.

"It was you, Riley. That's what you told me before I moved to California. You don't owe anyone any explanations. Go and live life for yourself with Vicky. Take a long vacation. Use any of my properties—just go and be happy, bro. Bella and I will be waiting for you, just like you've always waited for us."

A minute later, Vicky came rushing towards me with Pete and Bella on her heels. "Riley? Are you okay? I got worried. I felt the pull."

"I'm fine, hon. I was just feeling stressed, but Jasper helped me work everything out. Everything is going to be better now, I promise."

And I knew it would be. I was going to take Jasper's advice and run with it. It was time for me to start living life for me and Vicky. Hell, she needed a break too. We'd finish off the school year and start planning. That would give me enough time to get Alice into therapy and tie up any loose ends.

"Just make sure you send a postcard from wherever you take off to, okay kid? Don't be assholes like Jasper and Bella," Peter sighed. My clairvoyant great-grandfather must have known this was coming.

I couldn't wait to see where Vicky and I were headed for next.

**Our vampires got a heck of a shock when they arrived in California, didn't they? And Mr. Jenks was a devious one, he basically gave Jasper, Bella, and Rose no choice, but to take over the family business. What do you think of their 387 new vampire friends? What did you think of Carlisle's thoughts? He was given a new outlook on vampirism, don't you think? Do you think that Bella did the right thing in forgiving Alice? Do you think Lorena will finally be able to give Alice the help that she so desperately needs? Do you think Riley will be able to convince her to go? Do you think Jasper was right in telling Riley to go live his life for himself for once? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I promise to respond. :) XOXO mama4dukes**

A/N: I've gotten several requests for a listing of the vampires in Life Happens, So Just Roll With It, and their ages. So, without further ado, I shall post the list down below. Obviously, this is an OOC story so their ages will be modified.

Jasper Whitlock (age 20)

Isabella Swan-Biers Piper Whitlock (age 22)

Emmett McCarty (age 20)

Rosalie Hale McCarty (age 18)

Carlisle Cullen (age 23)

Chelsea Cullen (age 22)

Peter Piper Whitlock (age 27)

Charlotte Piper Whitlock (age 17)

Riley Piper Swan-Biers (age 23)

Victoria Swan-Biers (age 24)

Rex Fantasia Whitlock (age 29)

Tanya Denali Whitlock (age 17)

Tony Fantasia Whitlock (age 37)

Claude Whitlock (age 41)

Laurent Denali (age 24)

Irina Denali (age 22)

Garrett Denali (age 22)

Katie Denali (age 23)

Eleazar Denali (age 27)

Carmen Denali (age 26)

Edward Masen (age 17)

Amanda Paine Masen (age 23)

Michael Newton (age 22)

Alice Brandon Newton (age 19)

Alistair Rothchilde(age 28)

Esme Platt Rothchilde (age 26)

Amar Desai (age 24)

Amrita Desai (age 21)

Sahil Desai (age 22)

Sushmita Desai (age 17)

Felix Goodwin (age 21)

Gianna Goodwin (age 24)

Marcus Volturi (age 20)

Renata Volturi (age 23)


	62. Chapter 62

**Thank you all for your reviews, messages, alerts, and faves. You guys rock! You get to hang out in jail with Bella and Riley.**

**I just received a message from a reader stating that Life Happens, So Just Roll With It has won a couple of Hopeless Romantic Awards. It won for Best Dadisle and Best Momsme, as well as, and Honorable Mention for Best Story plus an Honorable Mention for Best Writer. To say that I was floored would be an understatement. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to whoever it was that nominated my story, and to all of you who took the time to vote for me. I am both stunned and touched at the same time.**

**This chapter was beta'd by the incomparable Sparkling Fae who may actually be about as nutty as I am. Thanks, sweetie.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only.**

_**Ten years later...**_

**Peter's POV**

It didn't take the rest of us long to move to California. Life was easier out here for vampires. There was an excellent support system already in place and we vampires could live life as normally as possible. Each couple rarely saw the other couples now. We had friends on the outside that kept us busy so none of us were dependent on family as much. I, actually, found it ironic that the original six that moved out here hung out with each other all of the time. Marcus and Char both said that it was because of Bella's bond with both Rex and Rose. Still, they knew their boundaries and didn't overwhelm each other. All of us lived separately from the rest of our family with our mates. It was nice, peaceful, and I was able to unwind at home with Char at the end of the day.

Char and I were the first to move to California, along with Carlisle and Chelsea. We moved in February, after Chelsea and Char held a massive Valentine's Day clearance sale at their sex shop. Carlisle explained to Riley and Sushmita that he no longer wished to reside in Texas. That's when Riley broke the news that he wanted to take a hiatus from life. Sush, of course, knew this was all coming. She suggested that they close their medical practice down because she wanted to go home to India for a while to visit Amrita and Amar for a few months. So, it was agreed upon that Carlisle would leave the practice first, then at the end of June, Riley and Sush would close up shop.

Alice got the help she needed immediately. She protested, but after Mike told her that he would have Chelsea break their bond, she went to California and checked herself into Lorena and her mate's private clinic. It took eighteen months, and most of us willingly went to counseling when requested. Jasper, Rose, Rex, Tanya, and Amanda refused to go. Lorena told Alice that she couldn't expect all of her family members to forgive her and that she had to respect the boundaries that they set for themselves. It took her awhile, but Alice finally understood. The big secret that she had told Riley and kept from the rest of us was brought out into the open. Alice had known that James, Laurent, and Vicky were coming that day in the baseball field and she threw Bella into harm's way on purpose. What she didn't foresee was Emmett and Jasper ripping James apart. From that point on, her plans to have Bella killed were set awry, thank God. Many of us didn't speak to her for months after she admitted the whole truth, the only person that continued speaking to her was Bella. Lorena said that this is what ultimately set Alice's healing into motion.

Alice and Mike were now living in California close to Lorena in Encino Valley. They liked it better that way. Alice now had her own New Age store. She did psychic readings because she wanted to use her gift for good for once. People flocked to her because she was dead on accurate. Duh. Okay, well, honestly, the career fit her well, and sometimes I even went in to do some readings to help her out when the store was really busy. She still planned on returning to Walmart in ten years.

Mike still ran Newton's with Edward. They still donned stage make-up and ran the businesses from California with occasional visits to their stores. They were due to pass their businesses on to their sons, Michael, Jr. and Edward, Jr. soon.

Edward and Amanda were still going strong. They lived in Chicago for about three years before moving to Brentwood, and they were as happy as can be. Amanda opened up a boutique, along with Katie and Tanya, on Melrose about five years ago. It was hip, popular, and frequented by Hollywood celebrities.

Katie and Garrett took a short break and went on vacation for a couple of years. They settled in the Hollywood Hills upon their return and Garrett went back to teaching middle school. He had a huge war room in his house where he, Jasper, Felix, Rex, Tony, and a few other vampires met once a week to do their thing.

Manuel and Rodrigo, and Tony and Claude lived in separate houses in the gay enclave of West Hollywood. There were several other gay vampire couples that lived in that neighborhood. They formed the Gay-Lesbian Vampire Association of California. It was a subgroup of the Vampire Association of California.

Rodrigo was an investment banker at a local bank while Manuel ran a business with Tony out of his home selling blood meals to vampires in the area. They were making a killing.

Claude opened up a beauty salon in Beverly Hills with Gianna and Sahil. Their clientèle was chock full of movie stars and vampires alike. They still did our family for free—especially Bella's and Char's hair. They looked at doing their hair like doing a community service. Both of them always had their beautiful locks up in messy ponytails. Claude and Gianna were frequently seen chasing the two girls down so they could get to their hair—usually Rose and Irina would have to pin them down.

Sahil was considered a master at waxing and spray tanning. He was frequently called onto movie sets to give actors and actresses abs. We introduced the vampires in California to spray tanning and they all flocked to Sahil to get their tans on every two weeks or so. As a result, Sahil had to have 'after hours' specifically for vampires to get spray tans.

Sushmita had her own private family practice with Irina in Alhambra. Irina received her medical degree from UCLA and she finally found a career that she loved. Both women did a lot of work with the needy, and had a sliding fee scale at their practice as well.

Sush and Sahil spent three years in India before returning to the States permanently. Amar and Amrita still had their tea farm in India, but they had hired trusted vampires who were looking for employment to work the farm for them. We found these vampires for them through the Vampire Association of California. They lived half the year in India and the other half in Bel Air, California. The same was true with Eleazar, Carmen, Alistair, and Esme who had a genuine parental bond with those two. Esme had come so far. She, Carmen, and Amrita ran a design firm in Darjeeling which was an apparent success.

Laurent was a physical therapist with his own private practice in the same office building where Sush and Irina's practice was located. He still taught karate two evenings a week with Claude, and now, Mike.

Felix and Gianna lived in Huntington Park, California. Felix was a professor of Civil War History at USC. The two of them spent three years in Italy along with Tony and Claude before moving here. They lived in the former Voturi lair while they were there. Actually, that's where we all stayed whenever we went to Italy. Esme, Carmen, and Amrita had redesigned the entire interior so it was not so medieval looking anymore, and each couple had a room assigned to them.

Speaking of Volturi, Marcus and Renata moved to California immediately. Marcus was a marriage counselor in West Hollywood. He ran a practice out of his home and was very successful because he could see the bonds between the couples and he'd be straight up with them and tell them whether their relationship would succeed or not. Humans loved him for his honesty. Marcus was responsible for a ton of celebrity divorces in Hollywood. Marcus and Char coming to California helped tremendously because they were able to identify mates for some unmated vampires in the area.

Carlisle and Chelsea lived in Beverly Hills. Carlisle was a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. On the side, he was doing research along with a couple of other vampire doctors trying to come up with a lotion that vampires could use so they wouldn't sparkle in the sunlight. This was all done under the guise of finding a cure for melanoma—which they were also trying to do.

Chelsea and Char opened up a female friendly adult toy store on Melrose. They were making a killing. They both ran their shop and held classes in the evenings. Both of them had a head for business, and I didn't mind because it kept them out of trouble—for the most part. Chelsea still had a problem with mating people that she became pissed off at.

Rose finished up law school and she had two jobs. She was a part-time attorney, but her real job was working with me at our full service auto body, repair, and customization shop on Santa Monica Boulevard called Vamped Auto. We hired Juan Gonzalez, who Jasper had let escape from Maria's clutches, to work for us. Tanya and Emmett stuck to him like glue and tutored him until he got his GED, then, as a reward, Jasper sent him to trade school to become a mechanic. The kid was a natural. He was a frequent visitor at Rex and Tanya's because he admitted that he liked looking at Tanya. Hehe, the little sprite.

Emmett and Tanya also ended up going to law school. They graduated one year after Jasper, Bella, Rex, and Rose. Tanya, like Rose, was only an attorney part time because she had her shop to run with Amanda and Katie.

After law school, Rex went back to teaching. He was a history teacher at Beverly Hills High School. He was, by far, the most popular teacher at the school. Mothers loved him. He's been propositioned more than once during parent-teacher conferences. Rex was also a part-time attorney.

My great-grand baby graduated from law school at the top of her class. I was so proud of her that day. I showed up with flowers, a camcorder, and filmed the whole thing. I bought her an automatic transmission Maserati as her graduation gift. She was the first attorney in the Piper household. Then, Bella, being Bella, broke the news to all of us that she was only going to practice law part time and open up a bookstore in Westwood Village with Renata and Edward for fun. It was called Shields Bookstore and it was extremely successful. Edward handled the finances because neither Renata nor Bella were good with numbers. Bella could handle the cash register because everything was scanned in and she had been trained to use them from a young age.

Then, there were Jasper and Emmett. Both of them were full time attorneys and loving it. They had a law firm in Century City called Whitlock, McCarty, and Associates. The associates were Bella, Rose, Rex, Tanya, and Edward. They've been in practice for five years and they were quickly gaining notoriety in the legal field.

Riley and Vicky went off on a honeymoon ten years ago. I told the little shit to send me a postcard from wherever he went, but did he? Nope. They were coming home today, though. Riley called Bella last night and asked her to pick him and Vicky up from the airport at four pm. That's where Bella, Jasper, and I were right now. I checked Bella's purse and Jasper's pockets before we left to make sure they didn't have their passports with them, lest they get any ridiculous ideas and hop on a flight to wherever. It was entirely possible with those two.

"I can't wait to hear about their trip!" Bella said, fidgeting nervously in her chair. She missed her big brother immensely.

"So, what do you think Tony and Manuel are cooking up for Christmas dinner?" Jasper asked as he ran his fingers through Bella's hair to calm her down.

"I have no idea, but I bet it'll be good," I said. It had better be. Since they opened up their business, our entire family have been sent out all over the United States with five gallon containers in which to bring back blood for them to cook with. Those damn things are so bulky to run with. It made for fun hunting trips, though. Some of our vampire friends joined in, too. Actually, the traffic running through both Manuel and Tony's house was ridiculous. Everyone would drop off blood here and there so they had enough to cook with. That's how cool everyone was. Of course, both Claude and Rodrigo were annoyed because both of their basements had five commercial refrigerators each, all filled with animal blood.

Five minutes later, Riley and Vicky came out from the doors. Bella bounded into Riley's arms. He hugged her, picked her up, and passed her off to Vicky who also gave her a huge hug. Meanwhile, Jasper and I gave them both hugs too. I finally felt complete. My two grandbabies were home with me at last.

We drove to Jasper and Bella's house and talked.

"So where did you two go to?" I asked.

"Oh, we went to every single one of Jasper and Bella's homes and lived there for a few months each. We alternated between Switzerland and Scotland in the winters so Riley could ski. I just stayed home and knitted. I hate skiing," Vicky admitted.

"So, were you both able to unwind?"

"Yes, we definitely needed this. I feel so relaxed now and my mind is clear," Riley said. "We missed you guys, though."

"We missed you, too," Jasper said. "So, have you decided where you're going to settle?"

"We were thinking here. We want to be close to all of you. Where is everyone else living?"

"California, but we're spread out now. The only couples that live in Beverly Hills are Jasper and Bella, Carlisle and Chelsea, and Char and me."

"Where are Irina and Laurent?"

"They live in San Marino near Pasadena. It's not too far from here. Irina's now a doctor. She and Sush have a medical practice together."

"Wow, when the hell did that happen?"

"A few years ago."

"I'm going back to work as a clinical psychologist for a few years," Riley said. "I'm not counseling Alice anymore. I made that decision while I was away. It's too much stress. How is she anyway?"

"She's doing great," Bella said. "She runs a New Age shop and does psychic readings. She's pretty popular because she's accurate."

"Huh, interesting," Riley said. "Oh, before we forget. Our passports expire tomorrow and both of our driver's licenses have long since expired. And, um...uh...I crashed your helicopter into the Arabian Sea by mistake. Sorry."

Jasper and Bella looked horrified. I started chuckling. Jasper had enough money to buy a thousand helicopters if he wanted to, he didn't care about that. He was more worried about their safety because helicopters have a tendency to crash and burn.

"How the hell did you crash my helicopter? It didn't catch on fire when it crashed, did it?"

"Um, I kind of ran out of fuel so Vicky and I had to dive into the ocean before the helicopter took a nose dive. No one got injured and we made sure that we ripped off any identifying marks from the body so no one knew it was yours."

"I take it that's when you were staying in Dubai."

"Exactly."

"As long as you're both safe," Bella said with a twinkle.

"So, Christmas is in a few days, what's on the agenda?"

"Big gathering here with just the family, then a party at Venom with just vampires. That's only if you want to go."

"Hell, yeah, I do," Riley said. "I think Vicky and I have been isolated for too long. We didn't interact with anyone—vampire or human, while we were gone. We're definitely ready to rejoin society now. Are you still playing football on the weekends?"

"Of course we are. Felix is playing now, too—he's a scary motherfucker. Edward is fast as all hell, the traitor plays on Brent Sanderson's team and Mike is on ours. He refused to change allegiances because he still thinks of you as the football king which pisses Brent off. Oh, and we have Juan."

"Who's Juan?"

"Juan is a kid that Pete and I knew from our time in Maria's army. He's only sixteen, but he's fast and has dexterity. He's good competition for Edward. You'll meet him at Christmas. We found out that he had been spending Christmases alone for over a hundred years so he comes to our house."

"Oh, that's so sad," Vicky said.

"Yeah, it is. Oh, I forgot to tell you. There's a support group for survivors of vampire wars. Most of the members served in the Southern Vampire Wars, but there are a couple of people who served elsewhere. We meet once a month to talk. It's really helpful," Jasper informed her.

"Will you take me along the next time you go?"

"Of course I will. We're meeting this evening. Actually we need to leave now."

"Riley, would you mind if I go?"

"Go right ahead, it'll be good for you. I'll hang out with my baby sis."

An hour later, Jasper, Vicky, and I were at our support group. Char never went and neither did Juan, but neither of them were in it for as long as the three of us were. For those two, it was like reliving bad memories which were like blips in their lives. Felix came along too. He had massive PTSD from his time with the Volturi. He received counseling from Lorena, and she referred him to this group. He was too afraid to go by himself so Jasper and I went with him, and that's how we started attending the meetings.

Vicky was terrified. Throughout the entire meeting, she was clutched onto Jasper's side like white on rice. He protected her, though, and she had nothing to worry about. There were people here who committed atrocious sins, and had sins committed against them, and this was where they could let it all out. These people weren't only from Maria's army, they also served in opposing armies.

One man approached Vicky after the meeting and apologized to her for beating her when she was still with Maria. I think she was stunned out of her boots. After the meeting, we sat and talked at Felix's house.

"I need to apologize to a lot of women in there," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, I saw at least eighteen who have master's bites from me."

I know that we shouldn't have, but Jasper, Felix, and I started laughing. We just couldn't stop.

"Shit, Vicky, did they all sleep with James?" Jasper asked.

"Yes! And I hated when people took what's mine, even if he was a shit head."

"Gee whiz! I think he was worse than me and Pete. How the fuck did he get all of these chicks?"

"Well, he was quite the charmer. Maria used to say that he was a more sensitive lover than you and Peter."

"Haha!" Felix was rolling on the floor laughing.

"What the fuck do you mean by Maria said that James was a more sensitive lover than I was? That's bullshit!" I yelled.

"No shit! I'm calling Manuel and Rodrigo and ask if they heard anything about me being an insensitive lover," Jasper said. Both of our egos had just taken a massive hit.

Jasper dialed their number. "Diga me?" Rodrigo asked. He always spoke in Spanish to anyone that spoke the language.

In Spanish, Jasper asked him if Maria had mentioned anything about us being insensitive lovers.

"Si, toda la hora. Usted y Peter eran amantes egoistas. James era sensible a sus necesidades sexuales."

Jasper snapped his phone shut pissed off at Rodrigo's answer.

"What did he say?" Felix asked.

"He said that Maria said that Jasper and Peter were selfish lovers, and that James was sensitive to her sexual needs," Vicky translated while chuckling.

Jasper and I just sat there growling.

"Look, I wouldn't have stayed with him for so long if he weren't so good in bed," she said.

"Grrrr..." was the only sound that Jasper and I could make in response.

**Riley's POV**

"Come on, Rye, let's go do something," my kid sis suggested.

"What d'ya want to do?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do, Bells."

"Okay, come on, let's go." Bella threw me the keys to her car.

"When the fuck did you get a Maserati?"

"Mm...about seven years ago. Pete gave it to me as a graduation gift. I think he kind of overindulges me a bit."

"No? Really?" I rolled my eyes at Bella. Pete spoiled her rotten because she was the only girl in his family. Actually, I shouldn't talk. He spoiled me rotten because I was the only boy in his family. He totally rebuilt a convertible 1965 Chevy Chevelle for me. I'm sure he's kept it safe in his garage for me. I couldn't wait to drive it.

"Alright, where are we going?"

She had me drive to what looked like an observatory of some sort. It was located in Griffith Park and overlooked Los Angeles. The place was closed, but the two of us hopped over the wall and climbed to the top of the round dome.

"Isn't it beautiful up here, Rye?"

"Yeah, it is. How did you find this place?"

"I had to go for a hunt alone one day and came across this place. It was just so perfectly situated. I come here alone when I want to think. I look up at the sky and imagine that Daddy is watching me. Sometimes, I just lie here and talk to him."

I put my arm around Bella and we both looked up at the stars.

"Hey, Daddy," I said. "Thanks for making sure that the helicopter didn't catch fire while Vicky and I were still in it. It would have been a hell of a way to go. I'm home now, I'm with Bella again. I'm pretty sure she's stayed out of trouble, but I'll be looking out for her just like I promised you that I would."

"I'm glad you're home, Rye," Bella said, giving my hand a squeeze. I pulled my sister close to me and we both continued to watch the stars together.

After awhile, I asked Bella, "Do you think Daddy is doing okay up there?"

"Yeah, I know he's okay, and I think he's at peace because he can keep an eye on both of us from where he's at. He's probably met some hot chick and is living it up in heaven. I mean his grandfather is Peter."

"True. I think you're right. Do you want to go for a quick hunt?"

"Yep, let's go."

I looked up at the night sky and thanked Daddy. It was weird, I'm positive that one of the stars actually blinked.

"I'll be back, Daddy," Bella called to the star. "I love you."

"Bella, did that star actually blink?"

"Yep, it did. That was Daddy," she replied simply. "Um, could you not share this place with Vicky? I know it's a lot to ask, but..."

"I want to keep it our special place, too, Bells," I finished for her.

"I love you, and I'm glad you're back, Riley."

"I love you, too."

I was running through the forest with Bella on my back. She wasn't as fast as I was, and I liked to go really fast when I hunted. I put her down as soon as I detected the scent of deer. We split up for a few minutes to go chasing after our prey. I took down a deer and a coyote, then went in search of my sister. She was feeding off of a bobcat so I kept my distance. As soon as she was done, I approached her, and helped her to bury her kill.

"Bella?" I asked as we were walking back to the car. "When you and Jasper were gone for ten years, what did you two do?"

"I told you what we did, Riley. We sailed around the world."

"That's not what I want to know. Let me rephrase that. What did you think about?"

"Ah, you want to know the deep stuff. Hmm...okay, I thought mostly about my relationship with everyone in the family and boundaries. I thought a lot about boundaries. I thought about how my relationship was closer to some than others. Jasper's a given, so are Rose and Rex. You and Pete, I don't even include because you're both blood, and blood is thicker than water. I'm stuck with you guys whether I want to be or not. And yes, I'm glad that I have blood relatives with me for eternity. Everyone else, though, well...and I'm going to sound a little cold here...but I kind of had to re-evaluate my relationship with them because I realized that I was living in this fabricated family that Carlisle had created over a century ago out of loneliness. So, that's what I did. I decided to come home and establish some real boundaries. I didn't want people to just stop by without calling first, and I certainly didn't want anyone butting into Jasper's and my personal business. That kind of stuff flies in some families, and that's fine, but for Jasper and me, it was unacceptable."

"And do you still think of everyone as family?"

"The funny thing is that I do. Now that we've all moved to California, everyone has established their own boundaries. They finally understand the privacy that Jasper and I craved for years. Now, we all call before visiting. And since everyone is living separately from each other with only their mates, they've begun to cherish their togetherness."

I started laughing. "You know something, Bella?"

"What?"

"It was you who told me in the beginning that you didn't want to move in with Carlisle and Esme when we were still in New Hampshire. I should have listened to you, then."

"Meh, you live and you learn, Riley. So, what did you think about during your ten years away?"

"Same stuff as you, except I was probably harsher in my assessment of them. I concluded that my family was filled with nutty people and that they were too dependent on each other. It all stemmed from loneliness, you see—this co-dependence. I was lonely, too. I realized that I couldn't really be myself in front of everyone except for a select few people. They had all come to expect me to be the rock in the family, and to solve all of their problems. I also started to wonder why we all had to live together in the same town. Then, you and Jasper pulled one out from under the rug and hightailed it away from Dallas to Houston, then finally to Beverly Hills. I understood, then. It took me awhile, but I understood. Rose, Emmett, Tanya, and Rex all moved here with you, but you two didn't mind because you had healthy boundaries set, and you weren't dependent on each other for your happiness. You all created your own happiness, and that's what I ultimately set out to do."

"So, what made you decide to go back to counseling?"

"I enjoy it. I just don't want to counsel my family anymore. I don't mind if they come to me for advice for minor issues, but for big disorders like NPD, I won't see them anymore. It wasn't just Alice, it was Esme, too. Those too both thought that it was okay to bitch about you in front of me. You see, they had forgotten that you're my real family because, let's face it, the rest of our so-called family are really just family friends that are closer than the norm. Am I making any sense to you?"

"Yep, essentially, you and I came to the same conclusion."

"Exactly."

"Now, are you going to go to school to become a clinical psychologist like me?"

"I might eventually. It could be fun. I'm running a bookstore right now."

"A bookstore?"

"Yes, it's called Shields. I'm running it with Edward and Renata. It's fun as all hell. We decided to start it because we noticed that people were complaining about lack of personalized service and what not. We run reading groups and sometimes, Tanya comes in to teach jewelry making, and it does very well, considering that we're only open from ten to six on Tuesdays through Saturday. We're not doing it to make money, you see. We're just doing it for fun, but because we're only open five days a week, and for such a short period of time for a retail store, people flock to it, thinking that it's exclusive."

"How the hell did you get so smart, kid?"

"Dunno, I think I took after you."

"It's possible that we took after Peter. He's always been pretty wise."

"Yeah, well we won't tell ol' gramps that. It's better to keep him on his toes."

"Alright, hop on my back, baby girl, I'm running us back to the car. Then, I want to see what your Maserati can do."

_**Two hours later...**_

**Emmett's POV**

I was hanging out at our secret home office, located in Bella and Jasper's house, working on some new driver's licenses. It was around eleven pm. My business cell phone rang all of a sudden.

"Hello?"

"Emmett, it's Bells."

"What's up, sissy?"

"Can you come and bail Riley and me out of jail?"

"What the fuck are you two doing in jail?"

"Um, Riley was just picked up for felony speeding, among other things. He was also driving without a license and has a couple of other infractions. I think they're just holding me, but they really have no cause to. I was just a passenger."

"Which jail are you in?"

"Um, the one in Palm Desert."

"Palm Desert?"

"Bells..."

"I can't talk on the phone for long. Just listen," she whispered at vampire speed. "He lied and told the guy that his license is at home. He doesn't have one."

"I'll get right on it. Hang tight, sissy."

Jasper and Vicky walked into the house at that moment.

"Hey, Em. What are you doing here?" Jasper asked.

"Just making some id's. Listen, I just got a call from Sissy."

"And?"

"Sissy and Riley are in jail."

"Jail?" Jasper and Vicky both blurted out.

"Yeah, Bella said that Riley was picked up for felony speeding."

"The idiot was probably testing out her Maserati. I wouldn't put it past Riley," Japser said. "Alright, we've got to forge a new license for him and get it into the Department of Motor Vehicle's system. Call Edward and have him come over here. It's going to take the three of us to override everything and forge a new identity for him. Did you happen to ask Bella what name he used?"

"Um, I might have forgotten that. Let me check to see if the arrest is in their system yet." I fiddled with the laptop, but nothing was up yet.

"Alright, I'll have Rex run up there to try and see them. He can usually charm them into giving out info."

"You might want to send Tanya up with them in case it's a guy, or Rosie."

"Good point."

"Wait! Hang on, it just went into the system. He used Riley Swan."

"Okay, let's get a move on this. I'll call Edward."

Edward came rushing over to Jasper's house. The three of us got to work immediately. Normally, we could handle this job by ourselves, but time was of the essence since Riley was in jail. We needed to hack into the DMV's database before the police went and got their specialists to go looking for it.

"I need a new license number," I told Edward.

"Hang on, I'm in the social security database now. Alright, plug this social security number in and see if it generates a new driver's license number."

It worked. Bingo.

An hour later, the three of us had forged new paperwork and identification for Riley. Vicky wasn't even anxious. She just sat around knitting something while watching TV.

"So are you coming with us to bail the fuckers out, V?"

"Nope. I'll just sit here and knit."

We arrived at the Palm Desert jail two hours later. We sped, but we didn't go crazy fast. Just enough to shave a bit of time off of the usual drive time.

"Why the fuck would Peter buy Bella a Maserati?" Edward asked.

"No idea, she's the apple of his eye," Jasper said.

"Yeah, but Bella goes speed limit in it. I mean, it's not just a Maserati, it's a Gran Turismo. It has a top speed of a hundred eighty-eight miles per hour."

"Do you think Riley went top speed in it?"

"Probably. He's the only one that would take the risk of doing it on an open highway."

We arrived at the police station to bail the two out. We could hear Bella and Riley arguing at vampire tone and speed from downstairs. The humans were all oblivious to the fact that they were even talking.

"You smashed my car into the center guardrail, Riley!" Bella chastised.

"I said that I was sorry."

"It was made out of concrete."

"Yeah, I know. Lucky we're vampires, huh?"

"Oh my God! Pete's gonna kill you."

"No, he won't, I'm the apple of his eye," Riley said.

"Um, excuse me, I'm the apple of his eye."

"No, you aren't."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you aren't!"

"Yes, I am. And you know what else. Daddy's in heaven right now, shaking his head at the idiot son he produced."

"I am not an idiot!"

"You fucking smashed a Maserati into a concrete guard rail, Riley. That makes you an idiot!" Pete whispered walking into the police station. He turned to us. "Have you bailed my grandbabies out yet? My gift told me that I should be here."

"No, we're about to," Edward said.

He and I went to work our legal mojo.

"They have absolutely no probable cause to hold me," Bella whispered from downstairs. "The police chief is a fucking dick. Be careful of him."

Bella was released immediately after we told the police chief that he was breaking the law by holding her for absolutely no reason. Riley took a bit longer to bail out. In the end he was charged with reckless driving, damaging public property, and driving without a license. He had to appear in court in ten days and his brand new license was temporarily suspended before he even got to see it. We got a good chuckle out of that one.

"Alright, how many miles per hour were you going?" Edward asked him as soon as we left the station.

"One eighty-four."

"Yeah, then he skidded into a fucking concrete guard rail and totaled my car," Bella added, angrily.

"We can get you a new car, babe," Jasper said.

"I know that, but that car was a graduation gift."

Two hours later, we were all at home. Rosie was in the garage tinkering with an engine. I told her what happened. She was more pissed off about the Maserati than about the arrest. It was so Rosie.

"I love you, sweetheart," I said.

"I love you, too, Em. I'm gonna let Riley have a piece of my mind tomorrow, though."

I had no doubt that she would. He was the third vampire in our family to total a car. He would forever hold a special place in her bad memory bank along with me and Jasper. His was, by far, the worst; Jasper and I didn't total a Maserati.

**Bella's POV**

Oh well, my car was gone. I guess that means that I get to pick a new one. Not that I give a shit what I drive. Jasper was brooding for some reason.

"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Am I selfish lover?"

"Are you a what?"

"A selfish lover."

"No, no you're not. What brought that up?"

"Vicky."

"Vicky said you were a selfish lover?"

"No, Vicky said that Maria said that James was a more sensitive lover than I was. I called Rodrigo and he said that Maria said that I was a selfish lover."

I started laughing. "Well, gee, Jasper, maybe you just didn't want to have sex with her and you were trying to get it over with."

"It's not funny, Bella! I've got a rep to uphold."

"Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. Jasper, the only opinion that should matter is mine," I said, kissing his lips. "Now prove to me how sensitive a lover you are, this instant."

"Mmm...come here, baby."

He picked me up and carried me to our bed. All the while, he was planting kisses all over my face. We made out for a while, with him cradling me in his arms, as he slowly removed my clothes, piece by piece—being careful not to rip anything. Jasper kissed me along my body, taking each breast into his mouth for a bit. He slid his hand down to my clit and started rubbing slow circles on it, causing me to moan in pleasure. After a while, he replaced his fingers with his tongue, lavishing me with his soft piece of velvet. I shivered to my first orgasm while he was down there, and I begged him to take his clothes off so I could feel him inside of me.

He entered me slowly, and that's how we made love. Slowly and sensually, his length filling me, connecting me to him, making me feel loved, wanted, secure. Our bodies tangled together and we explored each other's bodies using our hands, our tongues, our thighs, our toes; and as our lovemaking came to fruition, Jasper intertwined his fingers with mine and we both shuddered to our peak together, bonding us, calling each other's names out—simply loving each other.

_**So, this is the second to last chapter to Life Happens, So Just Roll With It. I wanted to give you a bit of warning since many of you asked that I do so. I will miss this story like crazy, but we'll get into that later. The next story that I'm posting will be a Paul/Bella. Yep, I'm going wolfy for a bit, but what I wanted to ask is, do you want me to post another Jasper/Bella concurrently, as well? Let me know in your review.**_

**You got an update on the family in California from Peter. Do you think everyone's new careers suit them? Does Riley seem more refreshed after his ten year vacay? What do you think of Vicky finding eighteen victims of her master's bite? Is James really a more sensitive lover than Jasper or Peter? Hmm...maybe I should do a James story next, ahem...I digress. What did you think of Bella and Riley's sibling bonding time, then their little spat in jail? What did you think of the poor, little insecure Major trying to uphold is rep at the end? I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review. I promise to respond. Don't forget to tell me if you want a Jasper/Bella story along with the Paul/Bella. Oh, and yes, Walmart is still going strong. Looking forward to hearing from you. XOXO mama4dukes**


	63. Chapter 63

**I'd like to start off with a massive apology for the delay in getting this chapter to you. When Hurricane Irene hit my town on August 27th, 98 percent of my town was left without electricity, phone service, hot water, refrigeration, and internet for one week straight. We didn't even have a working traffic light in our town. The important thing was that my family was safe, and our home was completely intact. I thank those of you who sent messages wishing me luck. They really made my day. Thank you for understanding why this chapter is so late.**

**This chapter was beta'd by the fabulous bean hating, Zeba loving, carnivore, Sparkling Fae.**

**The awesomely creative LunarEclipse1 gave me and my readers a special gift. She created a new banner plus character banners for each mated pair in the story. It's still a work in progress, but most of the couples are up. Click on the link on my profile page to check them out.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Mature readers 18+ only please.**

**Bella's POV**

_**The next day...**_

"Baby, do you need the truck today?"

"Nope, why?"

"Can I use it? I have to finish my Christmas shopping. I haven't had time with running the shop and whatnot."

"Go ahead. Besides, I can always take the toy if I need to go anywhere."

"That's right." Jasper's new toy was a Lamborghini that he had special ordered from Italy. It was a stick shift, of course, so driving it was not an option. I kissed Jasper on the lips and told him that I'd see him later.

"I want more of that sugar later, Bella!" he called after me.

"Okay!"

I drove the familiar route to Encino Valley, parked the truck, and entered the shop called, "The Mystical Pixie." There were lots of new age books, trinkets, amulets, jewelry, and other things for sale. The store offered all sorts of readings: psychic, crystal ball, palm, tarot, spiritual, you name it. If my mother were still alive, she would have pitched a tent and moved in here.

I approached the girl at the register. "Hi, I'm here for my reading. I have a one pm appointment."

"Oh, sure, you're our last appointment for the day. That'll be three hundred dollars."

"Of course." I paid the girl the fee. I always paid because I didn't feel right usurping Alice's time.

Alice came out of the back, then. "You can go home now Shoshanna. I'll pay you for the next hour. I can lock up."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, you need to finish up your Christmas shopping anyway. Your mother doesn't want what you're planning on getting her. She wants a new coffee maker."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, see you on Monday."

Shoshanna grabbed her purse and left. Alice locked the door behind her, then led me to her reading room. I took out my notebook and pen.

"You know, you didn't have to pay me."

"Yes, I did. You could have taken in another client," I said.

"Bella...I see no use arguing with you."

"You're not getting a tip."

"Okay, fair enough."

"Now, let's get down to business. What should I get everyone for Christmas?"

"Bella, part of the fun of Christmas is...oh I'll shut up. Oh my God! First I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"Vicky went nuts with the sewing and knitting, and she's giving you an orange sweater for Christmas."

"Orange?"

"And it's an ugly orange, too. I have an idea. Just put it on and when I get there tomorrow, I'll bump into you while you have a mug of blood and you can spill it all over it. No wait, that's not going to work because Esme is going to take it and get the blood out and make it like new again. I'm sorry, you're stuck with the sweater."

"Can't I just throw it in the dryer and shrink it?"

"Let me see...yes, yes, that'll work. In fact, you'll have to throw Rose's sweater in there too. If you think yours is bad, hers is going to be mustard and lime green."

"Mustard and lime green?"

"Yes, disgusting."

"Ew!"

"Okay, so, this year, you're going to do gift cards for the Beverly Center for everyone, but me, Edward, Mike, Jasper, Peter, Rose, Riley, Emmett, and Rex."

"Are you sure? It seems so generic."

"Trust me, the gifts that you were thinking about would have been re-gifted. They'll appreciate this more. All except for Edward, he's going to love the new e-Reader. Jasper is going to love his gift too. I want a gift card to Walmart and Mike wants tickets to a Laker's game. You're going to get Emmett, Riley, and Rex tickets to the Star Trek Convention in San Jose, California—you're going with them. Really, Bella? A Klingon? The next day, you three are going to a Fang Lovers Festival in San Francisco dressed as werewolves. I swear, you four are so weird."

"Sounds cool to me."

"Oh, and get an extra ticket because Jasper is going to get all worried that there are going to be real supernatural creatures at the Fang Lovers Festival." She rubbed her temples a bit more. "Get one more ticket for Mike and scratch the Laker's tickets, he actually wants to go to those venues."

"Got it."

"What about Rose and Peter?"

"Well, you and I have to go to the junkyard now to get their gift."

"Sure."

"Um, you leave your truck here. I'm not getting into a vehicle with you driving."

"That's fine, I hate driving anyway."

"Bella," Alice whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. "Thank you. Thank you for being my only true friend through all of this. You know, it's you that I hurt the most, and I don't deserve you."

"Well, Alice, you did tell me once, when I was in high school, that you saw us being friends for all of eternity. I just thought I'd keep my end of the bargain."

She tumbled into my arms after that, and I held her for a bit. She looked up at me, after a while, "You know, I really did see us as friends for all of eternity, that part wasn't a lie."

"Well, good, now let's finish up our Christmas shopping."

"Yes, we should. We might even be able to get it all done today if we can get to the junkyard on time."

"Oh, and Alice?"

"Yes?"

"Lose the turban."

_**Christmas Eve...**_

"Ah...early Christmas present for me, I see."

I rolled my eyes at him. I was lying down on a table, naked, except for a paper thong, getting waxed. Then, I was getting airbrushed.

"Quit teasing her, Sahil," Amar said. "Jasper will kill you."

Amar was getting his hair cut by Claude. Jasper couldn't come with me because he had some work to finish up at the office so Amar volunteered. Amrita was keeping watch in the room. It was so funny. Amar took his job as my chaperone seriously. This was the only time when Jasper freaked out about me coming alone because in order to get waxed or airbrushed, you have to be stark naked. And the only reason why he minded was because it was Sahil, and he loved to get a rise out of Jasper.

"Did I mention that I have the best job in the world. I get to see all of the women in our family naked, and more. Yesterday, I got to see Rose and Katie naked. Today, I get to see Bella naked. Spread your legs a little wider so I can get the hair between your thighs."

"Owwww! Did you have to pull so hard?"

"Geez Bella! Ouch! Amrita, put that riding crop down! Call your mate off, Amar! What if I slip and spill some hot wax on Bella's pussy."

"Ooh! Sounds kinky!"

"Shut up, Claude!" I yelled. "You know, why can't we be like those fictional vampires and have hair that doesn't grow back?"

"Because, it's more fun to be able to get haircuts. Besides, after a few years, your hair would probably become dry and unmanageable, and you'd end up looking like a freak."

"True. So did Tony give any hints as to what's on the menu tomorrow?"

"Nope, and it's pissing me off, too. He and Manuel have been holed up in the kitchen mixing blood for three days straight now. Why can't they do it at his house?"

"Dunno."

_**Christmas...**_

Jasper and I spent most of yesterday dropping gifts off to our family members. The majority of our family members received five hundred gift cards to The Beverly Center. Alice received a five hundred dollar gift card to Walmart. I purchased the tickets online to the Star Trek Convention and the Fang Lovers Festival for Emmett, Rex, Riley, Mike, and me. I also ordered an extra one for my husband who was bound to freak out as soon as he found out we were all going.

Alice and I went to two separate junkyards yesterday and purchased two junked 1957 Convertible Cadillacs for Rose and Peter. I called a vampire friend who runs a towing company and he was having them delivered to their shop this morning. I gave Rose and Peter notes that told them to stop by at their repair shop before coming to my house today. Alice assured me that they were going to love them.

After that, we grabbed Edward's e-Reader and a gift card so he could purchase books to his heart's content, then Alice and I worked on her Christmas gifts. I didn't mind going with her anymore. She was such a sensible shopper. More sensible than me, even. I spent time with her, not because I had to, but because I wanted to. In the beginning, I forgave Alice for Mike's sake, but, then, after listening to my family members bitch about her and attending counseling sessions with Lorena, I realized that what Alice really needed to get better was a friend. So, I decided to put our differences aside and become one to her because I knew how lonely life could be when you're all alone in the world.

Jasper and I were sitting in front of the Christmas tree opening gifts. Riley and Vicky were at Peter's house right now so it was just the two of us. We were down to our last two.

"At the same time?" he asked.

"Yes."

Per usual, Jasper tore open the gift wrap. This time, I was prepared. I had wrapped ten boxes, one smaller than the other, so he couldn't get to his gift so quickly.

"Bella!"

"What?'"

"That's a dirty trick, you pulled," he said as he finally got to the envelope holding his gift. He opened it up and took a look at the contents. "I love you!"

"I know," I said.

"No, I mean, I really, really love you."

"Yeah."

I reserved a spot for the two of us for a Civil War Re-enactment weekend in Grandview, Texas in March. I also reserved our costumes and booked our plane tickets. Then, we were going to a country music festival in Dallas, the following weekend.

Before I could even open my gift, he had ripped my clothes off and plowed his cock inside of me. There goes the new, orange sweater that Vicky had knit for me. I guess Alice didn't see that.

After our quickie, I finally got to open my gift from him and I was blown away. It was a gorgeous pink stone surrounded by flawless white diamonds.

"Jasper, this is...this is so beautiful."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it. What kind of stone is this?"

"It's a pink diamond."

"Aren't they really rare?"

"Not as rare as you are."

"Jasper..."

He pulled me onto his lap and kissed me. I was always a puddle of goo with him.

"Thank you, Jasper."

"You're welcome."

We stayed in each other's arms for a while, then we realized that we had about ten minutes before our family started arriving. I had my ring securely on my finger. He swept up all of our gifts and ran them up to our bedroom while I shoved all of the gift wrap into the recycling bin. After that, we quickly got dressed, but not before Jasper scented me. He did it in a minute flat which was fast for him. We got back downstairs just as our intercom buzzed.

"Open the gate and get the fuck outside!" Pete yelled. We pushed the buttons and waited for them outside.

"Merry Christmas!" we both greeted as they stepped out of two cars. Peter, Char, Riley, Vicky, Em, Rose, and Juan were the first group.

"Did you buy a new car?" I asked Peter.

"Yeah, I sure did. What do you think?"

"It's a Ferrari, what's not to like."

"I'm glad you think so because it's yours."

"Mine?"

"Yep, you needed a new car since your idiot brother doesn't know how to drive."

"Wow." I stared in awe at the brand new Ferrari. It was shiny and black, and absolutely gorgeous.

"It's actually from me, Rose, and Manuel. I purchased the car, Rose purchased the custom leather, and Manuel did the custom upholstery work for you."

"Oh my God! Thank you!" I hugged and kissed all three of them. The seats were done in a raspberry pink so there was no doubt that it was my car. It contrasted perfectly with the exterior of the vehicle, and I loved it. Plus it had an automatic transmission so I could drive it.

I sat in the seat for a bit. Pete sat next to me on the passenger side.

"Only the best for my grandbaby," he said.

"So, what did you get for Riley?"

"Oh, he's on punishment for crashing your Maserati. He's going to driving school with the humans, then he gets driving lessons from a race car driver."

I chuckled at that. My poor brother didn't have a license to drive with right now anyway.

We got out of the car and I asked them all if they liked their gifts. Vicky and Juan were psyched to go shopping, Riley and Emmett were both excited about the two conventions we were going to, and Rose and Peter were head over heels over the idea of rebuilding their 1957 Cadillacs.

"What made you choose the '57 Caddies?" Rose asked.

"Well, I figured you two were always raving about how they were cool to drive so I had Alice look for two. She found them in two separate junkyards in East Los Angeles. She even went with me and haggled them down in price. Oh, by the way, I'm supposed to tell you that there's a 1970 Dodge Challenger at one of the junkyards."

Pete's face lit up in a huge smile. "Oh, yeah. Thank you, Pixie."

Other family members started showing up so we went inside the house to let them through the gates.

"Bella!" Rex twirled me around. "Fang Lovers Festival? I so can't wait to go!"

"Shit, I know right," Mike agreed.

"Wait a minute? What Fang Lovers Festival?" Jasper asked.

Alice winked at me from across the room.

"Oh, it's a festival for all supernatural creatures with fangs," I replied.

"Fangs?"

"Yeah, fangs."

"You're not going to that. What if there are werewolves?"

"I was gonna go dressed as a werewolf," I said.

"You what?"

"Jasper, it's going to be fake."

"Well, I'm coming with you, just in case. This is California after all."

"That's fine, Jasper," I said with a chuckle.

Amar walked up to me and Jasper, just then. "Bella, that's a beautiful ring. Did Jasper give it to you for Christmas?"

"Yes, do you like it? It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes." Then he punched Jasper in the nose.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"You're the fucker that outbid me on the Christie's phone auction. Amrita was begging me for that ring. Did you know that she wouldn't talk to me for days afterwards."

"Yeah, well, you could have outbid me."

"Yes, Amar. You could have outbid him, why didn't you?" a feral Amrita asked.

"He outbid my final bid by almost two million dollars, I had to think about it, my maharani. By the time, I got back on the line, my time had run out."

"Two million dollars?" I asked in shock. "How much was the final bid?"

"Eleven and a half million dollars," Amar said. "My final bid was nine point eight million dollars."

"Fuck me!" I gasped.

"The pink diamond that you are wearing now is one of the rarest in the world. The rock itself toured all seven continents before it was turned into a ring. It is the most coveted pink diamond in the world," my brother, the Maharaja explained.

"Jasper, I'm not worth eleven and a half million dollars!"

"Yes, you are, Bella. You're worth it. Never sell yourself short."

"He's right, Bella," Amar agreed and pulled me in for a hug. "You are worth it."

Manuel and Tony called us in for dinner. We sat around our large dining table, eager to feast on their blood creations.

"So, what's on the menu today?" I asked.

"Roast beef with au jus, fingerling potatoes, Bella's lasagna, and Chicken Tikka Masala," Tony said.

"Don't we get a vegetable with that?" Rex asked.

"Potatoes are a vegetable."

"Yeah, but what about corn or green beans or something? Aren't you even concerned with our daily fiber intake?"

"Don't fucking press your luck, bro."

They served our meals to us, which we ate out of soup bowls. Then, it was time for dessert, which I was looking forward to the most.

"You have a choice of flan, pumpkin pie, or cheesecake," Manuel said. "And for beverages, we have hot chocolate and our newest invention, coffee."

"Coffee?"

"Yes, coffee. Actually, we're testing it out. If all goes well, you can carry it around in thermoses throughout the day and drink to your heart's content."

"Um, what about cream and sugar?" Mike asked.

"We've come up with solutions for that as well. Trust us."

"Okay, then I want a tall with four teaspoons of sugar and some cinnamon sprinkled on top, "

"Mike! This isn't fucking Starbucks," I said. "Don't be a smart ass."

"I swear to fucking God, Bella. This is fucking Christmas. You should really try to curtail the fucking swearing. Angels and shit are watching upstairs."

"Fuck you," I giggled. "Well, shit, then I want a tall Cafe Latte with six teaspoons of sugar, then."

"Alright, you two, you get a choice of cream, sugar, none, one, or both. Got it? This isn't Starbucks!" Tony said. "This is blood."

"Damn, and I was going to order a Caramel Macchiato," Rex said.

"Alright, you three get your coffees last for being smart asses."

Riley raised his hand next.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"Does your coffee come in a decaf version because I really don't like to take caffeine into my system after one pm."

"Back of the line, asshole."

Everyone was laughing at our banter.

"I don't understand what the four of you were ordering. The younger vampires seem to understand, but we older ones are confused. Isn't coffee, just coffee?" Esme asked.

"No, coffee was just coffee until Starbucks made it part of pop culture in the nineteen nineties. They created different ways of flavoring and mixing coffee, and between 1995 and 2000, worldwide consumption of coffee rose by over seven hundred percent," I explained.

"Where the fuck do you get this shit, Bella?" Claude asked.

"I told you before, I read."

"Alright, Claude, you take the coffee orders. Bella, can you give us a hand in the kitchen?" Tony asked.

"Sure."

An hour later, we had all finished our desserts and coffees and we were helping with the clean up. Afterwards, we sat around in the living room and just hung out. I looked around my house and everyone was genuinely happy. Some were hanging out in the jacuzzi watching a game, others were splashing around in our swimming pool, still others were just content talking.

Edward wrapped his arms around me from behind, and took in the sight of our family. "Just think, Bella. This whole crazy family of ours came about because you wouldn't leave me alone, and I couldn't stay away from you in high school."

"Yeah," I chuckled. I really did love each and every one of them, some more so than others, but as nutty as this entire crew was—the fact remained, they were family.

**Jasper's POV**

Christmas came and went, and it was now well into January. The last few months have been both crazy and busy for us at the same time. Christmas night was nuts. We all went to the Venom Nightclub for the Christmas Vampire Mixer. Everyone got a little too drunk for their own good.

Rose, Bella, and some of the female California vampires managed to convince some of the male vampires to participate in a male stripping contest. Much to Tony and Rex's chagrin, a vampire named Tex Steelhammer was chosen as the winner. Emmett declared that he was going to fuck up the guy's driver's license photo the next time he asked for one. Meanwhile, Tony and Rex dragged Bella outside and insisted that she needed her eyes checked. Later, when Tex asked Bella to dance, Rex wouldn't let go of her. He told Tex to go find his own wifey to dance with. Then, Tex introduced them to a blonde bombshell named Desiree who was his wife and mate. When Desiree asked Rex if he wanted to dance, Bella cocooned him in her physical shield so that he couldn't move. The two of them shook their heads at the strange couple and walked away. Later, they asked me and Tanya if we knew them, we told them that they were our mates. Their eyes widened in shock, and we didn't see them for the rest of the night.

And then there was Chelsea, oh Chelsea. I don't even know what to say. The girl had too much Jack Daniels and started undoing bonds and mating people with others. She mated Riley with Brent Sanderson, his football rival, and Angelo with Vicky. She mated Rose with a delighted Vinnie. Even Bella wasn't immune to her actions. She, somehow, managed to get Bella to drop her shield, then undid her bond to me and mated her with Garrett for fun, and me with Amrita. Amrita bent me over a barstool and smacked me a few dozen times with the riding crop that she always carries. It took Renata and Carlisle to get her to put everything back in ship shape order. After that, my pissed off wife gave Chelsea a master's bite to keep her in control. Thank God Vicky taught her how to do that.

Speaking of Vicky, she was, by far, the worst. She was so drunk on tequila that she tried to form a newborn army. Unfortunately, there were roughly twenty-five female vampires, including Alice and Esme, who had all been given master's bites in the past by her at Venom. They all snapped to attention on her command and tried to corral us all together. As soon as she saw Tony, who was wearing his contact lenses that night for fun, she mistook him for a human, and tried to feed off of the poor guy. Marcus Volturi was able to pull her off of him, but then she turned around and gave him a master's bite for disturbing her feed. Bella and Renata threw their physical shields on everyone, and Vicky's drunken tirade finally ended after I gave her a master's bite to keep her in control, and, hopefully, preventing future occurrences like that one.

Now, we were at some ridiculous Fang Lovers Festival filled with ridiculous humans who liked to dress up as supernatural creatures. It was bad enough that I had to dress up like Captain Kirk for the Star Trek Convention yesterday, but now I was dressed up as a fucking vampire from True Blood, and I am a vampire. All I knew was that I was going to get Bella back for this.

The host of the festivities was now up on stage. "And the prize for most authentic looking Eric Northman goes to Jasper Whitlock."

Bella, Emmett, Mike, Rex, and Riley started guffawing at the win. Emmett shoved me up onto the stage. Rex was already up there. He had just won the prize for most authentic looking Dracula.

"So, Jasper, how did you get your skin to look so pale?" the host asked me.

Well, what the fuck was I supposed to say? I couldn't really say that I hadn't gotten my spray tan in since November so I was in my natural vampire skin.

"Um, it was airbrushed on," I told him.

"Well, you look like a real vampire."

"Uh, thanks, I do my best."

I ran my hand through my hair. Suddenly, the women in the audience started clapping and shrieking, _"Eric! Eric!"_

"Jasper, you've won, the Silver Fang Statuette, two tickets to next year's Fang Lovers Festival in Las Vegas, and a chance to defend your title next year."

"Gee, thanks."

Then, the host went on to make the final announcement of the night, "The last and final prize is the award for Most Authentic Vampire. That prize goes to, Jasper Whitlock. Jasper, you had the most overall votes for the grand prize which includes the Golden Fang Statuette, four tickets to next year's Fang Lovers Festival in Las Vegas, and a chance to defend your title next year."

"_Aw, man, I'm not dressing up as a werewolf next year. I'm going as a vampire!" _ I heard Emmett complaining.

"_You are a fucking vampire, you dufus!"_ Riley yelled. _"I thought I made a better Eric than Jasper."_

"_Riley, you get a spray tan once a week so you can blend, and you're just too...I don't know...pretty."_

"_Rex is pretty, and he won best Dracula!"_

"_Shut the fuck up guys, Jasper just won Most Authentic Vampire."_

"_Bella, Jasper is a vampire so it was cheating when you think about it," _Mike pointed out.

Am I really listening to this conversation? What the fuck am I doing on this stage? I noticed that the host was waiting for a response, I hope he's not expecting a riveting answer.

"Uh, thank you," I said into the microphone, then whispered to Bella, "I'm gonna get you."

She just smirked and winked at me in response. I'm really gonna have to get her back for this shit. Then I chuckled internally, my girl had a knack for getting me to do things that I would have never even conceived of doing myself, and I loved her for it.

_**Two months later...**_

Bella and I were at our home in Dallas relaxing. This past weekend was the Civil War Re-enactment in Grandview which was about an hour away. I had so much fun with Bella. She really got into character and looked so pretty in her Antebellum dress. It dawned on me that, had I met her when I was still serving in the Confederate Army, I would have jumped hurdles in order to get her to marry me. Next Saturday was the country music festival, then we were heading home to California.

This break came at the perfect time. Between Riley's case and some others that we had, we were busy as all hell. Riley's case was fairly simple and straightforward, we negotiated with the Palm Dessert Police Department and the California Highway Patrol to have his driver's license reinstated after he completes his seven hundred twenty hours of community service, which adds up to roughly eighteen weeks. He was providing substance abuse counseling at the Los Angeles County Jail. He also has to take a driver's education course, then go before a judge before he can get his license back. To say that he was pissed off was an understatement. He took it out on the other team during our weekend football games, so much so, that everyone was begging to be on his team. Peter told him that he fucked up so deal with it. He didn't pick Pete to be on his team after that. Other than that, there was no major drama going on in our family. We were just living our lives contentedly in California.

I was taking a walk on our property, strolling through the lush green field behind the house. The hot Texas sun was beating down on us and we were sparkling like crystal chandeliers in the sunlight. It didn't matter, our property was secluded and private, and my neighbors on either side of me were Peter and Carlisle, and their homes were vacant. It occurred to me how completely at peace with my life I was, finally. I had my wife by my side, and we were at my mama and daddy's home just walking in the sunlight, being happy.

"Jasper, what's this?" Bella asked. She had stopped in front of a magnolia tree that I used to love to sit underneath to read when I was a kid. She was pointing to a carving in a tree. It was a large heart, and inside it, the words, 'Jasper loves...' was etched.

"Huh, I forgot about that. I carved it when I was a boy using a penknife. My mama called me in for dinner before I could finish it, and I never got back to it."

"Aww...that's so sweet. What was the name of the girl that you loved?"

"Dunno, I forgot. I was only about ten years old. I remember what my mama made for dinner that night, though. It was cornbread and rabbit stew." I took out my Swiss Army knife from my pocket and finished the carving. "There, now it's complete."

Bella had a beautiful, sparkling smile on her face. She read the words out loud, "Jasper loves Bella."

"Yeah, he does," I said, because I really did. We made love under my favorite magnolia tree after that and stayed there until the stars were shining down upon us. I couldn't help, but think about my life and everything that's happened to bring me to this moment. I looked up at the stars and thanked them for looking out for me, for bringing me home, for bringing me to Bella.

_**One hundred years later...**_

**Charlie's POV**

I was sitting on my deck, in my lounge chair, watching my kids on earth. They were splashing around in the swimming pool, Riley had just thrown Bella into the water. While he was laughing at her, my grandpa Pete had come out of nowhere and pushed him into the swimming pool. He was watching the pair with twinkling eyes and snapping photos of his two beloved great-grandchildren.

Off to the side, Rex and Tony were in another fistfight about something stupid.

"_Bella!" _ Tony yelled. _"Help me!"_

"_Christ, Rex. Leave him the fuck alone, you know that he can't fight!" _Bella chastised.

Just then, my wife came to sit on my lap and watched the scene unfold in front of her with tenderness in her eyes.

"You know, Tony could never fight. Rex and his brothers always had to fight his battles for him. It's a wonder that he made it out of the military alive," she reflected.

Heaven wasn't at all like I expected. As soon as I got here, I was assigned a house and welcomed into the fold by everyone. When I looked in the mirror, I looked like I was back in my twenties, young and in my prime. Everyone was like that. My mom and dad were waiting for me, they showed me the ropes up here. They explained that, from our vantage point, we could keep an eye on our loved ones down below. I found out shit that I never knew, for example vampires, shape shifters, and werewolves roamed the earth. They couldn't tell me why they were there, just that God put them there for some odd reason.

I also learned that we all had soulmates up in heaven like the vampires and shapeshifters do down on earth, only we didn't have to look for them; they were sent straight to us as soon as they arrived up here. Some couples who were married on earth, wouldn't be in heaven because they weren't soulmates. My mom and dad were among the lucky two that were soulmates on earth and in heaven.

About twenty years after I arrived, my soulmate was finally sent to me. She knocked on my front door and when I opened it, I was completely mesmerized. Standing on my doorstep was the most gorgeous woman that I'd ever beheld. She had long, raven hair and blue, almost violet eyes, that could see into my soul. I invited her inside, and when I took her hand, I felt shocks running through my system. I knew that she was the one. And I mentally thanked the big guy for sending me such a knockout.

We sat down on the sofa and I asked her what made her knock on my front door.

"_I'm here to fulfill my promise to my daughter-in-law, Bella. Her words to me before she sent me up here was, 'Take care of my Daddy for me.' So, I'm here to take care of you."_

"_What's your name?" _ I asked her.

"_Iris Fantasia, well Fantasia was my married name on earth. I should probably say Iris McGinty."_

"_Well, I'm glad you're here, Iris. I have to tell you, though, I think you have the wrong guy, my daughter's last name is Whitlock, and she's a vampire."_

"_Oh, no, I have the right person, the woman who helped put me out of my misery was a vampire. My son's name is Rex."_

"_Ah, let me explain a few quirky things to you. Um, come with me."_

So we went to my deck and looked down on earth. Apparently, no one had shown her the ropes yet since she had just arrived. The Big Guy had sent her straight to my house.

"_Is that your son hiding in the tree?"_

"_Yes, that's Rex, and the girl over by the corner store talking to my two grandsons is his wife."_

"_No, that's not his wife. They share a close bond though. I think if Jasper and Tanya didn't exist they'd be together. Bella and Rex support each other in a way that their mates can't. Let me show you something else. Look over there. The beautiful blonde woman trying to put together a bracelet is Rex's wife and soulmate, Tanya. The blond man reading a book in the other house is my Bella's husband and soulmate, Jasper. Now, do you see the man knocking on Jasper's door right now? Does he seem familiar?"_

"_Oh my goodness, that's my Tony. He's still so handsome. Is he still gay?"_

"_Yes, he's gay, and he's still with Claude."_

"_As long as he's happy. So, why did Rex tell me that Bella was his wife?"_

"_His nickname for her is wifey. And she really is, his wifey. They take care of each other. You'll see what I mean as you watch over them."_

We talked for a little more, she said that she was told that this was where she would be living from now on. She also said that she was told that her husband on earth wasn't her soulmate. I explained that it happens more frequently than not, then I told her that she was definitely mine for all of eternity, and we would watch over our kids together. Then, I took her into the bedroom and we got it on because, damn it, it had been a few decades for me.

A few hours later, Iris wanted to see her kids again. That's when I saw that Maria, the soulless bitch, had arrived to kidnap Jasper and family away. I immediately sent out large doses of pain to their mates to alert them that their other halves were in danger. We saw Rex pick up Bella and start running to help, then we saw how the two of them kept their heads together and helped each other through the storm.

At that point, everyone's family members had arrived to keep an eye on things and guide the kids through their crisis; well, everyone that was in heaven, that is. Some didn't make it, like Rose's parents or Amar and Amrita's parents. Renee had made it, but she didn't have the authority to keep watch over relatives. Only a select few of us did. I was really good friends with Emmett's parents, they were so jovial. Jasper's parents were also a hoot. Most of my friends from La Push and the Quileute wolves were here, with the exception of Quil Ateara, he liked living so much that he never stopped phasing. He was still living on earth and he and his imprint, Claire, were frequent visitors at Bella's house. And of course, I had all of my relatives from my mother's side. They were all jokesters, but they doted upon me as if I were a newborn baby. I was the last of the line, you see, so I'd always be the baby in heaven.

Everything turned out okay, and today, the kids were still living in California. We all kept our kids safe and guided them from heaven. Our family has gone through some tough situations, we took shifts keeping Bella safe when she left Jasper for two years. We watched over both Bella and Jasper at that point. Jasper was suicidal, and Bella was close to it.

When Emmett shook Rose and she left him, we did the same thing. We kept vigil over the pair every minute. We men sent Emmett an intense dose of agony so he would feel remorseful. We were all pissed off at his actions. At the same time, Rose's sister sent Bella pain so she would go running to Rose. She felt that Bella would be the best person for her to be with. Rose's sister, Natalie, was the one that created the bond between Bella and Rose, she never liked Alice or Esme, and knew that Rose needed a sister so that she could get through life. So, when the two ran off to Asia, she bonded them together because she knew that they'd need each other.

Rex's bond to Bella was created by my mother and his grandfather. They felt that Bella needed a friend that was as curious as she was and that was from her generation, and vice versa. Her bond to him increased significantly when they were up in Cheboygan and my son-in-law was acting like a self-righteous dunderhead again. This was intensified because Tony was acting big-headed about his military experience to Rex. As a result, Rex and Bella latched onto each other.

We were able to create bonds like Bella's with Rex and Rose, or Jasper's with Vicky, but we weren't allowed to touch mating bonds. Those were handled by the big guy himself. We asked him why he gave Chelsea the power to make and create bonds. He said that he did that because he was drunk one night and lost in a game of poker to Chelsea's father, who I might add, has to be the funniest guy around. In any case, he sent her to Bella because he felt that she was the one that would ultimately end up keeping control of the wild girl. We had to laugh at that.

We also kept the kids safe when they were up to no good either. Oddly enough, these incidents generally involved Riley. For example, when he held that ridiculous graduation party in New Hampshire, we sent Jasper and Bella home because we knew they'd keep the humans safe. We also made sure that when the helicopter he was piloting crash landed, it did so in water so that it wouldn't burst into flames. And when he totaled Bella's Maserati, we made sure that the gas tank stayed intact. By the way, having his license suspended, and making him do community service was my idea; that kid sometimes puts me at wits end. Everyone backed me up a hundred percent on that one, especially my Piper relatives, they said that he was even worse than Peter was when he was human. I guess when Peter was little, he didn't want to get a vaccine so he cranked up the doctor's car and tried to drive it. Of course, he was only seven years old so he had no idea how to drive. Practically the whole neighborhood had to go chasing after it. Fortunately, his great-grandfather Piper intervened from up above, then made sure that Peter got the whooping of his life.

My friend Jason stopped by with a case of beer along with Jasper's parents, Henry and Violet. Apparently Violet made some of her delicious rabbit stew. Iris brought out some chips and homemade dip for us to munch on. She and Violet were in another room where the women were just going to have some coffee and chat before dinner.

"How's our Isabella?" Jason asked.

"She's fine. She's just reading a book in that gazebo you set up for her. That was great thinking."

"Well, she always did love to read."

"Yeah, she did."

"Now, where's Jasper? I don't see him."

"There he is. He's in his room planning something."

"Like what?" Henry asked.

"He's planning another hunting trip with my idiot son, that's what he's doing." Joe, Emmett's father walked out to the deck. His wife, Mary, Emmett's mother, went to hang out with the girls.

"Why on earth would he do that? That boy can't fire a gun or hunt for beans. It's a wonder that he made it to the rank of Major in the Confederate Army."

"It's probably why the South lost. Lucky my boy wasn't alive back then. He probably would have given everyone's positions away with his big, clunky feet. How he became a lawyer, I have no idea. His wife I can understand, but Emmett?"

"Hehe, I don't know how Jasper became one, either. The boy's always been a mama's boy. Violet babied him too much. Always had his nose pressed into a book, that one did. Couldn't teach the boy how to use a hammer no matter how hard I tried."

"Now, Jasper's not that bad, Henry. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's as smart as a whip," Jason said. "I wouldn't have left my business to him if he couldn't handle it."

"Yeah, well, business savvy he may have, but he never did well with man stuff like hunting."

"Henry, you're the one that was overprotective. He was twelve years old when you finally taught him how to hunt, the other boys in the neighborhood were seven," Violet said.

"Yeah, well, I knew that he wasn't ready. He was too little."

"Just admit that you were too frightened that he'd get hurt."

"Alright, I admit it. It's just that he was so adorable. Now, what are we going to do about those fools going on another hunting trip again?"

"That's easy," Joe chuckled. "We'll send the skunk their way again."

"Yeah," we all hooted at the thought. We've been sending the same skunk to them each and every time they go hunting. The idiots never gave up, though. If anything, they were persistent.

Two more guests arrived at that point. These two were friends of Tony and Claude, and they were assigned to my block because their family members had all shunned them because of their sexual preference. They were all demoted by the big guy for that, but Kenny and Randy needed people to watch over so they got our family.

"Hi Guys!" Kenny engulfed me in a hug. He was loving like that. He hugged everyone in the room and out on the deck, then peered down below towards earth. His soulmate, Randy, came skipping along behind him.

"So, what did Tony and Manuel create for Sunday dinner tonight?"

"Violet's Rabbit Stew along with Mary's Pecan Pie. They loved it," Joe said.

"Of course they did. I've spoken to some of our friends on other blocks, they said that we had the best tasting food in heaven here."

"Yeah, we do. Speaking of food, Kenny, did you bring your crab cakes?"

"Joe, you're always thinking with your stomach. Of course, I did."

"Such a gorgeous house," Randy noted as he peered down at Jasper and Bella's not so humble abode.

"I can't believe you built such a monstrosity for them," I told Jason.

"Anything for my beautiful Bella."

"Yeah, I would have given her the world if I could have," I sighed.

"I brought my seven layer bean dip and tortilla chips." Lauren Mallory Jenks set the food on the table for us before going inside to join the ladies. In all my life, I would have never believed that she, of all people, would be soulmates with Jason Jenks, up here in heaven. Henry, Joe, and I have all discussed the fact that the man was truly in heaven. I mean, who wouldn't want to have a porn star for a wife, making love to him for the rest of eternity? Then there was Jason's father, Jason Senior, his soulmate up in heaven was Rose's sister, Natalie. Now, I thought Rose was a looker, but, damn, Natalie blows her sister right out of the water. Of course, I'm not complaining because Iris is hotter than all hell. Tony and Rex definitely got their looks from their mother. I've met her six other sons up here. They all looked like pitbulls, but they were the friendliest most well-mannered guys you could ever meet.

We went back into the house to join our wives for dinner. My buddy, Billy Black, showed up with Sarah, and so did Harry and Sue Clearwater. They brought Harry's Famous Fish Fry over. We talked, had fun, played strip poker, lost to the women, then everyone went home for the night. Iris went to bed early.

I decided to have a glass of Jack Daniels and check in on the kids one last time for tonight. Riley and Vicky seem to be doing fine. It looks like he's doing some work, scratch that, he's making plans for Saturday's football game with his friends. Vicky is sewing something. That woman can't get enough of crafts.

Grandpa Pete and Grandma Charlotte are...nope...don't want to see that. I don't want to have to bleach my brain again. I'll just tune them out for now.

Ah, there's my little girl. She's dancing under the stars with Jasper. I loved watching the two of them together. They had a few really rough patches in the beginning, but they worked through their issues together and came out stronger. I chuckled at the thought of how pigheaded the two of them were back then. Now the two of them were so relaxed and at ease together that they just rolled with whatever life threw at them.

Jasper twirled Bella around a few times, then pulled her in close to him. She snuggled her head into his chest and he wrapped her up in his strong arms and swayed in the moonlight with her. They looked into each other's eyes with all of the love and devotion they had for each other, then went back to their midnight dance underneath the stars, stopping to kiss each other every now and then. Before they went back into the house, they both looked up at me in heaven.

Jasper nodded his head at me and said, "Thanks for trusting me with Bella, Chief Swan. I'll always look out for her. You have a goodnight, now."

Bella, then whispered, "Goodnight, Daddy. Thanks for always looking out for me and Jasper. I love you and miss you so much."

I decided to send the two of them some warmth before going off to bed. They both looked up and thanked me, and watched me for the longest time. I couldn't help, but tear up. I was a lucky guy. Sure my life was unexpectedly cut short, but I get to watch over my kids and guide them from afar for all of eternity. What guy wouldn't want that?

A piece of advice that I used to drive home to Bella, while I was still alive, was that there were many uncertainties in life that just happened with no explanation. The best thing for her to do was to just roll with the changes, because whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, she'd learn from the experience. And, out of all the things that I tried to teach her, it seems as though that one piece of advice stuck with her. Watching my daughter for almost a hundred and fifty years from heaven, I knew that Bella rolled with whatever changes life threw in her direction, usually with Jasper by her side. After all, life happens, so we should all just roll with it.

_**So, what did you think of the ending? Did it surprise you? Also, I'm seriously considering writing some outtakes for this story, would those be something you'd want to read? I would dearly love to hear your thoughts one last time on this story, and promise to respond to your reviews as always. XOXO**_

**Special Authors Note:**

**This is the final chapter of my very first fanfiction story, Life Happens, So Just Roll With It. Never in my life, did I think it would receive the reception it did. I have so many people that I need to thank, and I'm afraid of leaving anyone out. It's an absolute must that I thank IzzyBFFAddict92, Sparkling Fae, KareBear1965, LunarEclipse1, Wendy1969, Mynxi, VSPS, Arrr, AbbeNormal, and Svtwilfan for their friendship in many different capacities. I would never have gotten through this story without these ladies and one gentleman. **

**Most of all, though, I need to thank you, my readers. You've touched my heart with all of your reviews, and you've kept me going with your inspiring reviews and heartfelt messages. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the passion that you felt for every single one of these characters that I hold dear in my heart.**

**Now, in case you're wondering. I've just posted two new stories which will run concurrently with my Peter/Bella story, You'll Find What You're Looking For At Walmart. The first story is a Paul/Bella story called, Intensity, and the second is a Jasper/Bella story called, Dates, Mates, Hate, and Fate. Just before the hurricane hit, I also posted a fluffy, Jasper/Bella oneshot called, Getting the Hell Out of Dodge. I'm excited for you to join me for those stories.**

**So, with this I am signing off. **

**Love, mama4dukes**


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